Battery cable fubar'd
 

Hey guys,

I'm just a plethora of problems tonight. I was sitting there working on my car listening to some tunes unknowningly finishing off what was left of my stock battery. After trying to start the car to check for leaks on my oil filter and drain plug I realized I needed a new battery.

I took off the negative terminal, and then I realized that the positive terminal was absolutely destroyed by corrosion. I could not take it off with a socket wrench to save my life. I ended up using a big, bad set of vice grips after cutting off the rubber "boot" from the connector. Finally, I was able to get the darn thing out of the battery. However, now I'm stuck with this: :eek2:

http://www.ash-can.com/hosted/images/battery_cable.JPG

What in the world do I do about this? Do I need an all new cable (I hope not since I noticed this connector has three cables coming into it), or can I just buy a new end? If so, where do I get it and how does it connect to the cables here? They look like they simply need to be cut and stripped again.

Thanks in advance for any help! :)

i would try to clean it. You can test out the ole' coca-cola myth! Use a wirebrush or somthing. You can buy new studs from the autoparts store as well ;)

There is some stuff you can squirt on that prevents the corrosion. It has kind of a jelly texture and sticks. There is also some stuff called liquid electrical tape that comes in a little tin can that you can brush on and let set up. Do multiple coats even if you'd like.

Clean her off and take another picture.

Yuck. I'd get a new cable from your local auto parts store. They are not very expensive. At the very least, you'd want to replace that terminal.

Where would the cable run from/to? (Boy, I'll bet I'm displaying my mechanical newbieness with that one!) The terminal has three cables coming out of it, if I remember correctly. Would it replace all of them, or just one? How hard would it be to install?

I would have to check the other 2 but one goes down to the starter for sure.

lol you said fubard

....it's german :jest:

the cable connects to the starter, alternator, and main fuse box under the hood.

What the hell else would it connect to???? :punch: :guns:

i actually replaced all mine with 4 gauge wire, it wasnt that hard ,the starter wire is somewhat of an asshole though, the starter has to come doen unless you have some girly man punk sissy hands. the ground wire on the block is much more of a pain in the ass, because you pretty much HAVE to pull the starter out, and then you have to do some physics calc to figure how the hell any type of wrench will fit in there to loosen it, then you think of how bad you are about to bust the shit out of your knuckles. mine could have been harder or easier becausei have headers, i dont know.

i also switched from side post to top post because i have bad luck with corrosion on side post batteries.