yesterday my girl turned the key on her 94 ex next thing, we hear a loud pop like a gunshot or a M80... we were thinkin wtf? saw some smoke under the hood so we popped it open to see this

we were thinking it was the battery or there could've been a short somewhere... the guy at shucks said it might be the alternator...anybody know what caused it?

 

Ouch! First time i've ever seen something like that happen. I do not know what could be the cause..sorry.

 

RIGHT NOW! YOU NEED TO GO AND SPRAY DOWN THE WHOLE AREA W/ BAKING SODA or BATTERY CLEANER SPRAY. That acid will chew up everything and damage ALOT of surfaces....

Regulator on alternator might be bad. But...GO CLEAN THE BAY

 

incorrect jumping could cause the bat to blow up. But in this case, i have no idea. There must be a spark somewhere.

 

what the hell happend? go clean up and spray down your engine bay.. my battery leaked on me and melted my paint away.. it sucks.

 

ive heard of a few batterys busting like that. usually its caused by a short in some aftermarket wiring

 

forgot to add water huh?

wash the engine bay, make sure the acid is off the painted surface.
wash it like it's your first born, and go back to the vender and demand a brand new battery

 

Get that acid out of your bay boss PRONTO! It will eat through paint and corrode metal surfaces. Your coolant reservoir (mounted right in front of the battery) may get eaten up too if the explosion didnt blow a hole in it initially. That will be a new problem all together if your leaking coolant.

I say clean the bay immediately, check your reservoir, heater hoses, fuse block for damage. Wow I've never seen a battery explode like that

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slow-n-low &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... Your coolant reservoir (mounted right in front of the battery) may get eaten up too if the explosion didnt blow a hole in it initially...</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'd be more worried about the radiator itself. The reservoir doesn't hold pressure, & the acid would do more damage to metal parts than plastic.

 

Battery acid won't hurt plastic parts--just the metal ones (especially unpainted metal ones like radiator cores and fins). It also likes any electrical components it can get into or on.

Explosion is caused by hydrogen gas (H2) generated by a lead-acid battery. H2 is produced when a batter is charging. H2 is VERY explosive (which is why the Hindenburg went up in a flash). H2 buildup under the hood, then spark caused by ignition (or some other source under hood) = boom. H2 in cells of battery expanding under intense pressure from burning unable to escape fast enough = battery schrapnel as seen in photo.

 

yes, check water level? did it get over heated? maybe current outside temp plus no water ? not sure that sucks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by weneklek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
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lol, that sucks man.

 

Time to get a non-spillable battery .

 

just got off work...well, it turns out to be lack of water... will be washing the engine bay first thing tomorrow... just had minimal spillage on the underside of the hood and on the intake box hopefully no corrosion yet whatsoever

 

damn never seen that before

 

Thats a first

 

usualy this will happen when the battery is frozen. who knows

 

i think those batteries are called maintenace (sp?) batteries, where you need to keep an eye on the water level. not sure if they're better then non-maintenance batteries, but might be something you should look at getting.

 

wat yu mean you never seen that b4..

that wasn't a maintenance-free battery.
and he forgot to re-fill it with distilled water..

so it blew..
that's what they do. they blow up when you don't refill distilled water..
i'm gonna go check mine now.. bye

 

i kno it wasn't a mantanence free battery, i see the little cover to fill it with water. i was saying they should look into getting a mantanence free battery.

 

Good point about the plastic..... I kinda overreacted about that one ...

Is the fuse block and radiator alright? Good thing it didn't get all over everything.

On a lighter side......good time to get an Optima.

 

thats some x files sh*t right there

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by STARRMAN85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i kno it wasn't a mantanence free battery, i see the little cover to fill it with water. i was saying they should look into getting a mantanence free battery.</TD></TR></TABLE>

gotcha..

 

overcharging a battery will cause it to explode but that usually does not happen when you are trying to start your car.

 

Cotdamn!

That's why I'm gonna get an Optima battery and mount it upside-down on my ceiling...why?...because I can!