Why is my battery leaking?

KCsTJ

KCsTJ

TJ student
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Jan 9, 2018
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Farmersville, TX, United States
I found this on my garage floor under my new to me 05.
It is battery acid staining.
20181009_130007.jpg

The battery looks new. I installed new military style terminals last week and thought that cured it.
Yesterday I get home and park it, lift the hood and can hear what sounds like bubbles? coming from the battery cell covers.
No abnormal readings from dash battery gauge, reads around 14.
Is the alternator overcharging?
 
The battery may look new, but check out the date on it (batteries have dates on them) to see how new it really is.

Unless they are physically damaged or over-charged, car batteries typically should not leak. Car batteries do not last forever however, and as a rule of thumb they should be replaced approximately every three to five years. The longer a car battery is in use, the more unreliable and prone to leakages they become. For this reason they should be checked at frequent intervals.

When a car battery leaks acid, it is usually through the cell caps on the top of the battery, or due to damage to the body.

Overcharging your car’s battery is another reason for leakage.

Extreme cold weather is also a factor that can lead to battery leakage. Under such conditions the battery acid inside may begin to freeze and cause the body of the battery to expand, putting pressure on the cells, similar to water pipes that burst in winter weather. Although this is unlikely to happen, it can still occur, which may result in acid leakage.

My guess is your battery is older than you think, hence the reason I suggest checking the date on it.
 
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KCsTJ said:
I found this on my garage floor under my new to me 05.
It is battery acid staining.
View attachment 58359
The battery looks new. I installed new military style terminals last week and thought that cured it.
Yesterday I get home and park it, lift the hood and can hear what sounds like bubbles? coming from the battery cell covers.
No abnormal readings from dash battery gauge, reads around 14.
Is the alternator overcharging?
Click to expand...
Overcharging is reason for leakage. 14v while not charging Is overcharged should be 13.5v
 
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Chris said:
The battery may look new, but check out the date on it (batteries have dates on them) to see how new it really is.

Unless they are physically damaged or over-charged, car batteries typically should not leak. Car batteries do not last forever however, and as a rule of thumb they should be replaced approximately every three to five years. The longer a car battery is in use, the more unreliable and prone to leakages they become. For this reason they should be checked at frequent intervals.

When a car battery leaks acid, it is usually through the cell caps on the top of the battery, or due to damage to the body.

Overcharging your car’s battery is another reason for leakage.

Extreme cold weather is also a factor that can lead to battery leakage. Under such conditions the battery acid inside may begin to freeze and cause the body of the battery to expand, putting pressure on the cells, similar to water pipes that burst in winter weather. Although this is unlikely to happen, it can still occur, which may result in acid leakage.

My guess is your battery is older than you think, hence the reason I suggest checking the date on it.
Click to expand...
Yep that's exactly where I hear this.muffled bubble escaping noise, from the cell caps.

Thanks @Chris , will do. Since I have no PM history on this jeep who knows how old this battery is. It just looks new.
Should have though to check the date when I was cleaning the battery tray. :-/
 
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Your going to want to neutralize that acid on the rest of the vehicle, if it has dripped on anything else. Baking soda works well. You think salt is corrosive...
 
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Yeah, definitely neutralize that acid or else you'll have some serious rust!

I've had cars with batteries that were 7 years old that still looked new, of course that doesn't mean that they actually were new. Time for a new battery either way!
 
Chris said:
Yeah, definitely neutralize that acid or else you'll have some serious rust!

I've had cars with batteries that were 7 years old that still looked new, of course that doesn't mean that they actually were new. Time for a new battery either way!
Click to expand...
As soon as i realized what it was i made a solution of baking soda (soda ash) and water which neutralizes acid.
I was lucky to get to it before the acid ruined anything.
 
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I don't know electronics enough to isolate the problem. I've been scanning the FSM for generator outputs and testing.
Anyone know how to test for an overcharging system?
 
KCsTJ said:
I don't know electronics enough to isolate the problem. I've been scanning the FSM for generator outputs and testing.
Anyone know how to test for an overcharging system?
Click to expand...

I'm horrible with electronics too, but I would think if it was overcharging that would be a PCM issue, as the voltage regulator is part of the PCM.

If that is the case, I'd think you'd be getting some error codes from the PCM. Personally I'm guessing that your battery is just old and that's why this is happening. You still need to check the date on it to see.
 
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Chris said:
I'm horrible with electronics too, but I would think if it was overcharging that would be a PCM issue, as the voltage regulator is part of the PCM.

If that is the case, I'd think you'd be getting some error codes from the PCM. Personally I'm guessing that your battery is just old and that's why this is happening. You still need to check the date on it to see.
Click to expand...
I just finished reading that in the FSM @Chris and I agree, probly old battery, im checking the battery date now.
 
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No battery date. Of course.
20181009_154129.jpg
The dude didn't remove the battery date circle doo dads so.who knows how old... this battery gets replaced this week, esp since cold weather's a coming. :)
 
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