[MikebST3]

So I changed my battery this past weekend, after 3 years in Phoenix, and I had a bit of a problem. The positive terminal was corroded to the point it corroded the little white wire enough to cut it away from the terminal. I am not sure what this wire did because I connected the Positive terminal back up and the car has been running fine the past two days without a problem. Does anyone know what this white cable connects to?

 

[Xrdude]

white wire runs to fuse F22 and then back to battery monitoring sensor at the negative terminal.

 

[LMStone510]

white wire runs to fuse F22 and then back to battery monitoring sensor at the negative terminal.

And that impacts how the battery gets charged; there is logic that changes how the battery gets charged based on the deemed age of the battery plus the feedback from that sensor. Not sure what happens to charging when the circuit fails.

If the system ups the voltage for longer periods of time and your battery is vented, you'll lose liquid and expose the tops of the lead plates > less charge capacity and earlier battery retirement.

If you run a voltmeter on the car and start the car after its been sitting overnight, even with a fresh battery I was surprised that voltage runs slightly above 16V for a few seconds before coming back down to 14.x.

When my OEM battery was failing, system voltage stayed above 15V (it's one of the ways I knew my battery was dying).

So best to get a new positive battery cable it would seem...

Hope that helps,
Mark