Dear friends:

The Interstate battery in my friend's Honda Accord 1995 exploded when he tried to start the car. Fortunately, the hood was closed and so it prevented all H2SO4 from dangerously spilling around.

I just wonder how many people here have encountered these dangerous situations. I'm trying to figure out some of the reasons that may lead to this problem. Do you think it's a good idea to replace an old battery every 5 years (even if it's still working well) in a attempt to reduce the probability of an exploding battery?


1) Bad voltage regulator (internal or external) causes overcharging.

2) Internal shorting of battery cell plates

3) Hydrogen and oxygen build-up in a confined area (under the hood)

4) Incorrect (-) and (+) cable jumping

5) Just an act of God

... please add any other reasons...

Eric

I play it safe and replace my battery at every oil change.

happened to me with my original Benz battery.

might have been my fault because I never bothered to check the water level, and maybe enough hydrogren had collected within the airspace in the battery cells, which made it explode when I started the car. Got me stranded in the parking lot and had some acid eat into the lining of my hood.

Experienced this on an early 80's Dodge Diplomat.

Water level was correct; post and terminals were clean.

Not an MB, but the battery did blow all to hell.

I have no "for sure" reason why it happened.

__________________
Mike Murrell
1991 300-SEL - Model 126
M103 - SOHC
"Fräulein"

Either you spend a lot of $$$ for batteries, or you rarely change your oil.

Chrysler Corporation cars (of any year/era) are well-known for terrible electrical systems- for an American car anyway. No electrical glitch on those cars would suprise me.

BTW- did your friends car catch fire? I seen a NEW 2003 Mitsubishi once on E-Bay that had a battery explosion and it caused some fire damage under the hood.

For every battery that explodes there are probably at least 10 million that don't explode. It's a pretty rare event.

Duke

I suppose an explosion could occur to a battery that did not have proper venting, or the owner disabled it (removed venting hose, relocated battery to a non-vented area, etc.).

Closest I had to a battery explosion was when my regulator on my 300E died, and the alternator was pushing 17.5V to the battery!!! So the battery started venting...

...you could see (and smell) the acid vapors emanating from under the hood, even when closed!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

I just bought a 1990 LS400 where the PO had a battery explode when he tried to jump it. Turns out the battery had some cells that were nearly dry.

glenmore
1991 300CE
1990 LS400

Bingo... Internal short, and low fluid levels will allow flammable gasses to build up inside.. I had a battery explode in my face when I was a way younger.. No real harm was done, but that was the cause.. I was jumping a car off with the tow truck I was driving, and holding on to positve cable at the time..BOOOOOM Battery acid was everywhere..

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89 300SEL Money Pit

92 Blown Buick Ultra Pimpmobile 220K and adding 1K per week

88 Wagoneer Slightly modified (Not for soccer moms)

04 Kia Sedona with every option... NICE

Hello Glenmore. I also have a 1990 LS400. How many miles is on your car?
How much damage did the exploding battery cause?

__________________
2004 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4wd
1991 Lincoln Town Car Executive
1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1988 Mercedes 300SEL
1972 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate 9-passenger wagon
1973 Pontiac Grand Ville
(Prior MB's: 1974 240D, 1985 380SE, 1984 190D, 1993 400SEL)

This happened the night before to my employee's LS 400. I thought a bomb had blown up next to me. When she started the car. BOOM! I thought it was a misfire but, she only cranked the engine for like 2 secs max. Glad no one was hurt including me. I think it was because the battery ran dry but not sure. However, another employee had a old Nissan Sentra and wouldn't start. It turned out all of the cells were bone dry. It didn't explode and started after refilling with water. I thought these battery exploding events mostly happened during the hot Summers but, it is Winter over here and still exploded.

Cross linking duplicate thread, with other responses

Dangerous battery explosions!
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?p=541768#post541768

Another on topic thread:
Battery Safety
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=141479

__________________
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Prototype R&D/testing:
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Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
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Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

I had a battery explode 1.5' from my face. I was under the hood of a Golf, and checking for spark. It had spark! No damage done, there's actually a lot worse in the shop to get in your eyes than battery acid. For what it's worth, it was a spanish made battery in the white case, the same that MB uses for OE.

A good reason to attach the Positive B+ first and then the Negative - to another part of the vehicle AWAY from the battery.



.

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