How To Check For Car Battery Leaks?

Your car's battery may leak or start getting consumed silently by something you are not aware of. If you don't open the hood of your car often, such leaks usually come to your notice only when the car refuses to start. That's why it's necessary that you keep a thorough check on the battery's condition all the time. Here´s a detailed look at not just the symptoms of battery leakage but also a thorough method you can use to check if the battery is leaking. Here we go then.

What are the symptoms of a leaking car battery?

Open the hood of your car and observe the battery for these symptoms if you think it is leaking.

• Check if a bubbly liquid is seeping through the vent cap.
• See if the battery casing is bloated or warped.
• Sniff around the terminals to observe if there's a rotten egg smell coming from the sulfuric battery solution.
• Check if there's noticeable corrosion forming around the battery terminal caps.
• Keep checking if the fluid levels keep going low even after filling them up repeatedly.

How to be sure that your car battery is leaking?

For this test, all you will need is a voltmeter. Open the hood of your car and follow these simple steps to check if your car battery is really leaking current.

• On the voltmeter, plug in the black cable where it says COM, and the red cable where it says DCV.
• Set the range of the voltmeter to 10 Amperes.
• Now, you will need to expose the negative terminal of the battery and touch the negative probe of the voltmeter to it.
• Next, take the positive probe of the voltmeter and touch it to the harness point of the negative terminal.
• As you keep both these terminals touched, the readings on the voltmeter will start changing. Wait for more than 15 seconds for the final reading.

If this reading is 0.07 or lower, you don't need to worry about battery drain at all. But if it's higher than that, your car is definitely leaking battery from somewhere.

What are the possible causes of battery leaks?

Overcharging: An overcharged battery leaks because the electrolyte in the battery boils, causing acidic steam to flow out of the vent caps. This steam pools on the surface of the battery, making the unit look like it's sweating.

Age: The average life of a car battery is about 4 years. You can double that number for an electric car battery but, after a certain point, most batteries start leaking due to age.

Sulfation: This happens when lead sulfate crystals form on the surface of battery plates. It can increase the possibility of acid boiling over, spilling the sulfuric acid solution out of the battery.

Plate expansion: Excessive heat during hot weather conditions can lead to the expansion of your battery plates. This leads to the electrolyte solution in the battery getting pushed out, causing leaks.