Battery went out with a bang!!

About a week ago. It had been working just fine, cranking like normal. I went to work and parked it in the sun on a 90+ Florida day. I got done around 1 pm and drove the short 1 mile from the marina to the office and parked in the shade. I went inside for 10 minutes, came out and turned the key and instead of the starter cranking i heard a loud pop and saw a puff of smoke come out from the left side of the hood.
I quickly turned the key off and opened the hood. Nothing burning, no smoke.... looked around and then noticed the cap was off one side of the battery. It took a minute to find it on the skid plate. Anyway, I popped the other cap off and all the cells had normal water levels.
The battery was completely dead. Wouldn't even click. I tried the wipers and they barely moved. I put jumper cables from the work truck and it barely turned over then clicked.

I went to the auto parts store with the old battery and replaced it. The guy at the store said it wasn't that uncommon but I've never experienced it or even heard of a battery doing this.

With the new battery in, it definitely cranks faster than the old one but the old one wasn't that slow. I surely didn't think it was on it's way out.

I'm glad I was at work when it happened so I could just take the work truck to the parts store.

Any of you ever had this happen before?

It's a 2013 V6 Manual with the tow package heavy duty battery. I bought the truck new in November 2012 and it has 52,000 miles.

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I've never seen that before, but if you got 3.5 years out of it living in FLA consider it a pretty good lifecycle.

 

Same story as mine (I'm assuming you bought it in 2013 not 2012 since that's newer than the truck?) one day 2 years after buying it the battery wouldn't chooch. Bad cell, dealer swapped it out with a new one under warranty. This one is as corroded as hell (after I cleaned it up and bathed the terminals in dielectric grease it's better) but seems to be fine for now.

 

Pretty much the battery failures I've had over the last 20 years, all have been 'instant', in that they gave no prior warning or 'weakness'.

Fortunately I've not popped any as you describe. Hopefully you examined the area well for acid spill, as it will eat everything it touches. IIRC CRC makes spray on neutralizer, and of course the regular baking soda/water solution will work too.

I'd clean the area well, just in case.

 

Cool, thanks I will.

 

No, I bought it in 2012. The following year models usually come out late in the year before.
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Checking you battery with a multimeter is a great way to tell if your battery is on its way out.

There's a video on how to check it and your alternator. I just did it to my other car that I am about to take on a roadtrip.


Here's my go to videos:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJr7OB23Hw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB6ZEjGm7Q

 

My battery went about two weeks ago. I was running a fireworks tent, but had to go coach a summer league basketball game. Drove to school coached the game, got in my truck it started just fine drove about a mile stopped to grab something to eat came back out and didn't even get a click. Battery wouldn't even run the radio. Tried jumping it, would click, but not turn over. Went and got a new battery and it started great. After putting in the new battery, it felt like my truck had a little more pep in it. The two weeks before it just felt like it was a little sluggish figured it was because of the heat. Now I think it may not have been getting good spark because of the weak battery.

 

When I was a work the mechanic put the wrong battery in my work van. It was too high so when we slammed the hood it shorted out the battery. The battery exploded like a shotgun sound .A battery can be very dangerous as you know they contain hydrogen gas.......

 

I had this happen once about 30 years ago. I literally blew the top off the battery.

 

Voltage/ohm meters have their place, but I've seen batteries read 12.70V or better after 8 hrs. of rest and be dead as a door nail the next day.

 

What is important to monitor is how far the voltage DROPS when starting the engine, that is a much better insight into the life of the battery, and whether or not it is on it's way out.

As you correctly noted, a DMM is by far not the best method, but it can get you decently close.

 

Seen it happen before. Thoroughly soak the entire area including the hood with a baking soda mix or other neutralizing solution and rinse well. If any acid at all splattered anywhere under the hood and you fail to neutralize it you'll know soon enough.

 

I used to strictly buy Optima batteries. I go out in remote areas. They were awesome (15 years ago) They would never leak, would last 4 years+ and they always seem to die slowly so I could replace before being left stranded. Manufacturer went to Mexico and things changed. They shortened the warranty period and I had 2 die a sudden death without warning. I consequently started using AGM Batteries. From what I understand they are similar to Optima and less expensive.Time will tell though. I noticed some high end dry cell style batteries at Batteries Plus store but they were several hundred dollars.
I would suggest staying away from a wet cell battery or even a sealed wet cell. Acid just eats away at these thin skin vehicles way too fast.
If anyone has any feedback on the Energizer Brand AGM or similar style I would appreciate hearing your experience with them.

 

I think northstar and odyssey are the new batteries to get if you want the best. Optima was a good brand, its too bad they went to shit. I liked the aesthetics of their spiral wound cells.

 

I use an Odyssey in the Mustang, been in there 6 or 7 years now, never any corrosion on the terminals nor any problems. I did something dumb a couple years ago and ran it completely down when I was replacing the passenger side window from running the window motor up and down for 2 days, charged it up and its been fine ever since.

 

So today I opened the hood to spray the baking soda. There is already a spot where the acid splashed on the underside of the hood. The paint is discolored and soft. I sprayed it down along with everywhere on the engine compartment.
When i ran my fingernail on the soft part, the paint came right off to bare metal!!
So I sprayed it all again, but what should I do from here?
Do I sand and paint to keep it from rusting or is it worse than that?
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that's why when we work on batteries we should wear safety goggles drp6833 can attest to that. when that battery exploded I learned a lesson . good luck guys be safe.