(1) Year old Factory battery--leaking acid

Here we are again. I had my factory battery replaced under warranty after exactly two years for leaking acid. Now my one year old battery is leaking acid just like the first.



Nothing special about my truck, all factory electrical equipment. I'm going to let the stealer evaluate the charging circuit.

I wonder if my alternator is over charging the battery?

 

^^hahaha^^

I would just keep taking it to the dealer and say fix it! I tout it was free tires and batteries for life, as long as you get your service done with them.

 

Heavy cycling (discharge and recharge) of a battery will cause it to boil over like that.

 

those caps can pop off pretty easy, Also the battery tie down clamp cracks the battery, I've had this done to 2 batteries now.

 

id say overcharging also. boils the battery

 

i just wanted to make sure, is it leaking where the tie down clamp across the middle is?

 

I think they are just crappy batteries. Mine did that at the five year mark. Replaced with a NAPA....another year down the road it's still okay. My company truck also did the same thing at the three year mark-also a Tacoma. Same exact deal, leaking at the positive terminal.

 

Dunno. I think it boils out from under those two service caps.

x2 Must be if it's a common problem.

I took it to my neighborhood stealer and they cleaned it up real nice and sprayed the anti-corrosion stuff on the terminals and the tie-down and dressed it up real good. They did a very good job covered under warranty. I'll post a pic later.

 

A little seepage out of the top isn't the end of the world for a battery. It just means it will need more of your attention. Every month or so you should wipe down the top with a baking soda and water mixture to neutralize the acid. Once all cleaned up, pop the caps and top off each of the six cells with distilled water. This is how it was done back in the old days before "sealed" and "maintenance free" batteries.

 

Yeah, I wasn't too concerned until I pulled the cables off and discovered the acid had eaten away most of the silver plating on the positive cable clamp. They are copper with a thin plating. I just cleaned everything up real well and used some sealer on them. I feel like I should have gone down to the dealer and got a new positive clamp though.

 

Clean it all up, tighten all connections, then spray the metal/lead parts on and near the battery with this:

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=MCR1073_0075099623

Just don't get any on your paint or clothes. It stains INSTANTLY.

 

That's what I used. Seems to be okay. It's been a year and a half and no issues.

 

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to add that my Toyota brand battery in my 1st gen was also leaking acid from the top caps.

Only just over one year old battery when it started. I didn’t get around to taking it to the dealership until it was two years old because COVID hit and I wasn’t making appointments for things that weren’t super urgent.

Toyota dealer here in downtown Oakland wouldn’t load test my battery unless I left it for 3+ hours even though I scheduled an appointment in advance. I asked why a simple battery test takes 3+ hours even with a scheduled appointment and the service advisor says with an attitude “we don’t just have people sitting around waiting to test your battery”.

Went and bought a Duralast from Auto Zone instead and no more issues. Better battery design than the leaky Toyota. 100 more CCA and even has a built in handle