There I was checking the oil and water!

[gensetsteve]

Things you find under the bonnet, well I hope you don't find this anyway. Funny thing is the van ran ok, anyone else lost a battery like this?

 

I would imagine the battery was nearing the end of its life and gassing off combined with loose battery terminal or similar. It may be worth checking the charge regulator is not charging the battery flat out when you put a new battery on. Give the engine a wash as the acid will still be doing some damage.

[Sussex Groundie]

Its the original 2004 Battery so maybe times up on it. Anyway I drove to Halfords ( I'm worried now hahah) and the nice young man offered to fit it for me, decided against that and took the van home home for a bath, time for me to get my marigolds on. Must have gone pop when it was parked, never heard a thing.

[base]

it will be worth checking what the charging rate it should be about 14-14.4 volts, to make sure the regulator/ rectifier hasn't malfunctioned causing over charging.

[Justme]

We bought an ex demonstrator with almost no miles on it (so almost new) Ford Galaxy. First time I opened the bonnet it was obvious that the battery had previously split & been swapped out.

Took it to an different Ford dealer to get a quote cos the selling place was not interested. They said it was a right off as it would be virtually impossible to get the acid completely neutralised & so the car would have problems for the rest of its life. The selling dealer had to buy it back in the end. The point of all this is:-

 

a, get it all neutralised ASAP

b, sell it ASAP too

[gensetsteve]

We had a vw LT35 van the battery leaked the engine Ecu was directly underneath you can guess the rest.

[Alycidon]

Hydrogen given off by the battery has been ignited by a spark from a loose connector on the pos terminal.

 

Had 42 years in the motor trade before I sold out, 20 + of which was as a Bosch dealer selling batteries. Saw a few do that but not many, usually the cell at the positive end of the battery. 9 year old battery has done well to get that far.

 

A

[peatff]

Peugeot or Citroen ?

[mendiplogs]

That hasn't overheated or boiled dry, it has exploded, charging batteries makes hydrogen, if it cant get away and you add a source of ignition you get an almighty boom.

 

HI TREE SO whats made it do that then thanks jon

[treequip]

HI TREE SO whats made it do that then thanks jon

 

Hydrogen made by charging found a spark.......KERBOOM.

 

Had the misfortune to be stood next to a pair of batteries on an artic that went off, not something I would be keen to repeat.

[mendiplogs]

Hydrogen made by charging found a spark.......KERBOOM.

 

Had the misfortune to be stood next to a pair of batteries on an artic that went off, not something I would be keen to repeat.

 

HI TREE so they were gassing off we had battery give a gas when winching with 12v winch with our there was a seal boiling that battery was only less then a 1 year old thank jon