Battery Restoration Help needed

[StevenT]

This battery is from my tow vehicle, 1995 GMC van diesel with dual batteries. I had a loose connection on the upper battery positive terminal. Pictured below. I was thinking of using a dremel tool to clean it up. Is there a better way and or a safer way to do it. I have a respirator.

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[steelespike]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

Try a little baking soda and warm water to rid acid film.Just to be careful cover the good terminal with tape.
See if you can clean it up with a file and get it even you may need a couple of brass washers to help fit cable and terminal together.
Perhaps sand paper on a block to clean it up.You may have to clean up the threads with a bottoming tap.
I think 60-80% contact will work.Start it a few times and feel for heat.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

Myself, I would not even bother, take it to a battery shop and get their opinion, from the looks of that terminal, you are probably not going to get a good clean contact and it will wear as you drive the vehicle from vibration. It is better to be safe than sorry, I had a friend of mine a few years ago, that had a similar problem, he cleaned it up the best he could and about 7 months later it shorted out and actually exploded while he was driving down the road.

 

[littlerayray]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

there is such a thing as a battery terminal brush to remove corrosion and i dont think the exploding battery was from the terminal i think it was caused by something else

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

there is such a thing as a battery terminal brush to remove corrosion and i dont think the exploding battery was from the terminal i think it was caused by something else

Well according to the technicians that inspected it, they said it was because the terminal was shorted out because you could not get a tight connection with it damaged, it looked very similar to the picture in this thread, believe me, I know what a terminal brush is, I ordered by the thousands for my men when I was in the Military because we had massive problems with terminals on batteries in our hummers due to vibration. If that face is not flat on that terminal, there is going to be a chance of vibration causing more damage. It is quite an assumption on your part telling me that the incident I posted was not correct, believe me it was, I ended up picking him up and arraigning the tow to the shop for him. I have no reason to believe the people that diagnosed it had any reason to lie or stretch things, as it was not a warranty type situation, so they had no liability whats so ever.

Look at the damage to that left terminal in the picture and tell me you could bring it back to give good performance, if you do, I assure you, I would not ride with you, especially in a diesel..

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

The moral of the story is that the GM style battery terminals suck. I understand that sometime in the early 2000's, GM went back to conventional post style terminals. Maybe you could cut off your GM terminals and install conventional ones and change batteries? Some batteries had both style of connections.

 

[StevenT]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

I agree those GM terminals stink. I think I'm going to try and repair the battery and keep a close eye on the connection, checking to see if it's getting hot or vibrating loose. I only drive it less than 1500 miles a year. Opinions?

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

When I was in the service, I had a motor pool sgt. that was real good at melting lead into those terminals and getting them back to where they needed to be to get a good connection, he used to put a bolt in the screw hole, then clean real good and melt lead around it, then he used a file to bring it back to flush, they held out for quite a long time, but eventually, they all failed, but we did get quite a few months of extra life out of the batteries. That said, we were in a completely different environment that we are here stateside, where there is a battery store on every other corner.

 

[StevenT]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

Thanks MT. It appears that lead from the battery cable connector melted around the connection point. So I'm thinking I have to file out that new deposit of lead and then I should be ok. The original contour and material are still there. Thanks for the story of the battery exploding. I will keep that in mind...I'll probably get tired of grinding on it and just go buy a new one.

 

[salty87]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

is it under warranty?

 

[StevenT]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

I wish it was

 

[littlerayray]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

Well according to the technicians that inspected it, they said it was because the terminal was shorted out because you could not get a tight connection with it damaged, it looked very similar to the picture in this thread, believe me, I know what a terminal brush is, I ordered by the thousands for my men when I was in the Military because we had massive problems with terminals on batteries in our hummers due to vibration. If that face is not flat on that terminal, there is going to be a chance of vibration causing more damage. It is quite an assumption on your part telling me that the incident I posted was not correct, believe me it was, I ended up picking him up and arraigning the tow to the shop for him. I have no reason to believe the people that diagnosed it had any reason to lie or stretch things, as it was not a warranty type situation, so they had no liability whats so ever.

Look at the damage to that left terminal in the picture and tell me you could bring it back to give good performance, if you do, I assure you, I would not ride with you, especially in a diesel..

didnt mean to offend you in anyway shape or form mt
i have respect for you it just seems wierd i have seen batteries explode but it was because of the toxic gases produced from charging and at first it just looked like corrosion to me i didnt have my glasses on

 

[rivermouse]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

How about cleaning it up and installing a terminal adapter that has post and secure it with some epoxy putty? I think if that doesn't fix it nothing will.

 

[StevenT]

Re: Battery Restoration Help needed

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I found a blog from a guy who repairs batteries. I followed his instructions and opened the caps and allowed the gases to escape. I put the caps back on and I used a grinder to make a flush mount. It's working good so far