A few months ago when I had my Camry serviced they sprayed the battery terminals with something. I just checked under the hood and there is a small amount of red gook around the terminals. Is that from when they sprayed it or is it leaking acid?
That's the pretectant they sprayed on the terminals.
The 'red gook' is a real light grease that contains an acid neutralizer (like baking soda) and a coloring agent. The grease tends to seal the terminals while the neutralizer protects the terminals from corrosion caused by the battery's acid. The red dye is to make you feel good about the job done by the mechanic.
The red stuff isn't very effective. The red dye tends to cover up and hide any corrosion that develops. If the mechanic didn't remove the terminals and clean them first, the job is less than half done because the red stuff won't be able to penetrate the terminal's mating surfaces.
You can do a much better job at home. Buy a battery terminal cleaner brush, a box of baking soda, a tooth brush, a small container and some grease. Mix up 1 tablespoon of baking soda with about 1/2 cup of water in the container. Remove the battery terminals, negative terminal first. Clean the battery posts with the cleaner brush. Then dip the tooth brush in the baking soda/water mixture and clean both the battery posts and the connectors on the cables (don't let the soda mixture get inside the battery). When the soda mixture has stopped bubbling, wipe it up and do the cleaning again. Repeat at least three times or until the mixture bubbles slowly or not at all. Wipe dry the top of the battery, terminal posts and connectors. Coat the posts with a light coating of grease, reinstall the connectors (negative terminal last) and coat the connectors with a light coat of grease. That will protect your battery terminals for the life of your battery.
Now, lets watch and read the flames telling me I'm full of s--t. hehehe
Jack
That is so old school Jack, but it's the best.
Very good advice, although I would add that the white buildup that appears on the battery terminals is from the gas that escapes from the gap between the battery case and the terminals, so make sure to apply the grease or protectant around the base of the terminals so that the area where the terminals come through the case is well-coated.
That's why people like to use maintenance free batteries, like the excellent but hard to find 24F size AC Delco line. The special lead alloy grid and such lower the outgassing rate, and the vents don't let out as much gas compared to regular lead-acid batteries because of it. Corrosion hasn't been a problem for a long time now.
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