What is this white stuff shown on the front of my battery? It's brittle and looks like it can be cleaned off, but I don't believe I have ever seen this before on a battery. Is it corroded material or something else?

 

Clean it off with a mix of water and baking soda, or get some spray-on battery cleaner from an auto parts store. When you apply the baking soda or battery cleaner, the corrosion will foam and make a big mess. Clean this off with water and a stiff brush.

To prevent the corrosion from re-occurring, you need to cover the area with the red anti-corrosion material like that which is on your battery terminal. For years, folks recommended vaseline for corrosion prevention; however, it breaks down when heated and runs everywhere. High temperature grease would probably work better than vaseline.

 

Agreed.

 

I did the H2O and baking soda trick to clean off the corroded material around the battery bracket. Foamed up pretty quickly, and I used a small wire brush and a shop towel to clean up the mess. Bought a $2 battery protective spray from Wal-mart, and sprayed the red stuff to the bracket. Done in less than 5 min