So I had problems with my battery a few days back. It was old and I took it in to autozone. After testing and finding out it was dead I went ahead and bought another. Well five days later, the battery is dead again. I noticed when replacing the old battery there was a lot of corrosion on the positive terminal. Well when it died tonight, it was the same. Any ideas on what would cause such a large amount of corrosion in a short time? any other ideas on what the problem could be?

 

What kind of shape are your cables in? You can clean the terminals and still have corrosion down in the insulation of the cable just beyond the terminal. Corrosion begats corrosion (that's not in the Bible, but should be).

If the cables do have corrosion, that would explain the DB... Corroded cables don't conduct well.

 

From what I can see, the cables are fine. Im going to get some preventative stuff tomorrow and hope it woreks

 

if it keeps happening it may not be your terminals it could be your altinator because if its not working or is going bad it wont charge your battery which would cause it to die....... and a great way to get rid of corrosion and i know it sounds dumb but diet coke lol

 

Regular Coke works too. I like a Baking Soda and Water solution. The Alkali of the Baking Soda neutralizes the acid in the corrosion and the fizz is really cool too!

Ryanz right about the alternator. It could be weak or it could be shorted out. Auto Zone and their ilk have testers that can validate that for you.

 

I know about the coke thing. I've been doing that for years. It turns out it is the alternator, but im still confused about the corrosion. Im about to undertake the job of changing it out in 90+ degree weather. Anyone done this and have any tips?

 

Well the new alternator is on. Unfortunately though, I still have a dead battery and im waiting for a friend to come jump start me. Hopefully all is well.