Anyone ever have their car battery boil and steam?
What was the cause? My GF’s 2018 Toyota had that happen last night. She said it had a burnt smell in the steam.
SomeMichGuy · M
SomeMichGuy · M
olderuncle944 · 70-79, M
what you smelled and saw was hydrogenation gas highly explosive as in Hindenburg explosive battery shorted out and boiled the electrolyte replace asap and dont light a match around it .
OogieBoogie · F
Zaphod42 · 51-55, M
@OogieBoogie After looking it up, apparently the three most common causes are a bad battery with a short somewhere, a bad alternator over charging the battery, or a short somewhere in the electrics that’s diverting power back into the battery.
Her cousin changed the battery this evening and it seems to be ok now. 🤷♂
Her cousin changed the battery this evening and it seems to be ok now. 🤷♂
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@Zaphod42 If replacing the battery alone worked then the original battery must have developed an internal fault, probably a short-circuit.
A short-circuit elsewhere serious enough to cause the battery to overheat and gas severely, is likely to cause other damage - at worst, even a fire.
Generally it is bad practice simply to replace a part that shows the main symptoms unless it is clear that is also the part that failed; because the original fault may lie elsewhere, so if nothing else the replacement will fail in turn.
A short-circuit elsewhere serious enough to cause the battery to overheat and gas severely, is likely to cause other damage - at worst, even a fire.
Generally it is bad practice simply to replace a part that shows the main symptoms unless it is clear that is also the part that failed; because the original fault may lie elsewhere, so if nothing else the replacement will fail in turn.