Build date of my 2002 Cavalier was May 2002...

This means battery is nearing 4 years old...

Even though the battery says it should be good for 5 years...

Common sense says to replace, possibly a year earlier...

That's what I'm going to do...

But, there is corrosion already started in the battery tray...

Need to get this corrosion treated...

The old-fashioned way is to wash the battery tray and
give it a dose of baking soda....

Is there a newer and better suggestion ?

the soda will neutralize the acid and should be done before you start washing anything otherwise you will only spread the acid around. Once you've cleaned it all and neutralized tha acid there is some battery terminal paint you can get that is supposed to help protect against corrosion. It's normally a yellow colour from my experience but I'm not sure if you'd want to be spraying that all over your battery tray.



Knowledge about everything and yet an expert of nothing!!
Jack of all trades.

"there is some battery terminal paint you can get that is supposed to help protect against corrosion. "

Silver, thanks !

Now I know what to look for....

Glue a penny in the middle of the battery directly in the middle between the two terminal, that will eleminate your battery acid problem.

The battery acid is attracted to copper and will eventualy turn the penny green and eat it away, effectively keeping acid away from damaging everything else. When the penny is small and almost gone, peel it up and replace with another penny.


This is an old 1950's hodrod trick, still works today.

El Fuego ( the grounded one ) wrote:Glue a penny in the middle of the battery directly in the middle between the two terminal, that will eleminate your battery acid problem.

The battery acid is attracted to copper and will eventualy turn the penny green and eat it away, effectively keeping acid away from damaging everything else. When the penny is small and almost gone, peel it up and replace with another penny.


This is an old 1950's hodrod trick, still works today.

I think you're talking about galvanic corrosion (two different metals connected by an electrolyte) And the addition of the penny is a form of cathodic protection. The penny does help reduce corrosion of the battery posts and terminals by becoming a donor metal (zinc and magnesium work even better), but it doesn't neutralize the acid.

Read about cathodic protection

Try and keep the battery acid inside the battery.

Labotomi wrote:

El Fuego ( the grounded one ) wrote:Glue a penny in the middle of the battery directly in the middle between the two terminal, that will eleminate your battery acid problem.

The battery acid is attracted to copper and will eventualy turn the penny green and eat it away, effectively keeping acid away from damaging everything else. When the penny is small and almost gone, peel it up and replace with another penny.


This is an old 1950's hodrod trick, still works today.

I think you're talking about galvanic corrosion (two different metals connected by an electrolyte) And the addition of the penny is a form of cathodic protection. The penny does help reduce corrosion of the battery posts and terminals by becoming a donor metal (zinc and magnesium work even better), but it doesn't neutralize the acid.

Read about cathodic protection

Try and keep the battery acid inside the battery.

You just repeated what he told us...

Roscoe wrote:

Labotomi wrote:

El Fuego ( the grounded one ) wrote:Glue a penny in the middle of the battery directly in the middle between the two terminal, that will eleminate your battery acid problem.

The battery acid is attracted to copper and will eventualy turn the penny green and eat it away, effectively keeping acid away from damaging everything else. When the penny is small and almost gone, peel it up and replace with another penny.


This is an old 1950's hodrod trick, still works today.

I think you're talking about galvanic corrosion (two different metals connected by an electrolyte) And the addition of the penny is a form of cathodic protection. The penny does help reduce corrosion of the battery posts and terminals by becoming a donor metal (zinc and magnesium work even better), but it doesn't neutralize the acid.

Read about cathodic protection

Try and keep the battery acid inside the battery.

You just repeated what he told us...

Reading comprehension >> Roscoe

Look again. He said it would attract the acid and effectively keep it away from everything else. The penny will corrode, but it doesn't neutralize, absorb or attract the acid so it won't keep it out of the tray.