Battery Vent Tube

Recently changed my battery and discovered the battery vent pipe was missing. The grommet is still in the well wall.

When pushed through the grommet i the pipe long enough to exit underneath the car?

thanks

 

Only needed if you have an old-style lead-acid battery. Not needed on AGM batteries.

 

Hi Taz,
Yes it’s a standard Bosch battery. Hence wanting to know the routing.

 

If the vent is used it will have a 90 degree fitting and a plastic pipe from Halfords etc

 

Hi Mike,
Yes have a new tube. Trying to work out if the tube is simply vented into the void in front of the foot well or if the pipe comes right down and out of the underbody.

it’s not clear from the parts diagram

 

For the most part, yes, but some AGM still use the vent tube for some reason. The Odyssey I have in the Ferrari doesn't need one, but the one I used in the Vette does.

 

Have a look underneath and you will the drain pipe from the ac. (On a 430) i think comes out near to that

 

Thanks Mike. Will take a look.

 

It's needed for AGM as well, if your AGM has a vent. I've seen plenty of AGMs with acid leaking. Just took an Optima Red out of my f430 when I recieved it and acid had been venting everywhere. Had to clean the whole compartment. Luckily it hadn't been sitting there that long

also, if your AGM has two vent locations, make sure you plug the other one that's not being connected to a vent line

 

Here in Western Australia I just took my Modena for a licensing inspection. While one guy was recording engine number, VIN, kilometres etc the other guy was straight into the passenger footwell pulling out the battery cover and looking for the vent hose. He said it’s surprising how many cars he sees without the vent and incredibly bad for you to breathe hydrochloric acid

 

Probably looking for a can of 4X hidden away more like.

 

that too, although I'm dumb enough to care more about the car being damaged than my lungs lol

 

None of my Interstates have had a tube. One of the advantages of AGM batteries is they can be mounted inverted or vertically and will not slosh. One with a vent tube certainly does not take advantage of that and makes me wonder about their construction, ie not a true AGM.

 

Weird my interstate AGM I just got last month had a vent.

It's not a tube, it's just a hole. I've never seen an AGM recommended to be mounted inverted

 

Not only that, but the positive battery terminal cover will have a provided plug molded into it you break off to insert into the side you won't be attaching to the vent. So if you see that as part of your positive terminal cover, you know you should use it to plug one end and vent the other (closest to your tubing).

I recently had a 10 month old Bosch battery die. Turned out it was a Lead Calcium Silver alloy, which required too high a voltage my old car couldn't provide to charge it (nor my ctek). It needed a vent as well and is a modern battery and not a regular wet/flooded or AGM.

 

yep. It's usually on the cover. Simple things, not everyone is aware of or are very obvious.