2003 XKR

Haven't driven my car much over the winter but did today and noticed a stain on the garage floor that looked like it was from battery acid. Inspection of battery showed similar dried up stain around the base of the battery compartment and possibly spilled over to spare tire compartment. A couple of cells in the battery had fluid a little low but still had visible fluid above the cells and the battery has enough juice to run everything just fine.

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? The battery is an OEM type, replaced by dealer around 7 or 8 years ago after a similar incident (see below). Any advice?

I'm thinking of replacing the battery and was wondering if any types, like an AGM battery, would be more resistant to leaking in the future?

Advice?

==========
Background on similar problem I had years ago:

I had a problem with leaking/cracked battery when the car was a year or two old. Back in those days I stored the card in a self-store locker over the winter and the battery cracked once (maybe twice). The dealer told me that the battery would drain over time and that it's freezing point lowered when it was discharged and recommended installing a battery cut off switch to disconnect the battery when it was stored. I put a disconnect in myself and usually disconnect it when I don't intend to drive it for a while during the coldest winter months (Dec to Feb).

This past winter I had the battery disconnected through most of the cold weather but hooked it up in early March but then didn't drive the car for about a month. Weather was cold, but not sub-zero, and battery never fully discharged. In any event since all cells have fluid in them, even if a little low, it doesn't appear the battery is cracked but none the less it has apparently leaked.

 

Hi Larry,
I would change the battery.

Before fitting a new one, thoroughly clean the area in the trunk using an appropriate acid neutralising agent and, if needs be, repaint the affected area.

If you then have to leave the car for long periods of non use, I would suggest a CTEK battery tender or remove the battery completely.

Hope this helps.

 

If use of a battery tender is impractical, AGM batteries do survive partial discharge better than wet cells.

 

Thanks for the thoughts.

I bought a Duracell AGM battery from Sams Club which is made by East Penn which seems to make a lot of different brands of the AGM batteries including their own Deka line. The 49 AGM battery ran me $158. The more I read about AGM batteries the more I liked about them.

Following Jimbov8's advice I coated the area with baking soda and wiped it down. There was in fact a few spots around the battery and spare tire where the acid had erased spots of paint. Scraped it all down and painted over the spots with a silver rustolium self priming paint which actually matched my XKR's Platinum color more than good enough for under the spare tire and bottom of the battery area.

I don't know if the acid leakage that made the spot on the garage floor caused any problems but I'll have a mechanic check it out in the next month or two. Presumably this went through the vent tube and hopefully it didn't drain onto any important parts.

 

Thanks Larry. I had the same problem with my '01 XKR. It was an AGM battery that leaked. Corrosive acid all over the battery compartment. I put on a respirator and carefully scooped up the loose stuff with a business card, then sprinkled baking soda and wiped up as much as possible with several wet paper towels. Then I scraped the rest off with a wire brush into my mini-shop vac. Then a quick coat of spray paint. What a pain in the ***! Thanks for the advice though.