I got a little green corrosion build up (at 90k miles) that I cleaned up last night. I was puzzled by and had to get a little creative with these battery terminal clamps- they are stock, and seem to be 2 parts but one part is folded over material. Even when completely removing the tightening bolt, they seem to be snapped in place/clipped on somehow. There is a V shaped opening horizontally on top that a large screwdriver will spread the clamp, but not enough to release it from the terminal.

I had to get more destructive than I wanted to get them off- is there an easier way? Or some $40 tool I need to go buy when I do it in another 90k miles...

 

Here's a little trick to get rid of the corrosion. Just get a glass of super hot water and pour it over the terminal. First time I heard this I was thinking there's no way that will work, but it works like magic. No need for special battery cleaners or scrubbing with a wire brush. You don't even need to take the terminals off unless the corrosion is built up between the post and the clamp.

 

Thanks. Cleaning wasn't the issue- I used a little baking soda & water, a toothbrush (don't tell the wife why it tastes funny) gently to not splatter and neutralized the pH.

I'm really curious about these battery cable connectors and that they somehow "snap" on the battery terminals. The closest thing to them I saw at the parts store was called a "lead free" connector, but it wasn't exactly the same.

 

Do the Diesels have different terminals than the gassers? The ones on my 2005 5.4 aren't anything out of the ordinary.

 

yeah lets see a pic of the terminal. Mine are the normal horizontal bolt squeezing around the terminal. I have seen a new style vertical bolt terminal that pulls a wedge up against the terminal. When the bolt on these is loosened the top of the bolt needs to be tapped with a hammer to push the wedge back down off the terminal.

 

Here ya go;

To repeat- I loosened the bolt a ton, and the clamp connector would wiggle freely but not come off the terminal. I removed the bolt entirely- same thing- it's not coming off. I stuck a screwdriver in the V- shaped opening to spread the clamp even further, which it did spread- but still won't come off the terminal.

 

So a mechanic friend weighed in.

I'm a bit more comfortable laying a bit more hate on it- I was really concerned about damaging the post and ruining the battery...Plus I'll recite the mantra :-)

 

They make a battery terminal puller I think it will work.....

 

Well I guess those are the same ones that are on my 05. I haven't had them off yet (only had the truck for 2 weeks) but I've seen them before so they didn't look strange to me. I guess I will find out about them because I'm going to swap out the brand new 1000 CCA battery from my old truck before I sell it.

 

I just did my battery swap. I just loosened the bolt and gave them a little wiggle and they popped right off. Not sure why yours gave you so much trouble. The old lead terminals on my old truck gave ne more trouble than these. Had to get out a big pliers to pry those suckers off.

 

The culprit was the battery cable connectors had dug into the post- forming a little lip. Not wanting to break the battery post (I know both the post and battery case are fragile), I posted both here and to my mechanic buddies- who knew right away what it was (not uncommon they say). So when I went back to the job, I just flared them more and attacked a bit harder- all four came off fine. Once off- the connector looks well made. They just cut a lip into the post...all good now with a new pair in there.