Battery Exploding

[grandad'spic]

​Hello Everyone, yesterday my battery blew up. I have a C4 Grand Picasso which needed a good wash, I took it to a jet wash station and gave it a good clean.  I got into the car pressed the start button and BANG, the battery had exploded.  I know people are going to think it was the jet wash, but it wasn't.  Everything under the bonnet was bone dry.  The car is now at the dealers awaiting diagnosis, has this happened to anyone else?  The AA recovery person said it may be the alternator overcharging the battery.  If it is the alternator, then it will be the second time I have had a faulty alternator.  I am waiting for the outcome of the diagnostics.  Your comments would be greatly appreciated. The AA man was astonished to see the state of the battery and he took photographs of it as proof.

[Johndouglas]

That was an alarming experience!   Has the garage been able to check the output of the alternator?   Have they discovered whether or not the engine still runs?   I've not heard of it happening before.   A few months ago I had almost the same thing happening in my caravan which has a 12 volt on-board battery which is charged by a mains fed charger.   The battery didn't reach explosion point but very close to because when I investigated, the battery was too hot to touch.   The reason for the failure was the sudden death of one cell but with the charging system continuously trying to bring it up to level. 

[grandad'spic]

Thanks for the reply. To add insult to injury, I was told yesterday that the battery has a warranty of six months and is not included in Citroen's warranty. In order to carry out the diagnostics, I had to authorise the fitting of a new battery costing £223. Unbelievable !!! If this is the case, there should b a warning notice on the battery stating 'This Battery is liable to explode at any time without warning'. If all this isn't bad enough, I was also told that the dealer does not have a battery in stock and it may take up to three days before they have one. The dealer also informed me that I would not be charged the cost of the battery if the diagnostics showed something else had caused the problem. Will post further updates as and when.

[paul.h]

Does your car have stop/start which requires special batteries and hence being expensive ?

 

For the battery to explode internally would require either a high pressure due to overcharging or an internal spark due to a battery fault that ignites the hydrogen created during charging. A loose connection outside on the battery might also give a spark but if external to the battery may not be in a sufficient concentration of hydrogen that it could ignite.

 

I am not too convinced of the overall benefits of stop/start, it may reduce car pollution in queues but at a possible high maintenance cost to the car owner. We had a recent topic of a stop/start car where the alternator/starter needed replacing and it was in the high £100s, far more than any possible fuel savings over the life of the car. Our C4 has stop/start and I switch it off every time the car is started.

[grandad'spic]

Yes my car has stop/start and I always leave it on. I am still waiting for a new battery so the diagnostics can be checked. Full marks to Evans Halshaw for keeping me up to date..

 

I will keep you informed as things develop.

 

The way I see it is either the battery manufacturer or Citroen should foot the bill for repairs to a car which is just over a year old and has 8500 miles on the clock. I would expect a battery to last a lot  longer than mine has.

[grandad'spic]

A solution to my problem. The car became a topic of discussion at Citroen HQ. Some extensive testing of the car resulted in me getting it back after about 10 days.

 

While Citroen have not told me why the battery exploded they did say I did not have to foot the bill.

 

The battery has been sent to France for further analysis.

 

Hopefully the results will not be kept secret