Battery Blanket

["Bill Schleusner" <b-schleusner@ti.com>]

What's everyone's opinion regarding the battery blanket?

Went out to my car last night after work and found a huge puddle of fluid
under my the left front bumper.  I immediately go WTF! and think that my oil
cooler has sprung a leak. Upon closer examination I determine it's power
steering fluid. The reservoir is completely empty, again WTF!

To make a long story short it seems the battery had overheated and battery
acid had burned three small holes in the reservoir.  Fortunately my dealer
stays open 'til midnight and replaced both the reservoir and I got a new
battery!  He said that factory batteries are made by Guhl/Gould(sp?) and
don't hold up very well in Texas heat so he replaced it with an Excide (5
year warranty), which is labeled Autobahn.

We discussed the wisdom of placing a plastic reservoir next to battery acid
and also the battery blanket.  He said that in his opinion the battery
blanket actually contributes to this problem.  The gasses from the battery
are trapped in the blanket and then pool at the bottom and start to eat away
everything.  The theory on the blanket is that it protects the battery from
excessive heat in the engine compartment.  His theory is that once the
battery gets hot, the blanket retains heat, much like a baked potato in
aluminum foil.  I casually asked how much a new blanket was and he thought
they ran ~ $100, Ouch!

Just thought I would throw this out to the group for two reasons:

- Does everyone still have their blankets on their batteries?

 - Learn from my experience, wouldn't hurt to check your battery/tray/power
steering  reservoir, especially if you live in the South.

Later,

BTW, please don't start the thread regarding "break-in" oil again or I'll
scream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bill Schleusner  97GLX
b-schleusner@ti.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~