Ok, here is the deal. I was borrowing my parent's spare truck a few weeks ago, and one morning I went to start it up and the battery was dead. I did what anyone else would do, and pulled out the jumper cables, hooked them up to my car, and jumped the battery. I'm not sure what happened, but the alarm started going off like crazy and pissing all of my neighbors off. After spending a few minutes trying to disconnect the battery, I said screw it and just grabbed some pliers and ripped the cables off of the battery. My problem is this....I need to hook up a new battery, but there is a problem since I ripped the cable out. The screw on the cable (on the postive connector) that is supposed to screw into the battery was ripped out while still connected to part of the battery. I've spent the last week trying everything to get this piece off the battery off of the connector, but have had no luck. I've tried cable locks, pliers, pb blaster, wd-40...nothing will work. Does anyone have any other reccomendations to try to get this loose? Since it seems like that isn't going to happen, how difficult is it to just install new battery cables? Can I just replace the "connectors" on the end of the cables without replacing the entire cables? I'm an idiot when it comes to cars.
If you ripped out the screw in part of the battery, you're gonna need a new battery. You may as well replace the battery cable while you're at it. Pretty straight forward. Call an autozone and give them the truck make/model/year/engine. They can set you up right quick. Return what you borrowed in as good as or better condition than you received it. Throw some gas in the tank while you're at it. Who cares if the neighbors were getting pissed. The're not the ones paying for the repairs on the truck now.
Yeah, I know I'll need to replace the battery. The battery cables looked like they connect in a few different spots that are hard to get to, so that's what I'm nervous about.
It's probably not as bad as it seems. Gonna get a little dirty so wear some old rags. Just follow the line and have a work light handy. Good luck...let us know how it turns out. The cable should run anyhere from $15.00-$30.00. The battery ranges on the quality. Make sure to wash your hands if you get battery acid on you...clothes too. Have fun.
Buy a new truck... I had to replace the same cable its really easy funny thing was they had all the parts I needed at walmart cost me like $10.00..
just use an angle/die grinder/dremel tool and cut the connector a new one is only about a dollar at autozone and you'll be done in 2 minutes
But aren't the connectors made into the battery cable? It seems like it is all one piece, so I'm not sure how I would connect a new one? Thanks for your help, I really am an idiot when it comes to this stuff.
Go to an auto supply store and look around. As far as connecting the new connector to the battery cable, it can be crimped/squeezed down to the cable. Some people then wrap electrical tape around the new connection to make it nice & neat.
If he's nervous about unbolting an remounting a battery cable cut to application, what makes you think he'll feel comfortable dremeling (if he has one) or recrimping the wire to a side mount terminal. Just buy the new cable.
Okay, I think I get it. You had me confused for a minute. So yeah, what Falcon said: Don't worry about replacing the connector on the existing cable; just buy a new one. They're cheap. AutoZone, O'Riellys, Sears, Walmart, any place like that will have not only the necessary parts but the service people ought to be able to help you out if you have any questions. For the positive cable/terminal, one end of the cable will attach to the battery terminal post and the other end of the cable will attach to the ignition coil. Just follow the cable and see where it connects and you'll see what I'm talking about. All you need for the swap is (most likely) a small wrench and about 10-20 minutes. For the negative cable/terminal, one end attaches to the terminal while the other end mounts directly to the chassis. Its easy, I promise. And change your blinker fluid while you're at it.
