How to tighten battery clamp?












5















The ground (black) terminal clamp on the battery in my 2007 Mazda-6 has become loose to the point that sometimes the start motor will drain the whole electrical system before it engages. At that point I have to pop the hood and shimmy the clamp to get a connection sufficient to start the car.



I have hit the limit tightening the clamp nut but I can still turn the clamp without much effort. (Maybe this is a consequence of differential metal shrinkage as temperatures have recently been below freezing?)



What is an expedient or proper fix for this? I don't see any corrosion on that terminal. My first inclination was to shim it with some copper wire between the clamp and the terminal, but for all I know that will cause galvanic corrosion.



Battery with loose black clamp










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    How old is your battery? If its 4+ years then it may be on the way out and due for replacement too. This may or may not fix the clamp problem.

    – Criggie
    yesterday
















5















The ground (black) terminal clamp on the battery in my 2007 Mazda-6 has become loose to the point that sometimes the start motor will drain the whole electrical system before it engages. At that point I have to pop the hood and shimmy the clamp to get a connection sufficient to start the car.



I have hit the limit tightening the clamp nut but I can still turn the clamp without much effort. (Maybe this is a consequence of differential metal shrinkage as temperatures have recently been below freezing?)



What is an expedient or proper fix for this? I don't see any corrosion on that terminal. My first inclination was to shim it with some copper wire between the clamp and the terminal, but for all I know that will cause galvanic corrosion.



Battery with loose black clamp










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    How old is your battery? If its 4+ years then it may be on the way out and due for replacement too. This may or may not fix the clamp problem.

    – Criggie
    yesterday














5












5








5


1






The ground (black) terminal clamp on the battery in my 2007 Mazda-6 has become loose to the point that sometimes the start motor will drain the whole electrical system before it engages. At that point I have to pop the hood and shimmy the clamp to get a connection sufficient to start the car.



I have hit the limit tightening the clamp nut but I can still turn the clamp without much effort. (Maybe this is a consequence of differential metal shrinkage as temperatures have recently been below freezing?)



What is an expedient or proper fix for this? I don't see any corrosion on that terminal. My first inclination was to shim it with some copper wire between the clamp and the terminal, but for all I know that will cause galvanic corrosion.



Battery with loose black clamp










share|improve this question














The ground (black) terminal clamp on the battery in my 2007 Mazda-6 has become loose to the point that sometimes the start motor will drain the whole electrical system before it engages. At that point I have to pop the hood and shimmy the clamp to get a connection sufficient to start the car.



I have hit the limit tightening the clamp nut but I can still turn the clamp without much effort. (Maybe this is a consequence of differential metal shrinkage as temperatures have recently been below freezing?)



What is an expedient or proper fix for this? I don't see any corrosion on that terminal. My first inclination was to shim it with some copper wire between the clamp and the terminal, but for all I know that will cause galvanic corrosion.



Battery with loose black clamp







battery mazda-6






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked yesterday









feetwetfeetwet

657730




657730








  • 1





    How old is your battery? If its 4+ years then it may be on the way out and due for replacement too. This may or may not fix the clamp problem.

    – Criggie
    yesterday














  • 1





    How old is your battery? If its 4+ years then it may be on the way out and due for replacement too. This may or may not fix the clamp problem.

    – Criggie
    yesterday








1




1





How old is your battery? If its 4+ years then it may be on the way out and due for replacement too. This may or may not fix the clamp problem.

– Criggie
yesterday





How old is your battery? If its 4+ years then it may be on the way out and due for replacement too. This may or may not fix the clamp problem.

– Criggie
yesterday










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















5














If the clamp is no longer getting tight enough, that could mean the metal is stretched and possibly weak. A dealership would want to replace the whole ground cable with a new, molded on clamp. If there is any slack in the cable, you can buy a replacement clamp and put that on the wire. One way or another, new clamp is the "proper" fix.



In the mean time, there are also "terminal shims" that are made to be a quick fix for this problem at many auto-parts stores:



enter image description here



Lead post shim, random example



They are made out of lead so you don't have to worry about different metals reacting with each other.






share|improve this answer
























  • Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday



















5














Replace it, with something like this:



enter image description here






share|improve this answer
























  • That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

    – JPhi1618
    yesterday













  • They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday











  • I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
    yesterday











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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









5














If the clamp is no longer getting tight enough, that could mean the metal is stretched and possibly weak. A dealership would want to replace the whole ground cable with a new, molded on clamp. If there is any slack in the cable, you can buy a replacement clamp and put that on the wire. One way or another, new clamp is the "proper" fix.



In the mean time, there are also "terminal shims" that are made to be a quick fix for this problem at many auto-parts stores:



enter image description here



Lead post shim, random example



They are made out of lead so you don't have to worry about different metals reacting with each other.






share|improve this answer
























  • Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday
















5














If the clamp is no longer getting tight enough, that could mean the metal is stretched and possibly weak. A dealership would want to replace the whole ground cable with a new, molded on clamp. If there is any slack in the cable, you can buy a replacement clamp and put that on the wire. One way or another, new clamp is the "proper" fix.



In the mean time, there are also "terminal shims" that are made to be a quick fix for this problem at many auto-parts stores:



enter image description here



Lead post shim, random example



They are made out of lead so you don't have to worry about different metals reacting with each other.






share|improve this answer
























  • Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday














5












5








5







If the clamp is no longer getting tight enough, that could mean the metal is stretched and possibly weak. A dealership would want to replace the whole ground cable with a new, molded on clamp. If there is any slack in the cable, you can buy a replacement clamp and put that on the wire. One way or another, new clamp is the "proper" fix.



In the mean time, there are also "terminal shims" that are made to be a quick fix for this problem at many auto-parts stores:



enter image description here



Lead post shim, random example



They are made out of lead so you don't have to worry about different metals reacting with each other.






share|improve this answer













If the clamp is no longer getting tight enough, that could mean the metal is stretched and possibly weak. A dealership would want to replace the whole ground cable with a new, molded on clamp. If there is any slack in the cable, you can buy a replacement clamp and put that on the wire. One way or another, new clamp is the "proper" fix.



In the mean time, there are also "terminal shims" that are made to be a quick fix for this problem at many auto-parts stores:



enter image description here



Lead post shim, random example



They are made out of lead so you don't have to worry about different metals reacting with each other.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered yesterday









JPhi1618JPhi1618

12.5k33069




12.5k33069













  • Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday



















  • Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday

















Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

– Solar Mike
yesterday





Never seen those before.. I used to have the molds and re-cast the battery terminals, pouring the melt...

– Solar Mike
yesterday











5














Replace it, with something like this:



enter image description here






share|improve this answer
























  • That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

    – JPhi1618
    yesterday













  • They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday











  • I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
    yesterday
















5














Replace it, with something like this:



enter image description here






share|improve this answer
























  • That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

    – JPhi1618
    yesterday













  • They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday











  • I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
    yesterday














5












5








5







Replace it, with something like this:



enter image description here






share|improve this answer













Replace it, with something like this:



enter image description here







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered yesterday









Solar MikeSolar Mike

18.9k21133




18.9k21133













  • That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

    – JPhi1618
    yesterday













  • They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday











  • I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
    yesterday



















  • That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

    – JPhi1618
    yesterday













  • They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

    – Solar Mike
    yesterday











  • I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
    yesterday

















That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

– JPhi1618
yesterday







That's an interesting wire attachment style. I like that the wire would come off at a 90 degree angle. I haven't seen this style in the US - maybe I haven't looked hard enough tho.

– JPhi1618
yesterday















They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

– Solar Mike
yesterday





They were the style easily found in the UK - but there are many different styles now - clamps like that with wing nuts for cable terminals or studs and nuts etc

– Solar Mike
yesterday













I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
yesterday





I also like that it has two holding screws on it ... nice add.

– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
yesterday


















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