Huge rust hole under battery....

[Trilidon 0]

Ya, pretty bad. Any suggestions? I dunno how to even slow it down.

[daves16v 1]

You really need to cut far enough around the hole so that you are left with a bigger hole with the no evidence of rust whatsoever. Once rust gets a hold it's difficult to stop the spread.

 

Depending on the size of the 'new' hole you you can either have a piece welded in or just rivet a piece over the top but don't forget the paint the bare edges of the cut hole.

 

Whatever method you use the battery will be sitting directly on a high spot so will be a little unstable unless you had a new piece that covers the whole of the battery area.

[craigowl 0]

To prevent this, for years I have smothered the tray and the bottom of the battery in Waxoyl.

Too late for you here Trilidon, but worth trying from now on.

The sulphuric acid in batteries is hygroscopic - it attracts water vapour from the air - and only a drop or misting of it (as when recharging) on painted metalwork is bad news.

[redlee 0]

I recently had mine repaired at a local vw specialist, he cut the old one out and replaced with a new tray which i think he said was from a mk2 Golf.

[Banana Man 0]

I got a whole new battery tray from the dealers it went from the front of the ccar right back to the bulkhead had the old bit cut out as it was so rusty that the battery braket bolt wasn't attatched to anything underneath so the battery was just floating around! All in it cost me £60 as the battery tray was quite expensive then!!

[chubbybrown 0]

Lots of waxoyl stops it

 

its quite unsightly but the people who work and look under there appreciate why its there esp on a yellow car !

 

our one gets winterised before the winter,steamed,waxoyled and we try not to wash anything apart from main body due to the rock salt they use up here.

 

regards

[Kevin Bacon 5]

That's the trouble, you actually get snow in some parts of America and therefore loads of road salt :x

 

On the odd occasion the UK gets snow, all it takes is an inch of the stuff and it brings the entire country to grinding halt!

 

Get a sealed battery, an AC Delco or something and do as the others suggest and cake the repaired panel with tonnes of body panel wax.

[chubbybrown 0]

kinda takes me back to me old orion and escort days

ice cream tub over the top of the battery

[Kevin Bacon 5]

And me too with my Allegro....nice green acidic drips from the battery :x

 

I like the current VW battery arrangements. The battery is inside a plastic flip top box. Looks really neat and tidy. Must get one.... or nick it from my Mum's Polo :lol:

 

I must reinforce the AC Delco suggestion tho. Awesome batteries. Not quite in the same league as Optima dry cells but they're completely sealed and have a Green/amber/red battery health indicator and are black.

 

Available from Vauxhall dealers and voted "ICE battery of the Year" for 3 years running.....

[Trilidon 0]

I wouldn't even know where to begin with cutting that area out =P

 

Guess ill get it priced somewhere.

[Trilidon 0]

I know i should get it done asap, but im saving for my charger rebuild at the moment. How long will it take for it to become a huge uncontrollable problem?

[dinkus 10]

And me too with my Allegro....nice green acidic drips from the battery :x

 

You had an Allegro?? :lol: