pulled up my boot lining board today to start bluey after sitting in the shed for a few weeks since our recent road trip away and found this?



http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 4699_n.jpg

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Bluey-1973 Clubby - 1330, high lift, big cam, 7 port madness in progress..

Gumby-1978 Minivan, British Racing Green - 1310, high lift, mild cam, enlarged porting and chamber shape with big valve head, supercharged build in ever slow progress!

Probably a loose connection and moisture?
You will need to clean it with water if possible and remove all of the "growth"
The brush the battery post and cable terminal with a wire brush so they are both clean then put a smear of grease on all parts and put back together.
Make sure the terminal is tight on the battery lug if not you may need to buy a new lug for the end.
Good luck

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Probably have a dead cell that is boiling and venting acid fumes that is attacking the metal in the terminal - leave it long enough and it will start on the car body

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

It is lead sulfate. It is not that unusual on vehicles that are working hard with a lot of things happening with the battery, like running all the things that you did on your trip.
The batteries leak slightly where the post goes into the plastic, the vented gas causes corrosion on the terminal.

The trucks at my work are terrible for it. We just hit the batteries with hot water to clean them up and then coat the terminals with grease or vaseline to slow it down.
Hot water is very good for cleaning them, just heat the kettle up and tip it over the battery. (not boiling, just very hot)

arh i c. Makes sense really.

It's only on the negative terminal. It's a new terminal connection just before my trip as the last bugger was loose even when done up tight. This one tightened up but only just before the thread bottomed out. But it still was tight when I pulled the boot floor up today after 7,000 odd km's later, so it can't be loose i guess.

What makes me curious is this wouldn't be because of my alternator would it? I put a brand new spanking one in a big 70amp one before I left? No over charge problem?

The other thing that has me stumped, is the battery was flat today all of a sudden, this is why i pulled the board up to jump it. Although I can't understand what has changed.. and the battery did seem to be keeping charge well at 14 volts on the meter, and so is the alternator charging really well infact

So I'll be damned???

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Bluey-1973 Clubby - 1330, high lift, big cam, 7 port madness in progress..

Gumby-1978 Minivan, British Racing Green - 1310, high lift, mild cam, enlarged porting and chamber shape with big valve head, supercharged build in ever slow progress!

Hi Lockie,

I would clean up the white powder mess trying not to let any fall into the battery well. The white stuff is Corrosive. Disconnect the batt & pull the batt out to clean up both of the terminals, it's far easier out of the car than in.
The terminals will be a dull grey colour. This is 'scale'. It makes a high resistance join over time. You need to descale the terminals by lightly scrape them with a blunt edge, like a bladed screwdriver or a pocket knife. Lead is soft and the scale comes away easally. The terminals will be 'bright' when you finish.
Clean up the the wire connections and when you reinstall & connect up the again, smear the connection with vasaline and the white powder won't come back again.
I do this to all my car batt's (all 5 at the moment) every 6 mths or so & touch wood, in 10 yrs i"ve never had any batt or terminals problems!

I'ld check the water level in the batt too while it's out!

Cheers Shane

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If it's not a Cooper S, the mini was designed to be modified!

well... yesss plenty of moisture while away on my trip.... too much for Bluey and my liking really A lot of it found it's way into the car as it melted and its still wet in some places



... mmm yes that's snow.. got a good 4 inchs of snow over the whole car at the mountain... this what was left once we finally got out 3.5hrs later...

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Bluey-1973 Clubby - 1330, high lift, big cam, 7 port madness in progress..

Gumby-1978 Minivan, British Racing Green - 1310, high lift, mild cam, enlarged porting and chamber shape with big valve head, supercharged build in ever slow progress!

Well the wipers weren't pulling any current...

sure they were I just decided to use the old fashion method... head out the window

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Bluey-1973 Clubby - 1330, high lift, big cam, 7 port madness in progress..

Gumby-1978 Minivan, British Racing Green - 1310, high lift, mild cam, enlarged porting and chamber shape with big valve head, supercharged build in ever slow progress!

Seeing it is the negative terminal you could undo the other end of the negative cable and lift the battery out cable and all to clean it outside the car.

Then give the boot floor and battery box a wash with soapy water to remove any other surface grime.

Have a good look at the battery to see if it is leaking around the post. If it is leaking it could cause problems again.

Check the charge rate of the alternator to make sure it is not overcharging.

Haha! No chance of that !


(says me with no wipers at present either............. :oops: !)

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Cheers, Kim
**purple '68 deluxe!**


***FINALLY wearing number plates----yeaaaaaah baby! ***

can also mix bicarbonate of soda also known as baking powder mixed with warm water nutralises theacid crap on terminals then flush with clean water
dry well and coat terminals with vaseline

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65 panel van Sprog
73 panel van Iggy

What brand is the battery?
Exide, Bosch and all the others from that factory Ive found to leak like a sieve.

What type of terminals? solid brass or supercheap dodgy jobs?

For gods sake dont go smearing the terminals in grease etc, Its adds heaps of resistance to the join and if you are really unlucky fire and explosions.
Not to mention its messy. Smearing grease on terminals is what of those automotive old wives cures like flushing an engine with diesel fuel or transmission oil. If you stop to think about it its utterly stupid.

There are special chemical washers you can get to neutralise acid and special conductive battery sealants if you want to coat your terminals and stop it taking hold but that's all it will do. It wont stop a cheap battery from leaking.

Basicly good brand battery, Solid terminals (I prefer brass but lead will work) and a coating or dust cap to keep stuff out and you shouldn't have this problem.

I run Exide 550CCA in both the Mini and the Falcon. They are now 5 and 4 years old respectively.
I smear the terminals with vaseline, have done this once a year for yonks and never had a problem. No corrosion on either terminal (my Mini ones are both brass).
Old wives tale? maybe, but I'm old too, and trust me it works.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The battery is Clamped down I hope ! If it is loose in the box it will wobble around on trips and because the Battery terminals are the only things holding it down the Terminal post separates from the case and acid fumes escape from there and tarnishes the Terminal. Best product to use on battery terminals is "Corode Cure". Comes in a red tube and you can buy it at Repco. It is a DEB product I think. It works very well.

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