04 OBW Battery Question

[Alan]

I happened to look under the hood yesterday (I almost never do, as The car
gets to the dealer every two months for an oil change). Anyway, I noticed
that there has been some battery acid leekage. It looks to me like the acid
overflowed out of the top of the cells, as if someone overfilled them. There
is some corrosion wherever the acid touched the mounting hardware. Is this a
legitimate complaint to the dealer? Would a too-low level in the battery
cause this? I suspect they overfilled it.

 

[mulder]

The charging system should be checked. It's possible the voltage
regulator (internal in the alternator) is bad and allowing the voltage
to go too high. This will cause the battery to overcharge and boil the
fluid out of the cells. Or, it could just be overfilled. Either way it's
under warranty so have the dealer look at it. Make sure that any spilled
acid is properly neutralized and cleaned up, and any damage to painted
surfaces repaired.

 

[Alan]

Thanks. I have an appointment in about 10 days. The acid spillage seems
confined to the battery and the mounting that it sits on. I asked the dealer
if they add water to it, and they said no- although it's not a sealed
battery per se, they are not really meant to be opened. Hadn't thought about
it being an electrical problem. Thanks for that idea- I'll have them check
it out. I'm still betting that they put water in and overfilled it.

 

[Henry Paul]

You can have AutoZone check your alternator for free. I had the same problem
on a '91 Mazda MPV minivan. Voltage regulator went south causing the battery
to overcharge on the highway. It cooked the radio and headlights before I
could get it fixed. (18 volts @2000 rpms)

 

[Alan]

The car is still under warantee (it's an 04), and there are no AutoZones
around here, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Don.]

"AutoZone" can often be spelled "NAPA". But service by the dealer is
much better if the warrantee covers that electrical part.

 

[Alan]

Thanks. We've got plenty of NAPAs, but they are just parts dealers- no
repair shops. It's covered under warantee.

 

[Henry Paul]

Same thing with AutoZone. They just have test equipment and OBD-II code
readers there. I guess the idea is if they help you figure out what's wrong,
you'll buy the part there.

If it is under warranty definitely have the dealer fix it.