What is this?

 

Corrosion Clean it off...and neutralize with some baking soda in water..then smear Vaseline or grease on the terminal

 

Yeah.. i figured it was some kind of corrosion, but is the battery leaking, ya think?

 

It's a non sealed battery......so it vents when it charges.....

A sealed battery won't be as bad...cause they vent less

You might want to check the level of the electrolyte in the battery as well....often it is low if there is that much corrosion

 

how does one check the electrolyte level?

 

open up the caps that are on the top...clean it up first though.

Liquid should be above the level of the lead sheets that you will see when you look in

If not..add DISTILLED water till it covers them.....carefully so that you don't splash acid on yourself

How old is the battery...if it's more than 3-4 years old..it would be a good time for a new one

 

it's only a year old or so.. not old at all. I was reading another post about this here:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/weird-battery-post-oxide-corrosion-build-up%85-help-113475/page2/

The guy said he hosed off the terminals after applying the baking soda/water combo.. Can you really hose off the battery like that without shorting it and getting water all over inside the engine compartment?

 

A careful hosing will be OK. Don't spray it on the alternator of the fuse panel and you should be OK

You want to make sure you rinse it well to get rid of it..you don't want it to just wash below the battery box and corrode the subframe

 

ok.. thanks dannobre!

 

Hopefully you don't need a new terminal....post up a picture after you have it all cleaned up

Goop the vaseline on it really well and it shouldn't do it like that again

 

looks like pop rocks yumm

 

It could be leaking from around the terminal post. Once you get it cleaned up you should check it regularly for awhile to see.

How old is your battery? At replacement time, consider an AGM battery. They tend to be more expensive but you will never have to deal with corrosion or maintenance.

 

if it's one year old bring it back to where you bought it and exchange it for a new one under warranty.

 

oh and your positive terminal is fubar'd, time to get a new one.

 

CRAP!!! Well, i clean it off and i could see that the positive terminal was eaten pretty good.. As i was removing it, trying to be really delicate not to bend it.. i bended it and poof.. it snapped off

 

on the battery snapped?? orthe cable?

 

No, the terminal.. not the post.. the terminal snapped off.. it was completely eaten

 

 

lol, looks exactly like what happened to mine:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/car-wont-start-all-gauge-lights-flicker-119051/

time to go buy that positive terminal!

 

Does autozone carry one? Where do you put the new terminal? at the bolt?

 

you'll need to buy it at a mazda dealer...

 

zoomzoom, did the new terminal that appears to be zinc plated... has that corroded since you installed it?

 

(With Only Allen Wrenches better than the bending stock terminals) Heres a Rocksford Fosgate Battery Terminal I used for the Positive Terminal Replacement When I was replacing my Subwoofer Wiring. It has two slots, One for your Existing Power Wire, and One for the 4 gauge Power Wire for your amp. I bought it at Best buy for about $17.99. I plan on replacing the Negative Terminal Also. The terminal comes with a plastic smoked cover, but I need to trim some of it to fit properly as you can tell...

 

zumn, is this the thing you have? :

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...n_US&p_status=


It looks like you removed the fuse completely and just bolted the factory wire harness to the RF terminal?

 

Yes thats it, and I didnt remove the fuse, I only did it for the "+" Power Terminal. The Negative Terminal is the one that has a fuse. Or do you mean the "In-Line" fuse for the 4 gauge wire to the amp? In that case, no, I temporarily removed the 4 gauge wire because I was installing my Double din....heres the link....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaqkQQugfw4

edit: Im still trying to figure out How I can possibly do the Negative terminal that has the fuse on it.....