I was doing some cleaning today and luckily I pulled the battery cover. Underneath I saw quite a bit of corrosion in the battery tray, so I doused it with coca-cola, poured water over everything, wiped it down really good, and then smeared Vaseline all over the tray.

I'm not sure the Vaseline was a good idea... But, it's what I did. I tried to coat anything that looked corroded with it.

Aside from taking the tray out, sanding and repainting (when I get a chance), is there anything else I should do?

Thank you in advance,
Dan

 

WD40 is usually a good product to use for something like that.

 

I would sand well treat with rust treatment spray/prime and paint. Make sure battery terminals are clean and tight, check to make sure vent tube is secure and routed correctly.

 

IIRC baking soda and water neutralizes battery acid. Then flush with lots of fresh running water.

Afterwards if you can remove the tray do so and have it properly prepp'd and painted.

While the tray is getting taken care of find out where the battery acid was coming from and address that.

 

There were some notes in the paperwork I got with the car about the battery needing charged. I suspect they replaced the battery and did not bother to clean up the mess. The terminals and battery seemed to be very clean and the corrosion was mostly in the tray.
Whoever put the battery in did not date it, so it's tough to tell.

I'll douse it with baking soda and water now, and paint it when I get some free time.

It's hard to say where the acid came from because I believe the battery has been replaced.

PS. The coke works wonders for removing the corrosion.

Thanks for the replies.
Dan