Ever since we bought this car new it has significant corrosion at the battery. Especially the positive side but also extends to the bracket etc...
Replaced the battery yesterday (5th in 10 years but who's counting) and the guy putting the new one in at Autozone commented on the amount of corrosion.
I knew it was bad but when the guy who does them all the time calls it out you know its bad.

Any idea what causes one car to exhibit this when others don't so much? My Armada battery looks new with zero corrosion. I'd like to try to solve the source of this issue but have no idea where to begin.

ETA: Forgot to mention. There also seems to be a very small parasitic draw. If the car is left 2-3 weeks unstarted it will likely just not start.
Car has done this since new in 2016 in Vegas. I attributed the first failure to the wicked Vegas climate.

Humidity does it through electrolysis.
I apply wheel bearing grease over my terminals that do this.

My Nissan does it. My Corvette and Ranger do not.

Humidity is everywhere, why do some batteries not have issues? Better materials in some batteries?

Subaru had to pay a settlement regarding battery issues. It may be worthwhile to search the web for details.

My Tacoma had really bad corrosion on the terminals, my old Jeep never has. YouTube has a lot of videos on how to clean them. I use a business card and an old toothbrush as a mini dustpan & broom, then carefully sweep all I can off the terminals, frequently dumping the powdery stuff into a suitable container.

DON'T GET THAT STUFF ON YOUR CLOTHES OR (HEAVEN FORBID!) IN YOUR EYES! I wear eye protection and old clothes.

You can also use baking soda and water to wash it off. Once that's done, I use Vaseline to coat the terminals and connectors to keep the corrosion off them. That works just fine.

Pull your battery and Kill all the corrosion with a mix of baking soda and water. Soak the cable ends in the bs/water mix. Rinse everything with water. Let it dry then prime and paint any rear metal.

On the terminals use vaseline after brushing the terminals and cables.

I would also buy those red and green felt terminal pads the go on the battery posts under the cables.

This should stop or slow the corrosion down but if the corrosion isn’t completely killed it will start growing again. If it looks like the bolts are corroding then pull them out and soak them in the bs/water mix.

You also seem to be going through a lot of batteries. Check to make sure your charging system isn’t over charging.

If you've replaced the battery 5 times in two years I'd guess the parasitic draw is what's killing your battery so in addition to solving the corrosion issue you should make it a priority to locate and repair whatever is causing the drain on the battery. My 2010 Tundra blower motor went bad and was draining the battery in 4-5 days completely dead to the point I couldn't even open the doors with the key fob. Cost me a couple hundred bucks to replace the motor but it solved my problem.

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
If you've replaced the battery 5 times in two years I'd guess the parasitic draw is what's killing your battery so in addition to solving the corrosion issue you should make it a priority to locate and repair whatever is causing the drain on the battery. My 2010 Tundra blower motor went bad and was draining the battery in 4-5 days completely dead to the point I couldn't even open the doors with the key fob. Cost me a couple hundred bucks to replace the motor but it solved my problem.

Royalty Auto Service on YouTube has some good info on locating parasitic loss.

Replace it with a sealed AGM battery. No gases and acid leaking out will prevent corrosion.

I would suspect the parasitic draw is using quite a lot of battery capacity while it sits and after you start the engine the battery is getting a heavy charge which bubbles out a bit of acid in the vapors. Some time spent pulling individual fuses and checking the amp draw as each comes out might help narrow it down.

What others have said AND by the preferable AGM battery from Walmart. The AGM has a 4yr warranty. If it goes "dead" in the warranty period they just give you a new battery. If not the AGM then the 3yr warranty regular battery. At your rate you would end up with like a buy one get one on batteries

Overcharge condition.

It results in the corrosion and a "grey lead greasy" film between battery terminal and clamp increasing resistances and begins a low draw, creating a cycle that rapidly continues.

The overcharging results in hydrogen gas and that is why you see corrosion to the bracket and other nearby areas.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Overcharge condition.

It results in the corrosion and a "grey lead greasy" film between battery terminal and clamp increasing resistances and begins a low draw, creating a cycle that rapidly continues.

The overcharging results in hydrogen gas and that is why you see corrosion to the bracket and other nearby areas.

I was thinking similar, also have seen alternators that kill batteries that seem to have a parasitic draw.
A bad voltage regulator will boil the battery acid and cause corrosion,as well as premature battery failure. It's uncommon on newer vehicles,but not impossible.

Get the system tested for function. Parasitic draws are a pain. It may be door switch that's not fully closed, the switch not the door, or something simple but hard to find.

You don't keep a keyfob near the car do you? Is it push button to start? I had a friend that had a Subaru and kept the key fob in the car in the locked garage. The car was always communicating with it, killed a lot of key fob batteries and once he's pretty sure the main battery when they left it for a week or two.

If it sits for a while regularly, look at a battery tender device to keep the battery topped up. I have the NOCO and a Battery Tender brand on my small engine batteries and works great.