brush water with lots of sodium bicarbonate onto the terminals… that will eat any corrosion away (light blueish foam forming in the process) …
It’s also an issue with drag racing. If you’re building a drag car, the battery should be oriented so that the plates in the battery are parallel (in-line) with the direction of travel.
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I concur. Not a bad idea to carry a small wrench and terminal brush or spray cleaner in the trunk.
Last week our son was working on an old car that has been sitting in our driveway for a while. He had been messing around with it for an hour trying to get the engine to turn over, was getting frustrated, and asked for my help.
The battery was fairly new, fully charged (12.6 V), and presumably healthy. Radio and blower fan worked with the key in the ON position. But when he turned the key to crank the engine, all we heard was a “click.” I asked him to turn on the headlight switch. He did so, and the lights did not come on. Hmmm…
The battery terminals looked dirty and corroded. And both were loose! I told him to disconnect the battery cable terminals and thoroughly clean them - and the battery posts - with a wire brush, and then use a ratchet & socket to tighten them to the battery posts. He did so, and the engine fired right up. The look in his eyes was priceless. He now knows that clean & tight battery connections are an absolute necessity when the load wants 300+ amps.
If you have an older (well-used) car, that has had the battery replaced several times, the clamps can get stretched to the point where no amount of tightening them will make a good contact. The clamp ends will meet before the terminal gets squeezed. When this happens, cut them off an replace with brass battery clamps.
I doubt your battery was bad, most likely it was a simple bad connection at the post of your battery which would have been corrected when he replaced your battery.
Probably better to replace the whole battery wire(s). Those large swaged connectors are attached very thoroughly at the factory. Any field joint you can make between a separate new connector and the existing cable will be a lot less durable electrically. You’ve just introduced 1 or 2 major new weak points into an already aging electrical system.
To be sure, if you’re pinching pennies those cables cost $10-$30 each. Whereas clamp-on terminals are as cheap as $10/pair
Well, when I do it, I solder them…
I had an F350 Diesel with dual batteries. It had a special positive cable that was eye-wateringly expensive. I ended up making my own with welding cable and big split-bolts, and it worked great!
What gauge would the wires have to be to not set your car on fire if you wanted to DIY it?
Aught or bigger.
The ones you buy at the car parts store tend to be 4ga or 6ga. I might choose 2ga if I wanted to make it bulletproof, but there’s definitely diminishing returns to bigger.
For example: Advance Auto Parts: Search “battery cable”. If you want to get more specific, add your vehicle type at the top.
It really depends on the vehicle.
The truck had giant cables. A tiny 4-banger can get away with bell wire…
For sure. Definitely don’t go smaller than factory. But you can assume factory was the barest minimum.