Battery fuse box cable, little acid spill

[Dorado]

Hi folks,
I believe last time (a month ago) I refilled the OEM battery cells with distilled water, I slightly over filled one of them, and thus spilled some acid...

Anyway, a day ago I go check the battery and I find that the little red cable from the positive post to the fuse box is corroding, and there is corrosion going under the battery.

I'm going to replace the battery altogether tomorrow with an Optima 34 with 1000 CCA (the OEM has been good for 50k miles and 5 years now), and clean and lube under the battery box.

My questions are:

1- With regards to the little red cable, should I replace it with an OEM one, or could I just use a nice thick and insulated red cable from the parts place?

2-Any recomendations on how to treat the acid spill corrosion below?

Thanks!

[macdave]

You can relace the posative cable with any one that has at least the same wire guage as the OEM(as long as there is not any kind of fusable link in the OEM cable).
If you go to an auto electric shop, they can make a cable for you using the proper crimp tools, or just get the OEM cable.

To treat the acid spill, make up a paste of Baking soda and water and spread it around the affected area. After it has been treated, you can clean and paint it if you like.

[manoverboard987]

+1 on the baking soda paste. works like a charm. my friend had a mountain of green corrosion on top of his celica's battery, and baking soda paste cleaned up every last bit of it. a toothbrush makes it go faster.

also, make sure you get the little red and green washers to go between the terminals and the cables. every car my family has owned has had them and they help tons at preventing corrosion from forming.