Battery and terminals

[retrodoc]

My 16GT was taken to the dealership today for water pump failure, this repair was done under powertrain warranty. Dealership says my battery is leaking acid (my negative terminal is badly corroded), so they are quoting 400$ for the battery and the terminal with labor. Is this justified? or they trying to fleece me?

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[Vegas5OH]

ripping you off.

 

[Gregs24]

This is not an uncommon problem and is caused by Hydrogen from the battery corroding the terminal (or an electrolyte leak)

If left it can cause significant damage so you would need to see it after it has been cleaned up to determine whether a new battery is required.

In future grease up the terminals to avoid the damage.

$400 sounds like a lot but it depends what the damage is.

 

[Bikeman315]

Well let's see.

Battery $175.00 - $200.00
Terminal $20.00
Labor 1 hour at $65.00

Total $260.00 - $285.00

Yeah, $400 sounds high.

 

[Rapid Red]

@ OP,

by chance do you know the brand of the battery that has failed.

 

[Torched10]

@ OP,

by chance do you know the brand of the battery that has failed.

AAA will come to your house and change it.not sure if they'll change terminal.

 

[retrodoc]

@ OP,

by chance do you know the brand of the battery that has failed.

Its the stock battery, with 36k miles on it. No idea about the brand, if you want to know i will check once my car is back from the dealership

 

[retrodoc]

This is not an uncommon problem and is caused by Hydrogen from the battery corroding the terminal (or an electrolyte leak)

If left it can cause significant damage so you would need to see it after it has been cleaned up to determine whether a new battery is required.

In future grease up the terminals to avoid the damage.

$400 sounds like a lot but it depends what the damage is.

can you please elaborate on what to do after cleaning up to look for the damage?
Thanks

 

[Vlad Soare]

so they are quoting 400$ for the battery and the terminal with labor.

Huh?!?
Maybe if the new battery were made of solid gold...

 

[tcman54]

Same thing happened to me except they didn't need to replace the terminal just the battery.

The checked all my wires and terminals, cleaned them up, greased them up and installed a new 84 month warranty battery that comes with free towing and charged me $140 for everything.

Not sure what cost it would be to change out the terminal but $400 for your work seems high.

TC

 

[Gregs24]

The positive terminal includes connections for the battery monitoring wiring as well as the main connection so may be a little more involved. The negative terminal is cheap and easy to change in most cases but you would certainly want to clean it up and check for damage - as in the terminal / connection metal may be eaten away. Still agree $400 is steep especially as the Mustang has a very simple battery unlike cars with stop start. AGM batteries are £150 or more over here compared to £80 or so for standard SLI batteries

 

[Cactus Jim]

Must be a common problem for the factory battery. Mine did the same thing. It started leaking acid around the pos. terminal and corroded the crap out of the connector. Of course you can't see the battery under that cover so you don't notice anything till you have a problem. Mine crapped out away from home, so my only way back was to buy a new battery at the closest walking distance! Got the car back home and had to take the Positive terminal off the harness and soak it in vinegar to get the corrosion off and then wire brush everything clean again. Lucky it wasn't eaten up too bad to fix. Also took the battery box out to make sure acid hadn't got into the fender-well and washed everything down. Luckily it was all OK under there, but being hidden, it could have been a mess if left unseen. Put some of those red and green felt pads on the terminals to keep the corrosion down & everything is OK. I'll be looking under there now every oil change just to be safe from now on.

 

[Rapid Red]

AAA will come to your house and change it.not sure if they'll change terminal.

So what who cares, if they put in a crappy battery. It leaks down the road, takes out terminals or worse starts working on the unibody . I ask what was gained ?


My question is more about, is it a Ford battery that has leaked .

One absolutely gets what they pay for battery wise.

All I'm interested in, again who is the manufacture of the battery, easy question ?

 

[CVCashmere]

Also, baking soda will clean up battery acid. However, it will leave a white residue on your driveway.

CVCashmere

 

[Spartan1]

One of the benefits to putting my car in storage for 4 months a year I guess. Will inspect the terminals twice a year.

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