Excessive Battery Acid ruined me tonight.

[Klink10]

Not necessarily. You could have a small crack near one of the terminals. You running any big stereo stuff? If not grounded out properly that could be a contributor. There are all kinds of variables. Cough this one up, get a good quality battery clean and nuetralize everything, treat and go.

Just saw your new post, before I cleaned in the compartment I would pull out as much as I could. Otherwise your just cleaning and rinsing that acid in areas within the compartment you don't want it to go. I think I would really pull the tray in addition and clean that as well.

I could see me in there with a case of Coke going to town. I feel for you brother. Good luck

[RedRide]

Yes, baking soda/water soulution is good as it will help to "netralliz" the acid/PH of the residue.

[rl67pinoy]

go to oreilly or walmart they got the spray thing that turn pink when detects acid also neutralizes it. the hose off. dont use soda(coke) errthing will get sticky... imma try to upload the pic of the spray

[rl67pinoy]

heres the cleaner and protector spray

[rl67pinoy]

lol pic is HUGE

[Altitude]

Zoiks! That is bad. Worst I've seen. Looks like it ate away the post clamps too, you might need a new cable/clamp.

[svgllmnt]

Well I got the baking soda treatment working and got the whole area pretty clean. The clamp portion (bear with me on specific terms, I'm not 100% sure on what they're ACTUALLY called) broke off entirely I dusted with baking soda, scrubbed with a toothbrush and rinsed with a lot of water. (picture #1)

Got a replacement battery from autozone despite the dude there telling me "the battery is good. it charge good" NO IT NOT GOOD MOTHERFUCKER. It's leaking battery acid, DO YOU NOT SEE WHERE IT'S LEAKING FROM? (picture #5) I had to control myself, exchanged the battery bought a new "universal" terminal and some corrosion spray.

Got back to the house, went to take the bolt off the top of picture #2 and it wouldn't budge. Re-baking soda'd it, sprayed the corrosion spray on it and even tried some lube job spray. Nothing worked. The bolt won't budge and at this point, I feel like I don't have much of a choice besides taking it to Toyota.

The cables look fine, the fuses look ok, but this damn bolt is preventing me from moving on. It looked like, once I got everything clean (and yes, I got more of the corrosion off of the main terrible-bolt area) that all I needed to do was remove the (rusted?) orange piece from between the bolt & the crap stuck underneath and swap in a new terminal and tada, good as new. But nope! This bolt has decided to ruin my life.

Again, any advisement or suggestions would be much appreciated. It appears not many people have run in to this issue before, so I understand if everyone is just as baffled as I am. But anything helps.

By the way, I know I f-ed up. I'm still convinced the battery was defective, but I do need to check these things out on a regular basis and having never owned a toyota before and being a girl who only does routine things and weighs the pros/cons of taking the advise of any dipshit in any auto repair establishment - I didn't know this was something that could happen. I learn as I go and now, I know.

[rl67pinoy]

take the old battery outta there so you got more room to wrench , take the plastic part on top of batt. off again more room...spray WD-40 on bolt. let it soak then, use two wrench. good luck

[Bluevitz-rs]

Keep giving it the baking soda treatment until all that blue acid is gone. There should be no coloring on the metal parts.

[Klink10]

I agree with Bluevitz. I also realize now that facilities and tool availability might be an issue. But to really get all that out and neutralized that whole piece needs to soak. So far the battery has come out, can you detach your issued piece from the other end and take it out? If so then take it to someone with an air ratchet and do a quick zap on it. If not the two wrench method after a good soak is the only option.

Oh and you were right, if there is leakage from that post then it is defective. The issue would be proving how that area got to be that way. Past tense now.

[svgllmnt]

I can't disconnect the piece attached to the bolt/starter cable. That bolt won't budge and while all the plugs behind it come out, I don't see any possible way to take it out to soak it.

[MickZEL]

Hello. Try bolt pour brake fluid, and leave overnight.
Before filling the knock with a hammer on the side bolts (not much)
(In Russia, rip rusty bolts:))

[Hartside]

If your using brake fluid don't get any on the paint as it will damage it badly. Best to stick with a release spray, but give it time to penetrate. When your eventually sorted and everything is back to normal, smear the terminals with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) It's your cheapest option and works well

[1stToyota]

Looks like there's a crack in the case near the post...and dielectric silicone grease goes on neatly w/ a brush; acid won't come back.

[MickZEL]

Brake fluid do not need much, enough blow the whistle on fitting. It works

[dobbiedoo]

While you were under the hood did you at least check your oil level? You live in a warm place change your oil yourself.

[Vinceb]

Originally Posted by Klink10

I could see me in there with a case of Coke going to town. I feel for you brother. Good luck

why do you suggest coke? how is an acid going to neutralize an acid? I have used coke to clean things before, but never a battery. Baking soda and some kind of dielectric grease when it's all clean would have been my suggestion. i'm at almost 3 years on the stock battery, no corrosion issues at all.

[Klink10]

Originally Posted by Vinceb

why do you suggest coke? how is an acid going to neutralize an acid? I have used coke to clean things before, but never a battery. Baking soda and some kind of dielectric grease when it's all clean would have been my suggestion. i'm at almost 3 years on the stock battery, no corrosion issues at all.

Read it during a google check on another website. Trust me it worked. It was handy and I didn't want to mix a batch of baking soda when I could pour coke in a bowl and let it sit. Took no time at all followed by a rinse/dry and treat with dialectric grease. The big issue was determining the cause which was a loose neg. battery terminal. I have the screw in types on a non stock battery (pics in the garage).