Diesel battery corrosion

Ford 2000; 3 cyl. diesel; 1970 model; 8/2 trans.....This tractor, new to me, has a good bit of corrosion under the hood adjacent to the giant battery: radiator cap rusting, paint flaking off, etc. I'm pretty certain the corrosion is from battery acid. The battery has removable caps for checking the fluid level in the cells so I expect there is acidic vapor that may be escaping from these caps. If I put a disconnect switch in the ground line, would that do anything to reduce vapor coming from the battery? Other than a disconnect or simply removing the battery from the tractor minimize this kind of corrosion? Thanks.
 
First of all you have to get rid of the corrusion. if not it will spread. normally corrosion is caused by a low/going bad battery. if you get the corrosion all cleaned up and unhook one side of the battery it wont get any worse. you do have to get all the corrosion removed first.
 
I plan to wash down the affected area carefully with baking powder or other cleaners to neutralize the acidic corrosion and then replace or paint the affected areas where feasible. The battery itself is clean as are the terminals but I know batteries can work in mysterious ways on paints and metals.
 
Battery "vapor" is usually the result of overcharging. Check the voltage at the battery after it has been running for a while, with the
engine still running. If it's anywhere near 15 volts, either adjust the voltage regulator or replace it.
 
Didn't know that overcharging would be an issue. I guess that causes the battery contents to get hot, boil or otherwise emit more gasses than normal. In reading the battery charging input/output, should that figure be about 13 volts for a 12v system? Thanks.
 


a defective cell in the battery will cause other cells to overcharge and boil off acid vapors... A regulator set too high will do it.

And all batteries will emit a little vapor as charged unless they are sealed batteries and even then they have emergency vents.

as others said.. check the charging voltage after its been run at higher rpms for a awhile. A good regulator will keep the max voltage around 14 to 14.5 at higher rpms...

Check the battery voltage at rest when it has not been run for a while.... and make sure its around 12.6.. If below 12.2, suspect bad cell and have battery checked or replaced.
 
If the battery looks nice and clean, the corrosion may have come from the previous battery that went bad.
 
Get one of those Optimum glass mat batteries,around $200. They last a long time and it dont eat your clothes or machinery.
 
Overcharging? Battery cells too full? Battery flopping around and not tied down good? As you said, previous battery blew up or something.
 
I plan to wash down the affected area carefully with baking powder

Use baking soda, not baking powder. Baking soda is pure bicarbonate of soda. Baking powder is baking soda mixed with other things, and is generally more expensive and the other things besides baking soda in the baking powder don't add any additional benefit when trying to reverse the symptoms of acid corrosion.
 
Yes, I meant baking soda. The battery is well anchored to the tray but I have not had a chance to check the water level in the cells. I noticed one of the cell caps had a slight residue around it but don't know if that means anything. Will take a closer look tomorrow as well as check the charging voltage. Am thinking that I'll remove the battery and thoroughly neutralize the tray and mechanism and give it a good coat of primer and paint while I'm at it.

Regarding voltage regulators....how are they typically adjusted?

Thanks.
 
Ring around the caps means you are overcharging! Fluid boils and the vapor coming out of the vent hole is wet with boiled vapors.
 

Marcus, you really don't need to take precautions outside of standard preventive maintenance. A forty-eight year old diesel tractor has had a few batteries go bad in its lifetime. As they go bad, the charging system will keep trying to charge it when cells have gone bad resulting in boiling over. When the farm has 2-4 newer tractors this one got sidelined and got little maintenance and batteries froze and cracked in the winter. Now that you own it and you are keeping maintenance up you won't have a problem.
 

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