Today I changed the hose that goes from the air cleaner box to the engine block, so I had to take off that big plastic cover underneath the front part of my car. When I did I found that whoever had my car before had a really bad battery acid leak. I could see where it spilled over and corroded the metal all the way from the battery compartment to the front passenger wheel arm(the metal arm on the hing that holds the wheel). My question is- since this is corrosion and not rust, will it stop where it is or will it continue to corrode and eventually the arm that holds the wheel will break?

 

You can clean and paint the affected part and stop the problem from growing.

 

it's pretty bad. i think cleaning it would envolve shaving off a few layers of the metal since it is comeing off in scales. is this the course of action i need to take? and how would i clean it exactly?

 

You need to stop the chemical reaction. Once you have scale rust, you have chlorides involved in the oxide layers. A paste of baking soda and water should be applied after you chisel off all loose scale with a screwdriver, then rinse that off thoroughly.
Dry the area completely, degrease with a proper wax and grease remover, then paint with a good zinc chromate primer, then a good enamel specifically made for coating steel.
Any of the higher quality paints for steel at your local hardware store will work well, just use a brush to put it on.

Regards, Andrew.

 

Thanks. I've had this car for about 2 years, so it's been going on for at least that long. I would like to put this off for when summer comes when it is warm outside. If I do, how much damage could be done between now and then?