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I popped the hood to check my oil when I noticed some white flaky stuff on one of the battery terminals.

It looks something like this but not blue:

http://rodiumplatedpipe.blogspot.com/2006/02/blue-battery-terminal.html

How do you go about cleaning it? I'm not very car savvy and I've been electrocuted a couple times...so I have qualms about disconnecting the battery. Is there a way to clean it without having to remove the battery?

That's oxidation on the terminals. The best way to clean it is a wire brush. The also make some sort of gizmo that'll fit right over the terminal to clean it (think a large thimble with bristles on the inside).

Best way to go about it is disconnect the negative terminal from the battery followed by the positive. Take your implement of choice and brush off all the flakes, and then replace the cables. You can also get some di-electric grease from the autoparts store that you can coat the terminal in to prevent future oxidation.

Apparently vaseline does the job to prevent corrosion. I know......random!

ollie

you can soak the connectors in coke overnight. That should clean them up pretty well. Do this then use vaseline, you should be set for quite a while.

A heaping tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water makes a good cleaning solution. Be careful not to get in the batteries vent holes though. Maybe (temporarily) tape them up.

I second the backing soda method, this is the only way I have found to keep it from coming right back.

Anyone else notice this only effects top post batteries? one reason to love my GM side post battery.

I second the backing soda method, this is the only way I have found to keep it from coming right back.

Anyone else notice this only effects top post batteries? one reason to love my GM side post battery.

It hits top post batteries more often because debris, moisture, etc. sits there without gravity helping to get rid of it. However, I have seen it on side post batteries as well. Usually on vehicles that were used in rather "extreme" situations for offroading and managed to get excessive amounts of "stuff" up in the engine compartment and didn't get cleaned out.

Okay, I took out the battery but the white flakes came right off. And I was wrong, the white flakes were on the metal brackets that held the battery in place; there was zero flakes on the terminals. I also wiped it off and there was nothing on the battery casing or anywhere else. I ended up using the baking soda and water mixture just in case. The metal bracket was partially rusted if that means anything.

anyone ever used pennies to draw the corrosion away from the battery terminals? I've heard that this works after you apply the grease or petroleum jelly.

Vaseline does work good at preventing corrosion, but make sure you put it over the cables and terminals after they have been cleaned and tightly secured.

You want to make sure the connection between the cables and the terminals is tight, clean, and secure, because you don't want the vaseline to get in between the terminals and cables.

Basically, the reason using vaseline works is because it prevents air from reaching the terminals.