This has happened a couple times in the past year, but today it happened like 3 times! I was walking to my car after dinner, and I disarmed my alarm, all well so far. I opened my door, all interior lights were on (those that are suppose to be on when door opens). I put the key in the ignition, turn it, then suddenly all the lights turn off, car wont start, nothing, as if battery wasn't connected. Since this has happened to me before, I popped my hood, and I proceeded to wiggle the battery cable around. When I do it, the alarm goes off again, like as if the cable was never connected, and everything resetted. So i disarm the alarm again so the sirens would turn off, close my hood, and head back inside (lights are back on again). I put the key in the ignition, turn, same thing happens. This never happened to me before, so instead of taking the keys with me, I leave them in the ignition, and tell my g/f to disarm the alarm when it goes off again, and then turn the key. I did the same procedure with the battery cable, my g/f did what I told her to do, and car started. Once the car is started, I know it won't shut off, regardless if the battery cable is on or off, so I drive home. When time comes to take my g/f home, the same thing happens! All 3 times, when looking at the positive terminal, I can see some powder looking (bluish almost) substance on the lower side of the terminal. Im guessing its battery acid. Why is this happening? Any ideas? Anyone go through the same situation? Is it the cable or battery or both. Let me know, thanks and sorry for it being so long.

 

thats messed up

 

indeed

 

clean off the acid, throw some soda on it or something gassy... the acid is eating your cable on the inside... that happend on my 626 until it finally tore in half :P (Yes it eat the 8guage wire)... Tighten up everything make sure its all clean should start up with no problem...

 

Thanks for the advice, could it also be eating up my amp cable too (4 gauge). The other day my fuse popped, and when I replaced the fuse, my amps still didnt turn on, now Im thinking it has something to do with what you just said. Will cleaning the acid fix it? Or am I looking at getting a new battery in the near future?

 

as for the acid problem on the battery itself. Use Baking Soda..mix in a glass with warm water make sure it all disolves, then pour over the battery. It will not harm anything. After pouring it on try a small wire brush to clean whats left off. Also check the terminals to make sure they are tight.

--Don

 

clean it well first, if the acid comes back again it might be the battery... After I got myself a deepcell battery I never saw acid again...

 

Winner winner chicken dinner.

D1 this is exactly the procedure. In a pinch, 7up or Sprite works well too (that's the Mcgiver way ). Baking soda works even better. Do as Pearl said and dissolve a generous amount in a big glass of warm water, then just pour it over the terminal. It's going to bubble up, don't freak. Take a wire brush and clean as much as you can off too. If you don't have a brush, go to the auto part store and buy a battery terminal brush. The better one is the one that you can slide over the whole terminal and brush the pole too.

This is a pretty simple procedure. Once you have cleaned everything off well, make sure your terminal is tight and put a little petroleum jelly on the terminal and pole to prevent from happening again.

That'll be $24.99 sir....

 

Worked like a charm, cleaned the acid, sanded down the terminal (as well as all the other metal things that connected to the terminal) and tightened, starts everytime, hopefully no more acid will appear again. Thanks guys

 

Happened to my mom's minivan before, did the same process that was said above and hasnt been much if any battery acid buildup on the terminal's since.

 

take the cables off, and clean everything with baking soda and water.

 

thats a funny a$$ title to a thread