Corrosion near battery?

I’m about to sand and paint this but is there a reason this happened? Is it something I should look into more?

 

Looks pretty bad. I’d see if the dealer would replace it

 

Wet it, apply baking soda- spray off, sand and paint. Apply some battery post corrosion protector or Vaseline to those areas + posts and cables and yet it will still probably come back after some time.

 

Wetcell batteries constantly offgas acid fumes & hydrogen. The hydrogen is why you never smoke or cause sparks around them (hence the "ground a jumper cable away" from them). They also can spill the acid out through the vent. Mine did when off-roading.

That acid will corrode metals.

Also, due to this venting of gasses, you need to maintain the terminals -and- the water level. Keep the terminals clean of the corrosion caused by the gasses & spilled acid. Top up the cells with distilled water when needed (careful not to over-fill).

 

Have you had much experience with using Vaseline? I have used different products and some (engine oil in particular) caused an insulating effect. The oil actually isolated the clamp from the terminal and interrupted the connection. Couldn't start the engine until I cleaned it all off. Just curious if Vaseline could do that.

Edit: Sheesh, I misread your post. I was thinking you had recommended to coat the battery post with Vaseline. Now I see you advised to coat the corroded areas with it, and not the terminal posts.

 

See below

 

100% normal.

 

I have always used a spray on protectant - just read about the vaseline use. Spray on will be much easier and less messy to apply and it sorta drys to touch

 

This ^
Mine look much worse. I need to get an AGM battery.

 

Yep! That was my plan of attack too. But my stock batt is still performing so I'm holding off paying out big bucks for an AGM.

(Preventative maint has it's benefits = the orig batt is over 5 yrs old. But I don't expect too many more, so that AGM may be here soon...)

 

Exactly. Had a buddy flick a bic-lighter to check the water levels in my sisters battery ( long time ago )...
All I can say is if he wasn't wearing glasses he would have been blinded - BOOOOOM !

 

Hope he bought a lottery ticket that day. Lucky SOB. Glad to hear he kept his eyes!

 

What the frame? Lol

 

I was thinking the battery got spilled somehow. I’ve never topped off a battery is it just distilled water and you look inside and fill it to the top of the cells?

 

Optima red top for the win. KDMax tune including the AGM up voltage to 14.2? Priceless! @TWTaco

 

Only use distilled water. Other water will deposit minerals and short out the cells, slowly killing the battery.
Yep, pull off the rectangle caps on top -carefully- to access the individual cells. You can then see the fluid levels. The "neck" that the removed caps fit in, has a notch/slit at the bottom (near the fluid). Only add water to reach that notch, not above it.
- Above won't hurt the battery, but it will spill much more readily. And if there is ever an over-charge condition, that will boil it out (i.e. spill). The truck is not likely to create an over-charge, but if the voltage regulator for the alternator (or solar panels) goes wonky it can happen.

Way back when, there was a product called VX-6. It could be added to a completely dead battery and get it working like new again! As long as the batt wasn't physically damaged, with a hole or the likes.
It must have been mostly sulfuric acid and a wee bit of water. It was great! But no longer on the market - at auto-parts stores anyway. That was the ONLY thing I ever put in a wet-cell battery other than distilled water.

 

My 19 still looks brand new in that area still with original battery. I’d say you have an issue and would dump that battery and use baking soda to clean the area with some black touch up paint.

 

Mine looks the same as yours. Remember that you’re in a message board with people who care enough about their trucks to be on a message board. Everyone will tell you to essentially lose your mind about it, or you could just realize that you own a truck and a little rust on the bracket that holds your battery in isn’t going to be the end of the world.

 

Looks like the original battery must have leaked acid. I'd pull the battery and tray and then clean the area with baking soda as mentioned above.
Then I'd rattle can it, and hit it with some cosmoline before reinstalling everything.
Probably overboard, but I don't like seeing rust.
I wish I could be like the guy above.

 

Lol, it’s taken a lot of practice to get to this point of not giving a shit.