Battery ACID Severely Damages Yet Another C5 Corvette (Here's How To FIX the MESS!)

[@RefLogic]

Like the hockey shirt! Refereed high school and college hockey for many years and allot of Gopher games...🙂

[@Toys4Life]

That's awesome - Do you still play? I play with a group on Sundays ages 30-65, with an occasional 20 year old or perhaps someone on the cusp of 70. Good times!

[@keithp115]

A few years ago my Interstate battery exploded during winter storage, while on a quality trickle charger. Fortunately I heard the noise and immediately flushed the debris, with no damage. My ‘99 Coupe was very fortunate. Interstate corporate replaced my battery and took interest in the incident. Thanks for the very informative post sir!

[@Toys4Life]

That is very fortunate you heard it!!! Thanks for the comment!

[@JohnSmith-ti2kp]

@keith115- Check out my solution above.

[@billyquinn2162]

I love your channel! I’ve owned my C5 Z06 for a little more than two years and have often referred to your videos for guidance on repairs.

[@Toys4Life]

I appreciate that!

[@RefLogic]

Nope I'm done...knees are gone. Went to St Paul Harding when they had hockey and were actually good! In Fort Myers now and don't miss the cold and snow...thanks for videos!

[@Toys4Life]

My dad graduated from Harding back when they had hockey 🏒. Serious question, I would consider Florida but those damn hurricanes roll through once in a while and mess things up(stressful). Is home insurance as bad as it is made out to be in Florida? I love the idea of no state income tax (:-)

[@RefLogic]

@@Toys4Life I'm a 73 grad...what was he? Last Name? He might remember Paul Holmgren...we are still in touch often. He played for the Flyers and finished with the North Stars. Ran the table on executive jobs from assistant coach through to president of the Flyers. Insurance rates are very dependent on location like if your close to the beach or canals or rivers. We are 15 miles from FM Beach and rates are not crazy like you might hear about. In a gated community on a golf course...the weather from now all the way until May is awesome! Played golf twice over the weekend in shorts and in the low 80's. Been here 4 years after my mom passed who lived in Oakdale...won't be back to MN until maybe June. Everything has trade-offs. I might look you up in a year or so after I saw your video about helping find a decent Corvette. I'm considering next year maybe a C3 or C5...not a show car just something for occasional short trips. Had a 1977 L82 4sp in the mid to late 80's and luvd that car. Thanks for staying in touch...!

[@WarriorsPhoto]

I got a lot of value out of this video. You showed me how to fix this issue in my C5. Good ol'e GM and their engineering. LOL😊

[@Toys4Life]

I appreciate that! 🙏

[@WarriorsPhoto]

@ The joke about GM, you’re welcome! 🤣😜🤣

[@Toys4Life]

Oh I know, there's plenty of times I wonder what the engineers were thinking when they design things, and of course that goes for Ford and imports as well and of course Dodge. Cheers!

[@WarriorsPhoto]

@@Toys4Life It’s like me and my mechanic say, “It ain’t having issues. It ain’t a Ford or Chevy.” 🤣🤣🤣

[@cr1spyn1nja]

One of the first things I did when I bought my C6 was swap out the AC Delco acid battery for an Optima red top. I live in a very warm climate and acid leaks are very common when the batteries get hot so it was a very much needed part of preventative maintenance. I had a previous horror experience with acid leak in my 2012 Mustang GT which ate through the positive battery harness and was a massive pain to repair.

[@misterjones6599]

Great video for those who don't know, but I had heard about the battery being mounted atop the wiring harness and computer, and people experiencing serious issues with leaking acid. Both my C5 and C6 had brand new batteries in them when I bought them, and in both cases they were cheapo lead acid varieties. I bought Optima AGM batteries to replace both of them immediately. I use them in all of my cars, and my experience with them has been great.

[@doug.s6289]

I remember a C&S Corvette KZbin video comparing battery types. Although your caution for AGM batteries is true, there is more.... AGMs don't do well in certain weather conditions and a special battery tender may be needed (as compared to lead-acid batts). I'm sticking with lead acid battery...But have placed an acid absorbent mat under the battery (available at Amazon) and I do monthly inspections for any signs of leakage.

[@Toys4Life]

My AGM battery is starting to get weak and needs replacement. I bought it 10 & 1/2 years ago. My battery tender Jr has worked wonderfully, zero issues for me.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

@@doug.s6289 Brilliant and thank you!

[@Tiberius_I]

Better yet, why not just spray the battery shelf area with baking soda water and then rinse it off, every couple months ?

[@WarriorsPhoto]

@ Brilliant idea. Thank you for sharing.

[@Toys4Life]

Did that absorbent Matt fit and still allow you to use the lockdown Mount for the battery?

[@GregSr]

Great info! Pre-emptively I switched to an Optima AGM battery about three years ago. The flooded battery never leaked but I just didn't trust it after reading the horror stories online, The AGM battery does behave differently if it is allowed to discharge too much. Recently, I had left my interior lights on overnight and my 2003 C5 wouldn't crank the next morning. It was down to about four volts. So I thought, no problem, I would throw a battery charger on and recharge it. It took an unusually long time to recover. After 24 hours, it still wasn't fully charged. Eventually, it did reach a full charge. Before this AGM battery, I never had a battery take so long to recover.

[@failranch9542]

One of the first things this problem does is attacks the rubber vacuum hoses that control the HVAC blend doors. The failure mode generally is that your AC will blow out the defrost vents only.

[@99bx99]

TFL, I love your videos. When I was rebuilding totaled C5's one had a computer problem, not from a leaking battery, it was just gone, torn out in the crash. I bought a preprogrammed computer and engine wiring harness off Ebay and fixed that problem. BTW, there's exactly 103 wires coming out of the computer if I remember correctly.

[@Toys4Life]

That sounds about right, I can see how it would tear loose too, not a whole lot holding it to the frame! 😔

[@johnholmes2808]

I change my battery every 2 years on my 2001. Never had an issue. I always have a battery tender on it too.

[@JaysRandomnessChannel]

That's the key ...to not even let it get to the point to where it fails and leaks acid. I'm the same way with belts, fluids, starters, alternators, thermostats, brake pads etc. Hell those parts cost literally nothing to me and I do all of my own work so it's a win-win in my opinion.

[@Slo.340]

What are the best batteries for c5 z06

[@JohnSmith-ti2kp]

After watching a video warning of this potential problem and hearing that "there is no sensor for a battery leak", I decided to make a sensor for a battery leak. I used a piece of flexible furniture sheet vinyl and cut to fit so it would surround the battery on all sides and the bottom. I pushed the vinyl into the space under the battery where the mount bolts are, forming a pouch to concentrate any leaking fluid. I then went to my house's crawl space and removed one of my "The Watch Dog Water Alarms" with it's wired remote sensor. I placed the sensor at the bottom of the pouch under the battery, installed the battery and attached the unit with velcro to the side of the battery box. I thought that maybe it would not work under real conditions under the hood, but it has been well over a year or more and is still fine. It was a really cheap solution for a little piece of mind.

[@doug.s6289]

Can you post a snapshot? I've been considering some plastic covering over the area below the battery and "routing" any drips/leaks past important parts of car and onto the ground...so any ideas are welcome.

[@JohnSmith-ti2kp]

@@doug.s6289 Sorry, I have no way to do that.

[@darrylsjodin7184]

Wow!, you do great work!

[@Toys4Life]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@HotRod-wv4vm]

Thanks for the informative video

[@txfieros]

I’ve used AGM batteries on various cars and boats for over 20 years and they will leak in their later life, but usually just around the terminals and can destroy the terminal if not inspected periodically. All the ones I’ve used are top mount so that helps keep any accumulation to the top. If you have to have a side mount AGM there’s still risk of acidic accumulation on the side. Don’t know if it would drip though. All the way to under the battery.

[@JohnSmith-ti2kp]

@txfieros-Check out my solution above.

[@txfieros]

@ good solution. I’m not really worried about it an any of my family cars…I’m always peering under the hood quite often to make sure nothing is going wrong. But I can see where a protective solution would work for many.

[@RonsChann]

I just got a 2002 C5, and just like the 2003 I had before, it has corrosion under the battery. Thank you for the very good video, and explaining how the sealed batteries probably leak due to the high temperatures under the hood. If you do not mind me asking, at a Corvette shop about how much would a job like that cost? Regardless, thanks and subscribed and thumbs up of course!

[@Toys4Life]

Depends on how diligent they are. Labor rates are expensive, so probably around 700 bucks maybe.

[@RonsChann]

@@Toys4Life Honored you took time to answer! Thank you again. 700 sounds reasonable for all that damage. I have not taken the wheel etc. off yet to see. Hopefully it is a moot point lol. But at least I know.

[@RonsChann]

Wanted to follow up on this and thank you again! I took out the battery, jacked my Corvette, named President Trump up, took off the passenger wheel and cover behind the wheel that lets us see if we have corrosion. I am happy to report, although there was some it was not a lot, and it was not on the wiring harness or computer cover etc. It had not eaten completely through the paint etc. I cleaned everything off with a wire brush, sprayed some anti-corrosion stuff on and put everything back. It appears things will be just fine. But it definitely needed checking and some attention. So, thanks again. P.S. My C5 is named for President Trump because when I saw Trump was going to win, I decided to buy the Corvette the next day lol!

[@Toys4Life]

Glad yours was in pretty good shape and congrats!!

[@Play-ball4u]

Red Top baby!!!!!!

[@Tiberius_I]

My uncle loves Chevrolet products and has ever since the 1968 Z-28 Camaro he bought new after making it home (alive, in one piece) from Vietnam. He still owns that same Camaro, and he's owned several Corvettes since then too. A year or two ago though, he tried to drive 2,000 miles with my aunt from the midwest to California, in his near-new 2022 Corvette to come visit us. But somewhere in Arizona while driving 70 on the freeway the electric steering system on this car had some kind of malfunction and went haywire - for a moment the car became uncontrollable and he wound up spinning the car facing the wrong direction! Happily there was no body damage (to either the people or the car!) and Chevrolet admitted fault for the bad design that caused the steering malfunction. But then followed a long, long saga of trying to get Chevy to pay for the repair caused by their faulty design! First my uncle had to argue with the dealership who'd sold it (who washed their hands of the car problem as fast as possible for GM to deal with) and refused to even discuss it further), then after almost a year of that, finally having to take it all the way to GM corporate, just to get the car fixed without further expense (He was already over $2K out of pocket trying to fix a NEW CAR). And of course, when the matter finally reached all the way up the chain of command at GM, their army of scum-bag lawyers spent the next year while they delayed, denied, lied, and reversed themselves, again and again, and moved heaven and earth NOT to have to take financial liability to pay for the consequences of their own shoddy engineering! He finally got it settled, after around two years of legal wrangling, all just to get Chevrolet to pay for the fix for their own defective product! Is it any wonder why GM loses more customers every single year?

[@josephfriedling9190]

Great info

[@ROBERTJAUCH-k1e]

I track my C6 and have had a similar problem mostly because of the lateral G's causing battery acid to splash on the wiring harness. I had to rebuild the harness and with a AGM or lithium battery have not had a problem since.

[@Tiberius_I]

That doesn't sound right... nothing should leak out of a lead-acid battery, ever. I don't understand, how could even hard turning cause the acid water to be expelled out of a battery?

[@Toys4Life]

My theory. Underhood temps get to 160 after driving (I measured it). Pressure builds up inside the battery as liquids expand. If it cannot hold the pressure - acid spews out.

[@robertmaybeth3434]

@@Toys4Life But auto batteries are vented for that very reason.

[@z512345]

Toys, let me run this by you. Can you use dynamat, or any similar product under the battery and wrapped around the wiring harnesses for acid protection??

[@Toys4Life]

Perhaps you could wrap a layer of something absorbent around the entire battery tightly and check it once in a while. Acid will probably eat right through it but at least you would catch it earlier? I don't think Dynamite is absorbent enough to do much.

[@z512345]

@@Toys4Life Thanks!!

[@johnbonham617]

Nice job!

[@jabbagna4237]

Great info Thank u

[@RicheySynthetics]

Late 80s and through the 90s I was a big Optima battery fan, they were great batteries but once they got bought and sold out or whatever and now owned by interstate, they’re made in Mexico and they become crap. I had three optima batteries that lasted over eight years each in a few different vehicles. Odyssey AGM batteries is the only way to go! There’s a few others out there that are really good, but Odyssey is the old optima. I wish people would do a little more research and stop wasting their money on crap made products! Great video.

[@coletrick8748]

I’ve had a red top Optima leak from the base of the positive terminal (99 Mustang Cobra). It was hooked to my tender and had been sitting for atleast a few weeks.

[@Toys4Life]

This is the first time I have ever heard that. How much fluid came out? How old was it? What was its state of charge? Appreciate the comment!

[@michaelm3381]

His battery was only two years old? Scary.

[@Toys4Life]

It's not clear that is the main culprit or even the culprit. Since the car is over 20 years old, it's probably had three maybe as many as five batteries depending on.

[@michaelm3381]

@Toys4Life true, I didn't think about a previous battery.

[@johnbonham617]

Time for some rotors!!! Those babies are smoked.

[@richardcorcorran8965]

Yikes, I'm afraid to look at my 98

[@Toys4Life]

Mix yourself up a glass of whiskey, and then take a peek 😀

[@notbuyingit8047]

I bet the mouse nest contributed to that corrosion. They are not potty trained.

[@Toys4Life]

Poor little bastards probably had acid drip on them....(:-)