Battery Acid / Starter Motor

[steve singh]

Hi All,

Some battery acid has leaked onto my starter motor (MK5 GTI) - need to clean it off (battery is sorted).

If I disconnect the battery and pressure wash it for one minute and leave to drive over 24hrs before reconnecting the battery will all be ok, or is this asking for trouble?

Sorry for what is no doubt a dumb question - but seen quite a few videos of people pressure washing the engine bay on modern cars so thinking of easiest way to do this.

Also seen the land rovers doing river crossings where their starter motor is completely submerged and they seem to be ok?

If it's a bad idea, what's the alternative?

Thanks

[redgriff500]

A watering can / kettle / hose would all do the job.

But I have pressure washed all my car's engines without a problem - as long as you are sensible there is no issue.

[Fleckers]

if pressure washing may as well do everything under the bonnet

[HustleRussell]

Fleckers said:

if pressure washing may as well do everything under the bonnet

Well, no. Use some common sense and avoid the scuttle area, battery area, alternator and any obvious engine sensors.

[anonymous-user]

Try not to aim the washer directly into any electrical connectors or loom and don't have the washer on "super high pressure". After washing, take the car for a drive to dry it off immediately, make sure to get it good and warm

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

All a pointless waste of time, asking to cause more problems.

If the acid has gone onto / into the motor, any damage would have been done pretty quick. I imagine it wasn't, like, litres of acid?

Starter motors are pretty sealed up compared to say alternators that are evnted / quite open. So I doubt that the acid would have got inside. I reckon the worst damage is to the outside body of the motor, which probably looks corroded now.

I would just check the electrical connections on the rear of the motor to see if any acid damage has been done to them. If so, removal and cleaning up of the connections is the only way to be sure it won't fail.

If not, happy days, just pour some soapy water over it out of a jug, then when it's dry give it a blast with some WD40 to prevent further corrosion.



Pressure washers blasting under bonnets for 60 seconds? Asking for trouble!

[Fleckers]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

Pressure washers blasting under bonnets for 60 seconds? Asking for trouble!

I dont agree

All of my cars have always been cleaned under the bonnet, in and around the engine bay

worst trouble I had was when a HT lead was on way out and the water assisted in its death

[Eggman]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

All a pointless waste of time, asking to cause more problems.

...but this is surely what we keep coming back for?

For maximum 'PH' value, the OP should spend the entire bank holiday weekend cluelessly attempting to remove the starter motor using a bicycle spanner, cause expensive and inexplicable damage to something like the ABS pump and then have the car recovered to a main dealer. Comedy gold.

[steve singh]

Thanks for all the advice chaps.

I just hosed down the area where the battery had leaked (after disconnecting battery) including the starter motor as on closer inspection the battery acid had gone far and wide.

That got the area clean and took it on an hour drive as was going to a friends house and it was bone dry by the time I got there.

The starter motor does appear to have some corrosion so I'll just spray some WD40 over that as suggested by Ray.

Hope that sorts it and keeps it ticking over.

PS Quite easy to get the starter motor of on a MK5 GTi and I would have gone down that route but the battery acid was spread over a wider area

Thanks once again.

[blondini]

Eggman said:

...the OP should spend the entire bank holiday weekend cluelessly attempting to remove the starter motor using a bicycle spanner...

That takes me back. I actually did my first clutch with bicycle spanners

[Eggman]

blondini said:

I actually did my first clutch with bicycle spanners

Crikey, that must have been character building!

Did you by any chance finish at midnight in pouring rain because you needed the car for work the next day?