Konrad 996tt

After my last track event, I washed my newly acquired 993tt and came to realize there was residual blue transparent liquid splashed on my drivers side (around the front wheel arch, door and rear wheel cover) My first thought was that the brake fluid had somehow come out of the nipple during hard braking and sprayed all over my car. Called the dealer and he said that if this was the case he would paint the car at no charge to me (since they bled the brakes for me and filled with ATE Blue before delivery). Today I called and he said that there was no evidence that it was brake fluid, but that it could be battery acid (battery boilover from over charging due to high rpms at the track?), and that the battery drain was on that side of the car. A couple of questions:
1. How likely is battery acid scenario?
2. What does battery acid on paint look like?
3. I took delivery of this used car a month ago, should the dealer flip the bill even if it is battery acid? (I have bought 4 cars from them so far)
Thanks,
Konrad null

Rick in Portland

Konrad,

I really think there is no way that battery acid could be on the outside of the car. If you looked around the battery area, you would see a LOT of battery acid everywhere. Besides, it isn't blue.

I would bet $$ that it's brake fluid and they just don't want to get involved.

Rick

STLPCA

Konrad
Dealer's story makes no sense to me:
1. A properly functioning charging system should not "overcharge" the battery, even at sustained high rpms. Further, it should not "boil over" enough fluid under any circumstance (even if greatly overfilled) to cause the widespread damage you describe.
2. My experience w/battery fluid (acid) damage is lmtd to spillage around the battery (thankfully not on my P-car). Left unattended it will soften & then eat through your clearcoat/paint down to the metal (& beyond given enough time). The paint will generally peel away from the metal & the damage should be pretty localized. Unless you car is blue, it should not cause discoloration other than, perhaps, bleaching.
3. ATE blue spillage seems more likely & brake fluid will also go through paint like battery fluid. If, however, it was NOT the dealer's fault, whether they help you depends on how much they value your good will.
Good luck -

Chris in Detroit

Ummm, this may be a bit dumb, but what color is your windshield washer fluid ? If it overflows out the top (ovefilled, hard cornering), then it could spill out the flap on top of the fender - and it drains to the bottom of wheel-arch.

Just a thought ........ and a whole lot more optimistic than acid or brake fluid. BTW, if it was brake fluid, my experience is that the impact on paint is pretty quick - you should notice !

Robert Henriksen

That's actually a good thought! The filler cap for windshield wiper fluid on my car had cracked, and I would see some leakage around the left fender, beyond the confines of the fuel filler door.

The highlight of the experience was getting out of the Porsche dealer's parts department for $0.83 cents!!

JC in NY

Here is a photo of what battery acid damage looks like on the paint. Note all the brown splotches; that is the acid. In this example the car hit a curb and the battery shattered into a million pieces inside the trunk area. Even the wiring harness was damaged by the acid. What a mess!

John W

JC, is that your car ??

I can't make out from the pic what the big brown lump is. Is it the front panel pushed right back and up !!

Judging by the snow in the background it looks like it was a winter mishap

SundayDriver

Almost certainly brake fluid. The TT will spill brake fluid out the overflow behind the front left tire. Anytime I forget and have mine completely full, I get some overflow at track events.

JC in NY

No the car is not mine but coincidentally very similar to my Artic Silver '98. The big brown lump in the trunk is indeed the trunk floor that has been folded and pushed up.

Chris in Detroit

Mark - where does this overflow come from ? I thought that the brake fluid reservoir overflow tube was only present on 1995 cars - 1996 onward have this clamped off ?

SundayDriver

My car has the overflow tube. It is a '96TT but a very early build date, so I think it has some '95 features.