Why are Larger Auto Mechanics SO AFRAID to replace a Battery Connector ?

[St. Phatty]

Why are Larger Auto Mechanics SO AFRAID to replace a Battery Connector ?

I replaced my battery connector back in 2018, because I was snowed in. On the +12 volt terminal on a Ford Truck.

I used a "Universal Battery Connector" like they sell at a lot of auto parts stores.

I was a little afraid to start hacking on the factory cable that's attached to the factory battery connector.

So I used a "Butt Extension" thing, that attaches to the factory cable, and attached the connector to that.

Now the replacement connector is acting up a little, Oxide, Corrosion etc.

I asked for a Quote from -2- different Auto Repair Shops that I've dealt with in the past. To see how much it would cost to put a Ford Factory Connector on the existing Ford Factory cable, which involves cutting off the Butt Extension wire.

There were no complications in previous dealings with the 2 shops. i.e. my check didn't bounce, they fixed the problem except in one case where they halfway fixed it. I paid what they asked and departed the premises, not wanting to belabor the situation.

One shop refused to quote entirely !

Another said, $420 if I use the Factory cable assembly, on the Negative connector.

In the past I have had auto mechanics do this kind of repair, NO PROBLEM.

But now, it seems like they're AFRAID of it. Afraid to quote, something.

Is it just because they want to sell me the more expensive part ?

I understand that if they have to cut 2 inches off the factory cable, when removing the extra piece of wire, the "Butt Extension" wire, it's not completely stock.

I'm willing to sign a "liability waiver", so if they don't want to warranty their work, it's OK.

But their silence is just WIERD.

 

[Three Berries]

What you need is some battery grease to cover the exposed copper wire. What I always end up doing is to put on a 1/4 eye connector that then I bolt to a battery terminal. You can find lugs at a store that sells welders. I usually use the cheap tin plated steel battery terminal too. They are light weight and have s stud bolt for the eye bolt.

 

[St. Phatty]

What you need is some battery grease to cover the exposed copper wire. What I always end up doing is to put on a 1/4 eye connector that then I bolt to a battery terminal. You can find lugs at a store that sells welders. I usually use the cheap tin plated steel battery terminal too. They are light weight and have s stud bolt for the eye bolt.

That's sort of what I did, but I used Vaseline type stuff from the Dollar store.

I have a semi-home-made Immersion heater that I use for water heater.

I ended up using the cheap Vaseline grease, it cut down the corrosion rate a lot.

Got 3+ years on the various iterations of the design.

Once I fixed a problem on the F22 with a $7 tube of dielectric grease, and the management got REALLY UPSET when I presented it, because they had their hearts set on a $5 Million re-design of an Antenna interface assembly. A thing that goes between the central avionics and the physical antenna, all RF stuff.

When I put the tube of dielectric grease on the table, I wish I had recorded the video.

They reacted like I had thrown a bag of live rattesnakes on the table.

Anyway, I agree, that kind of grease that keeps the Oxygen off, is really useful.

I put it on the + connector, and where the copper wire is attached to the lead connector, that attaches to the lead terminal.

Is there any kind of Dielectric Grease that naturally absorbs Oxygen - or Hydrogen ?

I know of a widespread Corrosion problem, in the electric power industry, where Oxygen is just chewing away at the metal like a jack-hammer. I was thinking a material that absorbs Oxygen, away from the metal, might be able to solve the problem.


As far as the auto repair shops, I wonder if the change in their approach to new business is affected by Covid19 and all the parts shortages.

One shop quoted me $85 initially, parts & labor.

 

[Three Berries]

The best stuff is a copper based corrosion inhibitor electrical grease. I use this but got it cheap so....

 

[Three Berries]

I used some silicone grease on my battery terminals once. Slathered it all over the already connected terminal. It was a self leaving dielectric grease and got down between the terminal and post enough that it lost the connection and failed to crank the car over.

 

[VenerableHippie]

Hello Saint P.

I used to be a tradesman in the motor trade. This was couple of reincarnations ago. I 'm OK now.

The shop won't want to fuck around with a new terminal. They will want to replace the whole cable.

Here in this wonderful Land of Oz shop work must be guaranteed. The customer always has a come back. (Maybe it's like that where you are? But probably not because you live in the Land of the Free.)

So to avoid comeback trouble shops here are inclined to replace instead of repair. (That way the shop can also employ idiots who know how to use a spanner instead of mechanics.)

When your battery terminals become corroded make up a hot watery solution of Bicarbonate of Soda and dip the terminal into the mix. You will see the mix bubble as co2 is released from the corrosion build up. You need to wait until this bubbling is finished then you will have a smart looking shiny terminal to put ThreeBerries grease onto.
You can paint this Bicarb solution on yr battery terminals too.
Then wash with water. Hot water works best.

Vroom vroom!

 

[Three Berries]

Not too much I would trust a mechanic to anyway. But it's all the same, they all want to put on new parts. Changing the clutch on my old beater because they wanted 3400$ to do it. About $300 for parts if I do it.

You can get fancy plated terminals with allen screws that are easy to install. I just put in a battery disconnect switch under the hood as the battery is in the trunk.

 

[RyanR]

Most aftermarket battery terminals are trash and they likely don't want to be held liable of any failure in the future so are opting for a oem fix.

 

[Three Berries]

Those lead heads are not good unless you put a copper feral over the cable. Mostly the problem is the battery leaking. There should be no corrosion at all. Most batteries leak because the post gets torqued when the clamp is tightened, breaking the seal.

Get something like this.

 

[sdd420]

They want to replace the whole cable because corrosion travels up the wire underneath the plastic making the whole cable suspect

 

[Three Berries]

They want to replace the whole wire so they can get their 30% markup of an OE $100 part. That and it takes less intelligence usually to just replace the whole part.

 

[Three Berries]

And liquid sudsy ammonia is a great acid neutralizer. Soak and rinse with water. No mess, gets deeper into crevices.

 

[Koondense]

Bad wires can make any car go up in flames. So do it properly and stay safe.

Cheers

 

[St. Phatty]

If you look up Lead Oxide, Zinc Oxide, and Copper Oxide,

the Resistivity, Lead Oxide is the King - much higher resistivity than the other 2, per unit volume.

 

[VenerableHippie]

They want to replace the whole cable because corrosion travels up the wire underneath the plastic making the whole cable suspect

Don't want to start a war ... but ... travelling up the wire underneath the plastic is an extreme case. True though.

 

[Three Berries]

Won't be any corrosion unless the battery is leaking.

 

[armedoldhippy]

i used to have a container of a silver salt that you could dissolve and paint onto other metals & pretty much prevent corrosion.

 

[Three Berries]

I rigged up a 2V cell and relays and when using a vacuum switch that tripped when I went wide open throttle, it would kick out the alternator and kick in the extra 2v cell. Worked great. Trouble was recharging the 2v cell. 2V cell is laying on the bottom under the relays.