my battery boiled over. what do i do now

[Guest dutch]

i opened the hood and it smelled like eggs. do i get a new battery? and is my alterantor overcharging the battery?

[Brendan_Lopez]

You will want to check for overcharging. If you did overcharge the battery, it will probably be toast and won't hold a charge.

If you need a new battery try batteriesplus.com They're a distributor for Douglas Batteries, a company that makes/made batteries for BMW in the USA. My last 02 battery, 61 21 8 353 440, died and I replaced it with a Douglas one.

Until now, I was perhaps the last person on earth buying batteries at the dealer, but I learned that lesson the hard way when a "mechanic" praticed arc welding on the underside of my AE86 hood with a battery that didn't fit.

[Guest dutch]

what other bmw uses the same battery as an 02 cause there is not 2002 on the find a battery part

[DukeRimmer]

(nt)

[Guest dutch]

nothing went anywhere, there was just little bubbles coming out of the top and it stoped working

[Brendan_Lopez]

It's a group 90, they can match this...

[Guest dutch]

how much did that cost, and do you think that will make my car sell for more than if i had just a generic autozone battery

[Brendan_Lopez]

I don't recall how much it was, but it was cheaper than the dealer. An OE battery won't raise the value of your car, but for me, it's always easier buying a battery I know will fit, and the hold down works. Any BCI group 90 battery will have the right size and terminal configuration.

There are lots of good batteries out there, and maybe the fellow board members have their favorite brand.

[Guest dutch]

honestly i dont car what brand or whatever, as long as it works

[BillWilliams]

also fixes what caused the problem. The battery did not boil over on its own. Another battery in the same car under the same conditions, will boil over again.

The voltage regulator actually reduces the voltage that the alternator puts out so it will not overcharge the system.

[mikem]

I saw one that boiled, and it toasted the many other electrical items, inlcuding wires.

[DukeRimmer]

(nt)

[jgerry2002]

I agree, get a new battery. One from Autozone should be fine, as long as it fits.

Just an FYI, almost 90% of the batteries you buy (Sears, Autozone, Interstate and a ton of other brands) are all made by Johnson Controls. A well known fact is the Douglas replacement batteries from the dealer do not last long. Don't know why you can go 7 years on a battery that came with the car from the factory, but the replacement is history in 2 or 3 years.

Anyway, once you get that new battery installed, immediately check the running voltage to the battery. If its over 13.8V than you need a regulator. My bet (as mentioned before) is the voltage regulator has failed allowing to overcharge. Both of my '02s have had this issue, but both have a VDO voltage guage so I know when it starts to fail.