Car Battery tip

[Trump]

Interestingly I have never had corrosion on a motorcycle battery and I’m 64 years old and I have been riding since 82.

However car batteries are another story. This can be spectacularly bad and it comes from gas is leaking out of the battery. To prevent corrosion I code the battery terminals of my cars and trucks with wheel bearing grease.

I know this doesn’t apply to motorcycles, however it works so well I just have to put it out there. Never had a corrosion problem on car battery Treated this way.

 

[Kevcules]

I have used vaseline, green cans of rust check and dielectric grease over the years. The key is to coat it with something. No corrosion ever on my terminals. I see lots of others do though....

 

[SMSW]

Older lead acid batteries - flooded batteries - vented through the caps on top. We were supposed to check the fluid level and if it was low, top it up with distilled water. If the plates were exposed and dried out, the battery's capacity was reduced a bit. The gasses and spray from the electrolyte would collect on the surface of the top and cause corrosion. Newer, AGM - absorbed glass mat - types vent on the side and are sealed with a valve to vent off pressurized gasses. These do not experience the same corrosion that flooded types do. If you seal the battery post with paint, vaseline, grease, etc. it won't corrode.

 

[Larry Fine]

To add, every bike I remember has a battery vent hose, which keeps gasses away from the terminals.

 

[ST Gui]

To add, every bike I remember has a battery vent hose, which keeps gasses away from the terminals.

Likewise. Which is why in my considerable years which number more than the OP's I've never had a motorcycle battery with corrosion on the top or at the terminals.

 

[Trump]

I guess the vent explains why there’s no problem with corrosion on motorcycle battery terminals!

The only question that raises is why I don’t car batteries do that?

I must say I’ve tried those spray battery terminal treatments and spray white lithium grease and they don’t work as well as a good coding of wheel bearing grease!

 

[SMSW]

I guess the vent explains why there’s no problem with corrosion on motorcycle battery terminals!

The only question that raises is why I don’t car batteries do that?

I must say I’ve tried those spray battery terminal treatments and spray white lithium grease and they don’t work as well as a good coding of wheel bearing grease!

Well, all is not rosy and peachy. My old Triumph had corrosion on the battery tray, and a lot of older cars experienced the same rusting of the tray and nearby painted surfaces - while the areas farther away from the battery did not rust.

If you remove the battery cables, clean them thoroughly, replace them and then spray, any sealing is much more effective against corrosion.

 

[caldercay]

White lithium grease, or better yet, dielectric grease ... that is, if you have to.

A high percentage of corrosion is from micro-leaks around the terminals (where they exit the casing), and much from over-tightening or by adding strain to them (and/or because of cheap a$$ batteries).

Been wrenching on vehicles for about 45 years and pretty confident I've never had a battery corrosion issue.