I have been having strange electrical issues on my car lately. I decided to remove the battery today and found the negative post on the side mount Optima battery a bear to remove. Normally I would use a 1/4" ratchet on all my batteries, not to strip the internal threads, but I had to use a 3/8" ratchet just to get it to move. When I got it out, it the threads were covered with some white material that I had to wire wheel to get off, it was hard as a rock and used a 5/16" bottom tap to clean the internal threads on the battery. First what caused this and second is there anything I can put on the threads to prevent this in the future? I put it back together and everything is fine now.
It's a little thing called electrolytic action causing corrosion between dis similar metals. In this case likely lead battery posts and steel bolts. You can remove the corrosion with baking soda and water. Dialectric grease, vaseline or anti seize compound will all work. If you remove your battery often, even a squirt of WD40 will prevent the problem.
someone will probably say i should be arrested for violating one of ohms laws but, i have always coated my battery posts with grease after cleaning and tightening and NEVER have a problem getting them off, NEVER have corrosion problems and seam to get way beyond the normal battery life. my best friend drips the oil filter oil when he is doing an oil change on the posts of every vehicle he owns and never has a problem.
When I was in the army we always put heavy grease in the battery posts / cable ends. Not real pretty and could be a bit messy. Not sure if would work on a side post. Thanks tb33anda3rd for bringing back that old motor pool memory. -Dave.
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