battery replacement terminal

[rvhop]

Hello everyone, I need to replace the positive battery terminal on a ford turbo diesel. There are 3 wires, 2 of them are good size wires. 2 of the wires came in the old terminal from the back and the 1 from one battery to the other came in from the side. If any body has replaced theirs, I would appreciate knowing what was used. Thanks

 

[2458n]

Go to Cat dealer and get regular clamp type terminal ;they are like automotive only larger and will work with the larger cables. On a 1989 Ford used copper terminals from welding supply house. Filled full of hot solder using a torch and inserted cables. The cables were bolted to the top of a marine style battery that I was using. It looks to be a bigger problem then it is. Just cut the big chunk of lead off and go.

 

[MF 1532]

Velvac makes a terminal that bolts together , that will accept the wires from 3 sides . You can probably go on their web and see what I am talking about . I have sold their products at my store for years , you can find them locally at a tractor/trailer parts store. I hope this helps .

 

[ray66v]

I would not recommend the bolt on battery cable ends, except in an emergency.

I can't tell you how many times over the years I have had to repair vehicles where they corroded so much inside, that the battery could no longer start the vehicle.

I have seen people replace batteries, starters, and alternators, only to find out later they only had a bad connection inside a bolt on replacement end, which on appearance, looked perfectly fine until it was disassembled.

I suggest you always replace the cable.

 

[Willl]

I suggest you always replace the cable.

If that's not possible, a 'good' solder type connector w/ 'good' heat shrink. :thumbsup:

 

[brain55]

In my experience the best long term solution is to buy the Ford factory cable from the dealer, anything else is a short term repair.

Brian

 

[Soundguy]

anything else, done and maintained correctly, could be a good long term repair... key is maintenance.

a good bit of grease ont he terminal after connection, and cleaning when you service your vehicle should keep everything happy.

I also have one of those wierd molded on/passthru lead clamps for my dual bats in my 7.3 psd one is showing signs of it's age and will be sawn off and a passthru clamp on installed with dielectric grease and then tended to as needed to keep it conducting like it should. proper maintenance solves ALL KINDS of problems..

soundguy

 

[ray66v]

proper maintenance solves ALL KINDS of problems..

soundguy

Yes, and proper maintenance is to replace the cable. :thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

doesn't have to be... you can make a perfectly working repair that will have the same net resistance in your garage for pennies on the dollar for what the dealer charges for those serial molded cables.

I restore antiques as a hobby. i can sure tell you I have 'mocked up' some stuff that was better than original, or a reccomended replacement.. especially when it comes to the electrics side of things.

theres no reason you have to gut and replace 10' of 1/0 copper because a molded lead plug 3/4's the way down it died.

heck.. think out of the box.. take the blinders off. you could easilly remove the old molded on plug and 't' splice a similar 1-wire plug in using a short 3" wire stub, join the copper and solder after trimming back the insulation, add an anti corrosive agent, then dielectric, the heat shrink it. your lab grade vom capable of meauring 3 digit past the decimal ohms won't see a flipping difference.. and neither will the starter or battery.

this is why we have huge landfills. everyone always thinks you have to unbolt a 90% good part and throw the entire thing away and put a new one on to replace it. no one cares to 'repair' stuff anymore... kinda sad....

soundguy

 

[ray66v]

I don't work on vehicles as a hobby, I do it for a living.

You don't have to tell me to "think out of the box.. take the blinders off". No one in this area has created more innovative repair procedures than me.

I have not seen how you do it, but I have seen probably a hundred of them over the last 35 years that had grease, shrink wrap, tape and God knows what else on them, and they still failed. That's enough for me.

The weather in Ohio is somewhat tougher than in Florida. Right now it's well below zero with the chill factor. That takes away a major portion of your batter power, add to that a weak connection, and your car is not going to start. Not to mention what a regular heavy coating of road salt does to electrical connections.

Screwing around replacing the end, and doing regular disassembly and cleaning, for what, to save about $10? Yea, I know some cables are not that cheap, most of them are. Even if it's 3 times that, I certainly have better things to do, than spend my time re cleaning a battery terminal, and hoping I don't forget to do it someday.

Since my reputation, and my family depend on it, I replace the cable. That way I never have to think about it again.