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I have a 1998 Chrysler Town and Country AWD 6 cyl 3.6L. The battery terminals and clamps have become very corroded, and the nut used to tighten the clamp onto the terminal is seized. I’ve decided its finally time to replace them. I was wondering if its possible to replace just the clamps on the end, or do i have to replace the entire cable? (see pics)
There is a screw in one of the clamps (i know this not a acceptable repair)that was put there to complete the circuit after the nut seized up which made it impossible to tighten down the clamp. One of our friends did the quick fix while he was helping me solve a no start issue.
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You can get new ends for the cables at any parts store. Even WalMart caries them in the automotive section. It’s pretty easy to do too.
How do u remove the cables from these type of terminals? I looked it up on YouTube but they don’t have any videos on these particular types of terminals. The only method i can see after examining them is to either rip them out or cut them off and hope i have enough slack left.
the latter. It looks like you will probably have plenty of slack though. Before you go cutting stuff up, check out the replacements cause they make different types (The copper compression type is said to be the best. But you will not find that at WalMart.) While you’re there you should pick up a can of anti corrosion spray for the terminals. It will greatly reduce the amount of corrosion build-up.
Cut or break the bolt and nut off of each terminal clamp or and discard. Clean the terminal clamps with baking soda and water mix and rinse thoroughly with water. Use a battery terminal cleaning brush ($2.00 at HF) to clean the inside of the clamps and terminals on battery. Clean top of battery with same baking soda and water mix and flush with fresh water to rinse. Install new bolt and nut into terminal clamp and use dielectric grease liberally all over connections to prevent corrosion again. No need to install new clamp if it’s just corroded and new bolts and nuts should make it good again.
I’m just going to replace the battery end terminal. Its defiantly a whole easier then the method mentioned above. plus i don’t have a die grinder or anything similar that i could use to cut the nut.
but i’m haveing a problem locating a compatible three wire terminal like shown in the pictures. I’ve found a hundred single wire terminals and a few flag two wire terminals but ive only been able to locate one three wire block terminal. even the replacement cables that i have seen at auto zone, napa, etc have only one or two wires.
This is the only one i’ve been able to find that will actually support more than two wires. will it work or do i need to contact the dealership and hope the parts department has what i need?
Thanks
The separate wires are all going into the same terminal. There is no need to get 2 or 3 wire end single terminals. All you see on each terminal can go into one so long as you do it properly.
For example, the 3 on the ground, one is likely the ground coming off the engine, the other to the frame, etc. Same deal for the positive leads, one is likely the un-fused one for the starter, other is the main fuse box in the engine bay, other is likely the alternator.
+1. You don’t need to keep those wires separate because they are essentially all combined into one. It may not be a bad idea to get one with two receiving ports simply because it may be difficult to cram all that wire into a single opening. Just so you know you need to remove both connectors from the battery (and it may be a good idea to remove the battery from the vehicle) to avoid shock or fire hazard. put both new ends on before reattaching the battery. Always remove the negative connector from the battery first, and always attach the negative connector last.
If you are willing to go through a little more effort for a longer lasting fix, I would look at the kind of terminals that require you to solder all the wires together, directly into the connector. That type has a single blind pocket with no clamps for the wires, just a single bolt for the battery end. You should tin the wires first, then heat a little lake of solder in the pocket, then push the wires into the hot solder. Of course it’s harder to remove individual wires later, but this is a permanent fix that will likely never require revision.
Here’s a video of how one master teaches this technique.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5vkwWuDRGE[/video]
That’s a great video posted above. Just make sure you use Rosin solder if you go that route.
Make sure when you remove the insulation from your battery cables for your new clamp, that there is no corrosion of any kind still present in the cables.
Yeah, he’s got decades of practical experience and he teaches high school automotives. I think it will theoretically work a little better if you tin each wire, and preferably have the wires at least warm when you thrust them all together into the hot solder. His comment that he’s never had one fail is noteworthy. He emphasized that you don’t want to use a torch near the battery, in case the hydrogen gas that may linger around a lead acid battery could explode.
I agree that the method Spelunkerd posted is by far the better route as far as quality is concerned. but in my situation I think i’m going to go with the basic screw down clamps (seen below) mostly because i’m going to be doing this repair with the cables still attached to the car while its parked in an apartment community parking lot.
After talking with the guy at auto zone I’ve decided to do what thisisbuod and wayne said about shoving it all in a one slot terminal. Mostly because the terminals i bought were only $8.99 for the 2 pack where as the block terminals were $17.99 a piece. this way i’m saving $20. So hopefully they fit, and if not the guy said i could return them and buy the block terminals. I also bought a terminal protection kit that i will use to clean and protect the terminals. it came with a terminal brush, terminal cleaner, anti corrosion spray, and anti corrosion washers.
Yikes!!! I was trying to zoom in on your picture on my phone and somehow I decreased your Karma. I tried to reverse it, but I have to wait 6 hours. I’ll fix it tomorrow. Sorry 🙁
Edit: I have tried to fix this, but it seems that I am now stuck on the main forum, rather than the mobile version. On the mobile version there is an easy +1/-1 button for the Karma rating. I cant see how to adjust it on the regular version viewing from my phone. I doubt anyone really puts much thought into their karma rating on this forum, but giving bad karma is… Well, you know. Mea culpa, I will keep looking into how to fix this.
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