danny951

I was installing the vacuum line for my boost gauge when I decided to clean out some crap under the hood with the shop vac. I got rid of some leaves and dirt around the battery and found a small hole in the tray... seems like maybe the battery had leaked at one time and corroded some of the tray.. it's very small, like the shape of a coin slot, around the size of a nickel. I knew this could cause water from rain or the carwash to leak into the cabin from my last car that was frequently being vacuumed out any time it rained.. so I have left it in the garage until I can fix it.

Should I just take out the battery, seal the underside from inside the car with some masking tape or something and put in some bondo from the top or what?

ah! bondo!!!

rickb20

danny,

That's exactly what I did and it worked, but I suspect if you'll search the list you'll find a nicer looking solution that this. Whatever you do, make sure not to plug the drain in the side of the battery tray near the fender.

Rick

streckfu's

You can sand it to clean up all the rust and then Bondo it. Finish it up with some quality anti-rust primer and paint. That's what I did.

ewainwright

That is a problem area on my car as well particularly in that the computers are right under the battery. Bondo can absorb water. I suggest using fiberglass and resin. Sand out the rust as best as you can and treat the area. Remove the computer and put tape under the hole (from the bottom). Then start the process of pouring on resin, then fiberglass more resin then fiberglass etc. The downside is that it’s not a long lasting fix as I think the weight of the battery even when tight caused a crack in the fiberglass. For a permanent solution I am moving the battery to the back of my car

fortysixandtwo

Try body seam sealer. It's flexable and very durable, plus you can paint over it. Just look at the tops of the wheel wells in the engine compartment, the stuff that looks like it was brushed on is seam sealer.

Ian Carr

Hot Glue

aka Bondo

danny951

seam sealer huh? where do you find that and what brands are there?

as i wrote that, I realized that I do have access to google... haha

here is a link for some 3m sealer for those interested ..

http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/e...eme_us_aad_3_0

not sure which one would work best though, I'm thinking either the Brushable or the Flexiclear sealer would do.. they both say they adhere to primed or painted surfaces.

Super Dave

Arlington paint and body directly across the street from Pep Girls on Cooper will probably have what you need. Watch that water on the DME and KLR closley though. You might even lay some plastic over it RIGHT NOW. I know of a case of another Arlingtonite that blew the KLR when his leaked just the same way. NOAA.gov shows rain tonight.

z3bra

This stuff rocks too for things like that:

Fuel Tank and Fuselage Sealant AC-240 Class B-Fast Cure AMS-S-8802

Excellent adhesion to metal and once it dries, it's damn near everythingproof.

(It's polysulfide sealant aka Thiokol aka Pro Seal if you don't recognize the name of it)

Good stuff. In lieu of that though I agree that a rigid seal like bondo isn't going to last as long as something like the seam sealer is as it will definitely crack at some point and start leaking on ya.

Even some trusty RTV would probalby do the trick though.