I recently replaced my battery and a few days ago had to disconnect the battery again. The next day I was checking my fluids and noticed that the negative battery cable was loose, so I attempted to tighten it up and found that it was tightened as far as it would go, so I bought two more clamps, not the same as the originals, the kind where the wires slip in and you tighten the bolts down onto the wires than connect it to the battery. I put these on and realized that the plastic covers that go over each post wouldnt fit, so I went back to the store and the closest thing I found to the originals was the flat metal clamps with a wing nut on the back side and a pair of lugs to crimp over the exposed wire and tighten onto the clamp with the wing nut, these clamps fit really poorly as did the originals, although these arent loose. Is those plastic post covers totally necassary? Should I leave the setup I have on their now or replace the cables just to get a decent clamp that works with the covers? Thanks for any help.

 

The plastic covers are not really all that necessary. They really just keep you from contacting the terminal by accident. You will still get corrosion. Just ditch the covers if you want and buy a battery terminal protectant. It sprays on like spray paint and lasts for a few years before you got to redo it. Or, you could make your own cover. Be creative and you'll come up with something.

 

Thanks scafes. I didnt know if they were there cause of any problems or just as a prevention attempt, I noticed that the hood dipped down kind low right there but I drove it around a while with the other posts uncovered and it didnt do anything, but I got paranoid. I already spray the posts with that tacky red stuff, just the posts were wore out.

 

The best thing you can do is buy some new cables with the ends made into the wire. The covers are really not the issue here. Those ends you have bought are going to give you trouble eventually. Now instead of one connection that can pose a problem(the cable to the battery post) you now have two possible problem areas, the battery post area and now the wire clamp area. And the wire clamp will rust on those battery ends.

Have I used those repair ends before? Sure I have. Do they work ok? For a year or so, but then they start corroding.

 

Approx. how long of a cable will need for my 97? The only cables I saw at both auto parts stores I went to do have the wire and clamp as one but the clamp itself is as big as the ones that I bought before that the covers wont fit under (kinda like this one), now the cover become an issue. I cant find any OEM ones, and am not a big fan of them anyway.

 

If you have 190,000 miles on your truck, and you are just replacing the battery cables, how could you not possibly be a fan of OEM battery cables? Seems 9 years and 190,000 miles is pretty good! Buy new stock cables. BTW, you can usually find original equipment wires in excellent shape in junk yards. They are extremely cheap as no one buys them.

 

I am just not a fan of the replaceable battery ends. I thought you had given up on the battery covers, so I was suggesting getting a pre-made complete battery cable as a better solution, if you did not want to worry about the covers fitting.

 

Thanks for the replies Franklin. I am not a big fan of the replaceable clamps either but was at work when I noticed the negative one loose and in my attempt to tightin it, it just wouldnt fit tight enough to start the truck anymore so I was limited to my replacement choices as the only store open on christmas eve was a truck stop. After posting here, I went ahead and put the kind that dont fit the covers back on to see if it would bring up any issues before I bought a permanant set and after a few days no issues have arisen so far so I will be changing them out sometime later in the week, probably when I am back at work and have the extra time to play with that kind of stuff LOL.

 

Okay Franklin you got me. Here it is almost 2 years later and I am at work when my battery dies. I decide to check the water levels in the battery as I have NEVER done this since I bought it. In order to do that you have to disconnect the cables to take that dang plastic battery cover off (it is staying off too by the way). I went ahead and added an azzload of distilled water to the battery and when I was reconnecting the battery cables I broke the positive one, so another clamp replacement was in order. I did notice that the wires under the bracket that tightens down were looking real dingy, no corrosion though, looks like they were starting to rust under there. My question is: Where does my positive cable and negative cable ultimatly lead to? I cant see because they are wrapped in a plastic loom type thing and they branch off at different places. Also, how come do I have to go to the dealer and pay $40 for a positive cable and $25 for a negative cable and not just buy some off the shelf at the parts house? What is so special about these cables? The truck is a 1997 F150 4.6 liter. 2WD if that makes any difference. I know that you have access to some sort of magic database of diagrams and was hoping you have one for this. I can tell that a cable replacement is in order in the near future. Thanks......

 

The diagram shows the battery + cable splits. Do you have two wires at the battery +? You should, or it splits downstream from the battery in the harness. One + wire goes directly to the starter. The other goes to some fusible links, and then goes to the starter relay. If both wires are large, and both go into the battery clamp end, then that's going to be the rub as far as using a universal cable.

The diagram I have also shows two grounds. One large one going to the engine block, and the other smaller one going to the body sheetmetal.

I haven't done much research on this, but you might be able to go to Napa, and see if they have any ends that you solder on. I haven't seen them myself, but heard of ends that you can use a torch and solder the wires to the ends. You could also try this with a repair ends you have. The solder will make a much better connection.

If all else fails, get some new connectors like you have now, and every time you change your oil(if you do it yourself), and you are waiting for those little nagging drips of oil to stop out of the oil bottle, bring the bottle over and let a couple of drips fall on the battery terminals and the bolt area where the wire connects. Just a few is all it takes. If you do this every oil change, you will never have trouble with your cable ends corroding. It works much better than grease, or any special pads you can buy at the store.

 

The negative cable has a big wire and a small one. The small one grounds to the firewall, the big one is wrapped in plastic along with both of the positive ones. The positive has a big wire and a small one, it looks like the small one branches off and connects somewhere in the mega fuse block on the firewall and the big one goes on down somewhere else. The reason I am concerned is that on most cars with replaceable ends when the wire on the end corrodes or goes bad just cut it and splice and you are good for another year or two. I barely had enough cable to put these ends on. I have zero experiance in soldering, but if I did I would have bought some lugs and soldered the on the ends, shrink wrapped, and just bought the clamps with the wing nut. I dont have a very big problem with corrosion since I have been using that spray can of battery junk I got at the Wally World, and thankfully I live in the Southern part of the U.S. Anyhow, how hard is it to solder and what would I need? I really, really, really, really dont feel like tracing these wires all over the truck after just paying dang near $100 for the replacements.

 

The key to those battery clamps is to tin the wire(cover in solder) and put dielectric
grease on the wire then bolt it to the the clamp, Spend the extra money and get the
brass terminals(clamps) they are more then the lead ones but will last a long time.
I live near the beach and drove my truck in saltwater to launch my boat and never had trouble with the battery clamps. I prefer dielectric grease that paint stuff just
doesn't cut it in high corrosion environments!! The tinning of the wires with silver
solder is the difference between success or corrosion!!

 

So you did buy new factory cables? If you did, what I have seen some people do is just abandon the old cable that's in the loom, and run the new cable along outside, the easiest way possible, tying it up along they way.

To solder a end that big, you are going to need a small propane torch, and some rosin core solder. Do not use the plumbing solder unless they have some without acid rosin. If you can't find solder without the acid rosin, radio shack should have some. With the torch, you are going to have to play the heat back and forth on the wire to get the correct amount of the heat. Too much heat and the solder will just run right off.

 

No I didnt buy the cables yet. I posted to find out if there was any special reason they are that dang high, or if there was any other route I could take. From what I can tell the negative cable is nothing special and I can just buy a regular old one from an auto parts house. The positive one will have to come from Ford. Franklin, do you have a diagram of where the positive one lead to from the battery? I may just buy it and leave it sit for a month or so that way I can recover from the shock of actually paying $40 for 1 cable. If I am going to have to pay at least $20 for a torch and a little more for the resin, I may as well spend a little more and get it done right.

 

In this thread in the link below, they are talking about a place that gives discounts for Ford parts. I wonder what the price there would be, though shipping may knock out any savings.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...tor-valve.html

The large positive goes down to the starter. The small one branches off , and I think you found it went to a fuse box. The diagram shows it going to some fusible links and then the starter relay.