My car (1989 Honda Accord) has been having weird electrical issues lately, like i’ll turn the key in the ignition to start the motor and everything (dash and even dome light) lose all power. I’ve discovered that when I wiggle the positive battery cable the car regains power and I was able to start it. I then noticed that the terminal connector is broken. My question is, how do I go about replacing a positive battery cable?
You buy a new one and disconnect one connection at a time connecting the new one before you move to the next connection. You might want to disconnect the ground first and reconnect it when you get the other cable fully connected.
Definitely …
… disconnect the (-)negative ground cable (black one) at the battery first and move the connector away from the battery post.
Replace your (+)positive cable (red one).
When finished, reconnect the (-)negative cable (black one).
This will keep you from getting burned, blowing up your battery, or damaging something.
You can buy a replacement battery cable at any auto parts store. Clean the connections at both ends when you install the new cable.
That stuff is too complicated. Go to the store and get one of these replacement battery terminals: http://www.autozone.com/N,16400170/shopping/partTypeResultSet.htm
I agree with hellokit - if it’s just a break in the connection between the cable and battery clamp, buy a replacement clamp and install it. Replacing the entire cable may be over the head of the OP, who had to ask this question in the first place.
I think I should be able to replace the entire cable, I just wanted to ask for some opinions of what I should do. I do like the idea of getting a replacement battery clamp because it is just a break in the metal of the existing battery clamp.
OK, just want to make sure you’ve got the tools and the cable is accessible. Sometimes they are very hard to get to. No slight intended…
If it’s easy to get to, and if you have the tools, and if you plan to keep the car a while, the better fix is to replace the cable, of course. The connection between the replacement clamp and the old cable will not be as good (will eventually have corrosion) compared to a new cable.
Look very, very closely at the condition of the cable. If you see green or red corrosion at the end of the cable, you might safely assume that the remainder of the cable may be significantly corroded. To be sure, you should try to measure resistance between both ends of the cable. High resistance creates a significant risk of fire somewhere down the road.
Yeah, there is some green corrosion on the cable, in that case I will probably just replace the entire cable. It’s dark out now but i’ll take a better look at it tomorrow and see how easy it is to access the entire thing.