This isnt in my Screw, its in my GTO, just wondering if any of you have seen this before.
So, i was going to do a oil change when i opened the hood and the top pieces of the battery were off/ damaged. There was acid all over the fire protector under the hood and none left in the battery so i just I ended up putting a new battery in and I have no idea how this happened but i have some pics.

See the rectangle pieces under the terminals



Here is what mine looked like, the other one is no where to be found

Anyone seen this before?

 

bad connection at the battery caused a spark, the fumes from the battery ignited. Battery acid is now everywhere, best nuetralize it now before its to late. It will eat plastic, hoses, and ruin paint. Baking soda or store bought nuetralizer/cleaner is a must.

 

I'd also call Interstate and tell them what happen. Maybe it's happen before ??

 

On my T/A, i had one of the battery posts rot off with the cable still attached, but never had any explosion...

 

I wonder if it could be overcharging? If the caps came off, some sort of mini-explosion is the most likely event. I would check your charging circuit too, and consider yourself lucky it could have been very nasty.

 

Over charging produces hydrogen gases. These gasses escape from the vents and any spark will ignite them. Like was mentioned, check the charging system.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Wouldn't a nearly "dead" short on the battery terminals do something like this too? I can imagine high heat and the battery elecrolyte "boiling" - maybe producing enough pressure to blow the cell caps off. Notice how the caps are melted on the two end cells - that suggests very hot electroyte to me.

And, wouldn't an "explosion" tend to rupture the battery case?

Just asking these questions cause you don't want a repeat performance. I'd be very interested in finding the cause!

It doesn't seem you had any "symptoms" prior to opening the hood, right?

- Jack

 

Your right.. I don't think explosion. I think of over heating. and outgassing pushing the caps off. Probably a bad alternator. The voltage regulator may be gone and over charging the battery.

 

I'd bet the battery was extremely low in fluid. I've seen this a couple of times and in all instances the battery was almost empty of fluid. Leads to a dead battery and a replacement is in order.

A good time to check, and fill with distilled water only, is at an oil change.

 

Not too long ago while I was working at the SAE shop on campus a guy had a golf cart battery blow up in his face right next too the shop. From what I understand the golf cart was left on the charger for 1+days. When it wouldnt start again he lifted the seat and started jiggling wires. Something shorted and ignited the H2 gas in the battery/underseat compartment. All we heard was a loud bang and started running to see what the hell it was.

Not only did he get hit in the forehead by the top of the battery but he now has acid burns all over his face and hands.

 

So everything is clean and there is no acid anywhere. I checked the charging system and everything is perfect. Alternator is in great condition and i have a new battery in there. Still cant figure out what made this happen. Thanks for all the advise but i still have no idea. The only thing i can think of was just the battery itself? idk.
Sorry for the word "Explosion" it was prob more like a burst that made the caps come off.

 

as batteries age they get sulphated, which increases internal resistance. as internal resistance increases the battery produces more hydrogen during the charge cycle.
also the faster you charge a battery the more hydrogen is produced.
for the xplosion to occur there had to be a sprk or ignition source from a loose cable, bad igniton component.

the reason you make the last booster cable connection to the car with the good battery is that worn out batteries produce more hydrogen, so you don't want the spark occurring on the car with the dead battery

 

ok so i do have a overcharging problem with this 92 i just bought, i dont think its the whole alternator it self just a diode, dude brought it me while i was at work and it had a bad battery in it, i went to start it for buddies cause its got a bad *** 302 in it, anyways everything went crazy when i revved it up. stereo off and on and smoking and lights flashing ,windshield wipers blasted on...is there a way to test it on the truck,,hmm cant really leaving runnin though unless u disconnect the alternator

 

Back from the dead.

 

I had some acid leak around the toyo battery. I think it was because it was hit int he ffront end pretty hard. I cleand it several times but the corrosion kept coming back around the terminals and I noticed a lot of corrosion under the battery on the metal. I bought some terminal cleaner and protectant and that seemed to help.

I'm no expert but maybe if you took it off road, if it was in an accident, or a big enough pot hole could have jarred something loose. ?? Maybe??

Just a thought