Battery enclosure ?

[NikFu S.]

Anyone use one of these?


I'm not sure what the deal is exactly or how it's happening, but my battery is perpetually wet and the corrosion keeps spreading. My driver's turn signal just started having issues and I'm looking at all the chaos in that area right now and I'm just like UGH. Have to start isolating things.

How am I supposed to diagnose electrical problems when my battery is starting it's own alkali stalagmite farm.

Just looking for a recommendation for a good batter enclosure / case / box, and maybe some direction as to why my front left turn signal only comes on if I have the stereo on and only after turning the headlights on.
Also if I put the hazards on the climate buttons will intermittently blink. Just when I started to feel good about the car because it didn't stall all day, this stuff happens.

update: blinker situation seems to have corrected itself for the time being.

(I realize the attached pictures say battery "terminal" rather than "tie", but the positive terminal has been fighting corrosion for a long time and it just about overwhelmed and that's what I was thinking about when I named them.)

[michael]

Superglue a penny next to each battery terminal. It won't stop the buildup but it will give the stuff a place to focus on rather than your tie down.

[dcarrb]

Cover the bottom of that tie down cross-piece with a layer or two of cut-to-fit rubber gasket material, and clean the top of the battery regularly with tap water.

dcb

[92snowmachine]

it could be your battery has become sulfated due to being down on charge and never getting a full charge cylce. you can clean it off, leave the key on to drain it all the way, then use a high amp charger to fully charge (slightly overcharged) to charge it. this tends to work when a battery begins to gas out but not always. if you get an enclosure it will just allow all that nastiness to build up under the battery.

[Hocrest]

Get a voltage meter and check voltage at the battery. Off, idle and cruising RPM's.

[NikFu S.]

Originally Posted by 92snowmachine

if you get an enclosure it will just allow all that nastiness to build up under the battery.

Better than it spreading to my horns and up the side of the fender. :/

I really don't want to have to clean the battery every day, so I'm just going to replace it and get an enclosure so that in the event this happens again it will be a little more controlled.

The way things are looking though with my PS pump exploding this morning I may be getting another car sooner than I bargained for...

[LastSVXintheChi]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

Better than it spreading to my horns and up the side of the fender. :/

I really don't want to have to clean the battery every day, so I'm just going to replace it and get an enclosure so that in the event this happens again it will be a little more controlled.

The way things are looking though with my PS pump exploding this morning I may be getting another car sooner than I bargained for...

i have a PS pump if you need one

[Huskymaniac]

New battery?

[icingdeath88]

Optima battery?

[SVXMAN2001]

There's a nice how-to for rebuilding the p/s pump. I recently rebuilt mine and was very happy with the results, very inexpensive fix.

[NikFu S.]

Originally Posted by LastSVXintheChi

i have a PS pump if you need one

Turns out it was the steering rack that broke in half. Which explains why there wasn't red goo everywhere when I popped the hood to see what that whining noise was.

Originally Posted by Huskymaniac

New battery?

This one was never really right to be honest.

Originally Posted by icingdeath88

Optima battery?

Last one I had didn't last 3 years. Unless their cold weather dependability has improved in recent years, no.

[92snowmachine]

the cold weather doesn't seem to affect mine (yellow top). they have 3 year free replacement and then a prorated warranty after that, so if you don't get 3 years out of it you can get another one at no cost.

[NikFu S.]

An Optima battery would be the obvious solution. I guess I just don't trust them for no good reason.

Doesn't matter anymore, though, because the car is getting parked permanently tomorrow. Moved my plans a few months ahead of schedule and opted to get a beater instead of a new car to keep costs down and parts funds high. As soon as I clear out the garage the dismemberment will begin, and batteries will become irrelevant.

[icingdeath88]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

Last one I had didn't last 3 years. Unless their cold weather dependability has improved in recent years, no.

I never thought about cold weather, but I always figured the optima ones would be good or better than normal at least. In Florida, the issue is the humidity, and a lot of batteries don't last long because of it, but the optimas seem fine.

Sad to hear you're parking it, but good to hear you've got a plan to get it back on the road.

[NikFu S.]

For anyone who's curious I got a 2002 Escort ZX2. Fun little car. Should save me something like 100 a month on gas.

Let the SVX restoration commence.