Now that we have the van my wife's Highlander gets driven maybe once a week. I drove it Tuesday with no issue. Been in the garage ever since though it has been silly hot this week.
I had the van last night so she went to go some where and nothing.
Not a light, no screen light up, doors won't unlock. Dead as dead can be.
I just got a new charger/jump box so I had her fire up FaceTime to walk her through how to jump it. She pulls the plastic cover to the positive terminal and it is completely filled with a bright blue crystal. OK never mind I'll check it when I get home never seen corrosion that bad.
Looks to me like the battery ruptured a bit as it and the caps are a bit deformed. The terminal is literally fused to the terminal. I keep putting battery/connector cleaner on it and it is not doing too much. Going to soak it for quite sometime and hope I can get it off.
Any other suggestions on other ideas to break up the corrosion??
Never seen something this bad, should I be looking for a bigger electrical issue?? I have an AGM battery that will be here in the morning.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Black92LX,

Sorry for the huge pics.
I have just started using IMGUR and not sure how to make them smaller.

You can get spray terminal cleaner at an autoparts store, or use baking soda and warm water to dissolve the corrosion off. Baking soda and water can take a while, though.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
You can get spray terminal cleaner at an autoparts store, or use baking soda and warm water to dissolve the corrosion off. Baking soda and water can take a while, though.

The yellow goop in the last picture is the spray cleaner it is not doing much on the solid crystal stuff. Did great cleaning up the negative side that was not fused just slightly corroded.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Sorry for the huge pics.
I have just started using IMGUR and not sure how to make them smaller.

FYI - When uploading pics to Imgur, you want to be in the 'Images' screen/view. This is selected from the drop-down menu under the account name (located top right). From that screen you can 'Auto Resize' the image to one of several resolutions. You can also add the image to an existing album if you so choose. Make the selections from the drop-down menus, and THEN click 'Add Images'.....You cannot resize them after you upload.

Use a flat tip in the split towards the front of it, just twist to open it up

Drill a bunch of holes in the post. It's soft lead.

You could just replace the cable.

That is if you can get to the other end easily.

For that amount of corrosion to build up it's been a long time since someone took a look under the hood. As for causes, I suspect it's an over charging issue. If you take a look at the white powder trails those are exactly the pattern you would expect from "outgassing" of the barrery and that white powder is basically "dehydrated sulfuric Acid". BTW, I am sure there is an exact chemical name for this powder but I am not a chemist. Possibly because the vehicle sit's enough run the battery down and need to pump some serious amps into the battery to get it back up to the voltage needed to trigger the voltage regulator. Odd as it sounds a 1 or 2 amp trickle charger hooked up to the battery any time it's idle for an extended period is probably the solution.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
You could just replace the cable.

That is if you can get to the other end easily.

Or just cut the end off and replace it.

Fixing/replacing battery cables is pretty simple.

Toyota is really good about the cable being attached to the terminal via an eyelet and a nut. Buy a couple marine terminals remove the single nut holding the cable to the terminal and clean that eyelet off with a steel brush until its just metal. Attach cable/eyelet to new marine terminals. I would cut the wire coating off a few inches down to make sure corrosion did not spread into the cable itself. If it did replace the whole cable.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Sorry for the huge pics.
I have just started using IMGUR and not sure how to make them smaller.

Dude, use postimage.

Finally got it off. Spray and soak then chip away. Took a few time and finally got a pry bar underneath and popped it off.

What can I soak that connector in to really loosen up that crap so I can clean it up real nice with a wire brush before the new battery goes in??

Picked up an AGM battery so corrosion should not be an issue.

Safety glasses, rubber gloves, a 5 gallon bucket of hot water, baking soda and a plastic brush with stiff bristles should clean that off pretty well. A battery post brush tool can't hurt either.

I normally clean the battery outside of the vehicle and then work on corroded terminals with the battery out of the way.

Sometimes it takes more than one bucket of hot water to get all the baking soda residue off.

Upon re-installation, I normally add a set of these as cheap insurance: https://www.bellautomotive.com...s-p/22-5-00608-8.htm

I also add a bit of this over the top (mainly because I've had a can in the garage for 20 years.): https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/MCR1067

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Finally got it off. Spray and soak then chip away. Took a few time and finally got a pry bar underneath and popped it off.

What can I soak that connector in to really loosen up that crap so I can clean it up real nice with a wire brush before the new battery goes in??

Picked up an AGM battery so corrosion should not be an issue.

It may be easier to just replace the terminal end. They are easy to replace and usually only cost a few bucks.

quote:

Originally posted by M1Garandy:
Safety glasses, rubber gloves, a 5 gallon bucket of hot water, baking soda and a plastic brush with stiff bristles should clean that off pretty well. A battery post brush tool can't hurt either.

I normally clean the battery outside of the vehicle and then work on corroded terminals with the battery out of the way.

Sometimes it takes more than one bucket of hot water to get all the baking soda residue off.

Upon re-installation, I normally add a set of these as cheap insurance: https://www.bellautomotive.com...s-p/22-5-00608-8.htm

I also add a bit of this over the top (mainly because I've had a can in the garage for 20 years.): https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/MCR1067

I'll try the hot water and baking soda.
Won't need the felt rings as the replacement I am using is an AGM so I won't have to worry about future corrosion.

quote:

Originally posted by countryboy:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Finally got it off. Spray and soak then chip away. Took a few time and finally got a pry bar underneath and popped it off.

What can I soak that connector in to really loosen up that crap so I can clean it up real nice with a wire brush before the new battery goes in??

Picked up an AGM battery so corrosion should not be an issue.

It may be easier to just replace the terminal end. They are easy to replace and usually only cost a few bucks.

This particular model as some sort of dual connection on it. Kind of weird so I can't just swap the connector.
Also looks like Toyota does not sell just the connector but need to buy the whole cable and that looks to be $100 plus the hassle of running it.
I'll try to clean it up first.

Soak in in a cup of Coke! The ki d you drink.