Melted Battery Terminal

[dpinvidic]

Like Torquewagon said. Your problem is a poor connection at the battery post. That means resistance.
When current flows through a resistance, it generates heat.
Lead melts at a lower temperature than copper. You should have found that the melted lead did not stick to the copper.
The neg terminal look bad too for corrosion

 

[TorqueWagon]

That terminal looks like it could have a corrosion problem. It is really hard to tell from a photo however. You just need to pull it off to see the corrosion, and if you are doing that, you might as well clean every contact surface with a toothbrush sized wire brush, apply baking soda solution, and re-clamp evenly and firmly. By the way, I had a problem where my stock clamps would close all the way down and still not compress the post very well. I discovered they sell battery post "cups" that are made of lead. They fit down over the post and give you a larger post to clamp to. anyway, make sure everything's shiny and clean and firmly clamped, and coat with dielectric grease. Both negative and positive. I have a diesel so I had to do both batteries, 4 posts. It only takes 0.5 to 1.0 hours. Well worth it. You'll crank way better too when its really cold and you're in a pinch. Peace of mind!

 

[My4thRam]

I was leaning toward that too. The battery posts don't look too bad as far as corrosion. Here's some pics. What do you think?

Who put the blue marks all over everything? If someone took it apart and needed to put marks on it that is odd in itself.
Was the plastic cover still on the positive terminal? If not look at the hood directly over where it would come down on top of the battery.

 

[turkeybird56]

I tried to start my 2014 RAM Express today and, no go. I lifted the hood and expected a dead battery, but it was more than that. The positive terminal post is melted. Any ideas on what could have caused that?

As most have said. Corrosion = bad connection = more juice trying to force through = PROBLEMS. New AGM, clean and re-clamp Negative cable. On Positive may be ok or not. If U R not sure or uncomfortable, change out the terminal and/or cable. Clean all, grease all, new battery and maybe "terminal", U should be good to go.

 

[BWL]

 

[JS4024]

Looks like a bad connection which caused arcing between the post and the cable clamp. If current was too high to the starter or other load it would have blown the fuse link. May have been a bad terminal on the battery from manufacturing and it just bit the bullet. Lead melts at 625 degrees...

 

[mtwofeathers]

All I can think is loose post and arcing.

Pretty much looks like it. Corrosion on the rest leaving just a tiny spot connected and arcing melted it, I would say. Seen it a few times with diesels, even mine once.

 

[M4245]

This is a maintenance problem. You probably have never checked the battery post since you bought the vehicle. A loose or corroding battery connector will Ark and melt the lead battery post to connector. The smart thing to do is cut the connector off the battery and replace both. I would use a battery charger hook up, before you cut the cable clamp. This way you do not lose any memory in the electric system And Uconnect.

 

[T Jones]

It's up and running. I bought an AGM battery for it, as you guys suggested. I've got the terminals cleaned and the new battery installed. Started up nice and easy. The old battery was the original one, (7 yrs old), and it finally bit the dust. The terminals and posts on the old battery were corroded pretty good, as most of you predicted. Thanks to all of you for your help.






The new battery...

 

[Narg]

More than likely it was a bad battery. Those happen a lot too.

 

[John Sparano]

The easiest was to remove the terminal is with a battery theminal puller.Loosten the nut and it will come right off. As far as the terminal is concerned Ive been in the auto trade for a long time and have never been a fan of that type of terminal. Try to find a convential terminal (lead) .Marine terminals have a stud on like your oem terminaL

 

[GTyankee]

your new battery has all the right numbers as to CCA, RC & Ah

 

[EdGs]

You got your moneys' worth out of that battery for sure.

I got about 4-1/2 out of mine here in FL. Still not too bad of a lifespan. Have also seen some that fail in less than 2 years. You got one that wasn't built on monday morning or friday afternoon....lol

 

[njjeff201]

If the Negative cable is actually welded to the battery you will need to replace it as well. Sometimes resistance develops on the posts & the cables. When I was working @Ford New Car Carrier showed up and dropped numerous cars. They were inspected but when they went to start one vehicle it wouldn't turn over. BRAND NEW!!! I took off the cables, cleaned the posts & cables & it started right up. No crud or any sign of resistance... and the cables weren't loose. I'll never forget that. Cleaning the top of the posts does absolutely nothing. The connection is between the post & the cable. I think somehow your battery shorted internal but more likely there was a HUGE draw. I'd like to know if your starter is still good or not. Let me know. Curious to know if the starter has a burnt smell to it.

 

[njjeff201]

Heres some pullers from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=battery+cable+puller&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

[T Jones]

If the Negative cable is actually welded to the battery you will need to replace it as well. Sometimes resistance develops on the posts & the cables. When I was working @Ford New Car Carrier showed up and dropped numerous cars. They were inspected but when they went to start one vehicle it wouldn't turn over. BRAND NEW!!! I took off the cables, cleaned the posts & cables & it started right up. No crud or any sign of resistance... and the cables weren't loose. I'll never forget that. Cleaning the top of the posts does absolutely nothing. The connection is between the post & the cable. I think somehow your battery shorted internal but more likely there was a HUGE draw. I'd like to know if your starter is still good or not. Let me know. Curious to know if the starter has a burnt smell to it.

I'm guessing the starter's fine. Neither fuse on the positive terminal were blown and the truck fired up real easy with no problems. I drove it to the store and back with no issues at all. I had an 89 F 250 a few years back where the starter went bad. It burnt out my battery as well. I put a new starter and a battery in it and the truck still wouldn't start. In addition to the new battery and starter I went back and bought a new battery cable, put it on, and the old Ford fired right up. Evidently, the cable burnt out too. I had no issues like that this time around. The battery in the RAM was 7 years old, the original one. I'm guessing it was about ready to bite the dust. I drove it 90 miles one way and 90 miles back with the air conditioner on during the 80+ degree weather we had here last week. The next day I went to start it, and no dice. It tried to crank over but there just wasn't enough juice to get it going. So I'm thinking everything will be okay with it, hopefully.

 

[T Jones]

You got your moneys' worth out of that battery for sure.

I got about 4-1/2 out of mine here in FL. Still not too bad of a lifespan. Have also seen some that fail in less than 2 years. You got one that wasn't built on monday morning or friday afternoon....lol

Seven years was definitely a long life for the old one. After reading everyone's suggestions and doing some research I'm glad I went ahead and bought the better battery, despite the hefty cost, and I'm glad I asked questions here. Everyone was real helpful.

 

[blackbetty14]

I'm glad you didn't go with the Optima junk... every since they moved to mexico for manufacturing the quality has dropped significantly.

I hope your new AGM has the 4 year warranty! My factory battery bit the dust right at 3 years in my 2018 ram laramie. I looked around at AGMs (really wanted lithium) and found that some of the big stores didn't offer the same warranty on the AGMs as others. I ended up going to Pepboys and got the Champion AGM for $190 with tax and it came with a 4 year no hassle replacement warranty. Comparable from Autozone/Advance/Napa etc was $220+.

Your battery actually looks like its down a bit on the cranking amps compared to mine... which was basically the same across all the brands for this battery size.

 

[Wild one]

I'm guessing the starter's fine. Neither fuse on the positive terminal were blown and the truck fired up real easy with no problems. I drove it to the store and back with no issues at all. I had an 89 F 250 a few years back where the starter went bad. It burnt out my battery as well. I put a new starter and a battery in it and the truck still wouldn't start. In addition to the new battery and starter I went back and bought a new battery cable, put it on, and the old Ford fired right up. Evidently, the cable burnt out too. I had no issues like that this time around. The battery in the RAM was 7 years old, the original one. I'm guessing it was about ready to bite the dust. I drove it 90 miles one way and 90 miles back with the air conditioner on during the 80+ degree weather we had here last week. The next day I went to start it, and no dice. It tried to crank over but there just wasn't enough juice to get it going. So I'm thinking everything will be okay with it, hopefully.

I wouldn't worry about the starter if it's spinning over good and starting like it used to.You pretty well addressed the issues you had.

 

[Fergusontd]

I use a red colored protectant for batteries, just sprays on to prevent corrosion. I've used it for years without any problems.