Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Battery Terminal Corrosion

So my car wouldn't start yesterday. I just got the evil 'click' when I turned the key. I looked at it, thought I'd try a jump and then noticed, while attaching a cable, that the started cable had detached itself from the positive terminal.

Word to the wise - religiously remove corrosion and treat your posts/terminals. Because the accessories attached to the terminal separately, universal terminals ($1.00 to $2.50) do not fit our cars and one must buy a whole cable set ($100+) to get the terminal from Ford.

I had to do this in the interest of time and had to butcher the expensive cable set and splice the cables to attach the new terminal. This didn't take long, but the cost is outrageous. Given a weekend, I might have found a better solution, but I didn't have time...

Ford seems to have caught on, though, as the new terminals were not flimsy copper like the originals.

Cason
Houston
Silver E0 with those little fuzzy washers and, soon, a new battery

I just dealt with the same thing. I didn't see what year your 'tour was, but mine's a '98. I saw some corrosion on the positive post clamp, which had been hidden by the plastic cover. I started moving things around to clean it, and the cable came off loose in my hand! The attaching plate with wires was OK, so I was able to get a (heavy lead) terminal only and put it on. It fit with some shoving.
I think the battery post must leak a little acid. I put new felt washers on, and some grease. I'll be watching it- I'm leaving the plastic cover off!
Good luck!

All the "factory" batteries I've seen on many of our models leak a little bit around the posts. The longest lasting battery I have had here in the Heat is the Interstate. Any battery derived from an Exide will last about 12-14 months. Even though Johnson Controls makes a large portion of the batteries they are built to the customers specs. For a while Sears Diehards were Exide, My Wife got one on a holiday weekend because the Ford battery cratered. On the receipt in small print was the mfg. The replacement is JC. Cars with tight underhood areas will eat up batteries faster due to poor air circulation. I had the same problem with Honda Civics.
Paint the terminals and junction blocks with NCP-2, they will look better and last longer.

good ventilation is essential to battery life. The gasses emmited by the battery during the chemical reaction that produces electricity is exreemly corrosive.

Thats why you see alot of older viehicles with rust around the batteries

I'm getting the corrosion also. Of course my battery is factory and is almost 5 years old I've cleaned the terminals many times with water a baking soda to neutralize it but it keeps coming back. With winter coming on I'm expecting it to just finally die!

Here is somethign else you guys might want to check. Remove the battery and look at the entire length of the Positive Battery Terminal, make sure that the part going into the underhood junction box still has it's insulation(Coating) and that the wires aren't exposed. I just had to take my car to Ford an have the wiring harness replaced because ALL of the insulation had come off the terminal. Thankfully for the 97 model cars there is a recall on this. Otherwise the wiring harnesses they replaced in the recall would have cost me $600 bucks!!!

My car stalled out and I thought it was the Replacment battery going bad. I took it to Advanced Auto Parts to get another one, and that's when I found out that it was the wiring. The positive terminal runs under the battery and without the insulation it grounds out on the body causing there to not be enough charge to the battery. Also my battery light was coming on very faintly. Just something else you guys/gals might want to check.

I believe it was extended coverage in the event the harness became brittle. I didn't know that was covered under the that. I'll have to go and have a look at it! Hope it's not bad other wise it's back to ford, AGAIN for another issue. :rolleyes:

I want to avoid this problem. My 98 Mystique is showing quite a bit of corrosion around the battery terminals.

Can someone please post the procedure and mixing instructions of the baking soda so that I can clean my own.

Do I need to disconnect the battery? I am pretty handy, just never tinkered with cars.

Thanks,
Andy

Really there are two ways you can go:

1. Is to mix one table spoon of baking soda into a cup of water. Use a wire brush to clean off the terminals.

2. Remove the battery and dump the baking soda on all the terminals and parts corroding. Then get vinigar and pour it onto the Baking Soda. This will cause a chemical reaction which will do all the scrubbing for you. Then just rinse off the parts thourghly.

I did the latter and it helped to clean off all of the corrosion I was having. even cleaned all the exposed wires I had on my positive battery terminal before I took it to Ford to be replaced.

Andy H.: Remove the ground cable first, and replace it last.