Rapid battery terminal corrosion?

[rpt50]

My '17 FIST does not get used a lot (22K in 4 years). About two weeks ago I opened the hood and noticed a lot of corrosion on the negative battery terminal. I cleaned it up good, and installed an anti-corrosion washer. I just opened the hood again and the corrosion is back with a vengeance. What could be causing the corrosion to appear so fast????

 

[SteveS]

Most commonly it's leakage of the electrolyte in the battery. It can be caused by overfilling the battery if you have the kind of battery that can be filled. However, since you aren't driving the car enough and it's the negative terminal, it's most likely caused by an undercharged battery from not driving it enough.It's also an old enough battery that it may be on the way out. It's funny, reference articles use the exact same words you did when describing corrosion on old (4-5 years) batteries--with a vengeance.

I'd first try using a charger to fully charge the battery and see what happens. If it quickly discharges and doesn't hold the charge, replace the battery. And if you're going to continue not driving the car, consider getting a battery tender.

 

[slopoke]

Clean the battery terminals with a water mixed with baking soda to neutralize the acids on the terminal and cable. Wire brush the corroded parts. Apply a thin coat of dielectric grease to the terminals and re-install the battery cables.

 

[Azmodeus]

My stock ford battery cracked around the negative terminal and kept corroding. Then ate into that sensor on the terminal, so watch out for that.

 

[rpt50]

OK thanks for all the tips. I'm going to inspect the battery more closely to make sure it's not cracked as noted. I've got some of that T-9 aircraft stuff somewhere in the garage. I'll coat it with that and see what happens. As summer gets here I'll drive the car more for sure. At 4 years it may be time for a new battery anyway.

 

[Capri to ST]

At 4 years it may be time for a new battery anyway.

I'm going to replace mine every 4 years just to be on the safe side. Modern cars have a lot of electronics, and I've heard that really strange things can happen with this car when the battery starts getting weak.
I got an AGM battery for mine to hopefully avoid the corrosion issue that you have talked about.