Hey /diy/, need some input on what the best way to handle this situation is.
The connection to my car's battery is really spotty.
I've never seen battery terminals like this, and they're rusted so bad that they pop off of the battery leads. Anything I should know before I commit to desperately sawing them off and soldering on a new set?
There's a 3rd small cable coming off of the positive lead too, dunno if that's supposed to be the ground or something unrelated.
>>920295
Hack em off, clean off the corrosion, then just bolt a new pair of terminals on.
They sell bolt on ones everywhere, like walmart and stuff
So its as simple as it sounds then? Alright I'll give it a shot, thanks Anon.
>>920295
No to the solder. Like the other anon said, they sell bolt on ones(basically what you have) that you can tie every thing back in on. The extra wire coming of the positive is absolutely not a ground. Ground will be the negative. Don't change any of the wiring unless you have to, run it exactly how it is. That other positive wire probably runs to the back of your alternator.
Some of the new cable ends come with spots to clamp down smaller wires, some do not. If the ones you get do not you'll need some crimp connectors, the eyelet ones. They'll need to be the right size for the bolts on the new battery connectors. Crimp one on a smaller wire and slip it into a bolt before tightening it down.
This is an incredibly straight forward job, but it can be intimidating because of the amount of wires some cars have. The oldest mechanic trick in the book(aside from saying your head gasket is bad) is to only do one side at a time. This way you make sure a positive doesn't wander over to the negative clamp. That trick works for anything from drum brakes to cabinet doors, either as a point of reference or to make sure parts don't get mixed up.
Before committing to this though, a Re you sure it's the battery connections not a broken/rusted ground somewhere. One thing you can do to test, which can be very dangerous to you and the Car if done wrong, is connect jumper cables from the battery cables to the battery. If you have a completely solid connection but the problem persists it in plus the connectors are good and the problem is elsewhere. This is dangerous because it's incredibly easy to create a short. Only do this if you feel you can properly isolate the jumpers from each other and the cars chassis, which is where the ground runs to.
>>920723
The reason they standardised on negative body was so that the battery would act as a sacrificial anode for the body.
Unless OP collects unusual historic vehicles, the body will be negative.
>>920317
The extra wire coming off the positive goes directly to the starter.
Also I don't see how his terminals need changing. The only concern is the rusty bolt on the positive side. The dimples appear as if someone tapped the positive side on.
They just need a mild clean. The contacts themselves appear fine.
>>920750
Actually. Looking more at the negative terminal I can see it has been over tightened to material failure.
Sure go ahead and throw some new ones on. It won't cost much and there is no hacking involved. Just bolt off and bolt on.
You can clean/repair or replace. I guess it's a matter of which pisses you off less. I'd go the replace route because I like making wire connections. There is no reason why you couldn't clean them and see first. You'd be out the elbow grease and a bit of what ever your poison in terminal cleaner is. i can't tell how damaged anything is in the photo, it could be all just surface corrosion.
>>920295
new terminals are literally under $5 at walmart, OP. can go up to brass terminals for a few bucks more
>>920295
When you have the wire exposed, brush it good with a metal brush, spray it with a battery cleaner & acid tester following directions, then spray it down with Wire Dry from CRC. That will get rid of all corrosion and put a protective layer on the terminal holding back future corrosion.
>>920295
No need to replace them unless they're broken or so reamed out that you can't tighten them down on the battery terminal posts. Just get a battery terminal cleaner, and some baking soda and water, and clean them up with the brush and with an old toothbrush to remove the corrosion (not rust, corrosion). Put new bolts in them if you have to, and once you have them on the battery coat them with wheel bearing grease to prevent future corrosion.
