Acid dissolved battery terminal cable

[DAVES550]

So... I found massive corrosion on both battery terminal cables after car didn't start. After cleaning with baking soda I noticed that the nut/bolt on the positive terminal was corroded to where you can't get the nut off. Worst yet, the actual connector was so bad it snapped in two. Now there is no way to connect the positive terminal cable. So this is where there story gets better (not so good for me)... After towing to the dealer since it's still under warranty, they call me and lay the bad news on me. They tell me that the battery terminal cable is nationally back-ordered and they have no idea how long that will be. They say it could be tomorrow or as long as August 3rd! Yes, that's correct, the posting date of this topic is July 6th! I checked my car insurance policy and confirmed that I have rental insurance! Yay! Well... after calling Geico, they tell me that rental coverage only kicks in if the car was involved in an accident. No 5.0 for a month! WTF! Totally frustrated! :frusty:

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[Kevin08]

How is stranded copper wire going to be on national backorder?

 

[IPOGT]

Evidently, this is not the first of it's kind problem I suppose.

 

[dsp4848]

Interesting that you posted, as I also noticed I have some bad corrosion on my positive battery terminal. Just cleaned it earlier with water and baking soda. My wire harness connector is starting to thin out and is probably going to break before too long. It looks like the positive cable is just crimped onto the connector that tightens around the battery terminal, so I bet if you could find the right sized connector piece, one could crimp the cable to the connector and then attach and tighten to the battery. I think I might either order one for another similar Ford vehicle and then amend to my liking or see what generic ones Autozone/Oreilly/Advance have in stock.

Any chance Ford gave you the part number for the connector?

 

[Captdistraction]

The outside option is to have the whole terminal assembly replaced on the cable by a shop. A good stereo shop or other automotive service shop could just replace that.


I have one from a S197 I could send you, but I know they changed it on S550 from just looking at my car.

 

[Aggie1]

Just checked mine. Negative terminal covered with corrosion. One of those things that with the cover it's out of sight and just doesn't cross my mind as much to check it when I check the oil. Gonna need to get a new clamp ordered. Cleaned the old one up as best I could but with all the nooks and crannies couldn't get it all out.

 

[Olivas]

This was my positive terminal last year.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84706

Cleaned it myself and dealer didn't do much else for it. Still feels like the terminal is weak where it connects to the cable. Is a concern of mine that may still break at some point.

 

[Rakhi54321]

I have similar issue, car did not started suddenly and checked the battery and noticed positive terminal had extreme corrosion. In the cleaning process i tried to remove the positive cable and it torn. Will change the battery.

Do we need change entire battery cable or can fix at terminal end? Please suggest.

 

[Kbru14]

Ford needs to address this problem somehow... Ive never owned a vehicle that required as much battery maintenance as my 18' GT. I have an 18' Escape and a 82' GT that are perfect....what gives?

 

[Cobra Jet]

Ford does know about the issue, see attached SSM 48123, applicable to 2012-2019 vehicles:

 

[Hillsndale]

Corrosion has been an age-old problem since the dawn of wet cell batteries. Perhaps is accelerated in the these vehicles? Don't see why it would be though.

Absolute best thing is after cleanup, repair, and reattaching the clamps, apply some battery terminal protectant. Comes in a spray can and has red dye so you can see that you have applied it throughly. Use some paper towels or something to keep overspray from getting all over the place. It is safe for the cable insulation and I try to spray some into the end of the cable because I have seen numerous times corrosion migrate up into the cable. I use it on every new battery and as part of yearly maintenance on every vehicle, tractors, you name it, it gets sprayed. Zero corrosion after. You're not supposed to breath it so take precautions. In a pinch, I have also used dielectric spray grease, which is thinner.

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