Services
Insurance
Loans
Repairs
Advice
About

Why do car batteries corrode?

I noticed some greenish build-up around my car battery’s terminal recently, which I’m assuming is corrosion. I thought I took pretty good care of my car, so I don’t understand why it’s there. Why do car batteries corrode?

avatar
Kathryn Mae Kurlychek · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Battery corrosion is easy to identify with its white, blue, or greenish hue, but it’s a little harder to understand. Batteries corrode when liquids or gases escape from your battery over time, reacting within the ambient atmosphere under your hood.
Sulfuric acid and hydrogen gas are both common culprits of battery corrosion and typically react to (and damage) the metal components of your battery, including your battery terminals.
If you’re not charging your car’s battery enough, you will likely see corrosion, particularly on the negative terminal. On the other hand, if you’re overcharging your battery, you’ll probably run into corrosion on the positive terminal.
Unfortunately, corrosion is likely to occur over time no matter what you do, but you can apply anti-corrosion products to your car’s battery to help curb the process.
Is it time to update your
car insurance
? If you’d rather leave the hard work of gathering quotes to someone else, use
Jerry
. A licensed broker and
super app
, Jerry can find you competitive quotes from top name-brand insurance providers in under a minute. How?
All you have to do is download the app, answer a few questions, and sit back while Jerry does the rest! We’ll find you customized rates, let you shop and compare, and can even help you swap policies, all right from your phone!
View full answer 
WHY YOU CAN TRUST JERRY
Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.

Join 4M+ members in lowering their car insurance

Easiest way to compare and buy car insurance

√
No long forms
√
No spam or unwanted phone calls
√
Quotes from top insurance companies
Find insurance savings