Battery terminal replacement

16332 Views 22 Replies 5 Participants Last post by StephSD, 4 mo ago

Doworkscotty

Discussion Starter · Nov 8, 2019

2011 Chevy malibu 2.4 liter flex fuel 6 speed automatic transmission. My negative terminal doesn't wanna tighten very much. Had to bend it in to get it to be snug. I wanna replace it but not sure which one to get. Also how to get the old terminal off without breaking the ground wire

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TexasAggie

· #10 · May 14, 2020

Doworkscotty said:
I had to get a new battery. Cold here in Michigan and car wouldn't start. I had to get jumped and I drove around for a hour then got battery tested and it failed the test. Walmart had the cheapest battery and I couldn't get the terminal tight again so I had them do it. with a screwdriver and mallet. Now it's tight. Hit the post and side and it made it tight. Now I realized I could get battery post shims but if I have to take Battery out, I'll use the terminal post cleaner with the brushes on inside and put the shim on View attachment 67809

I've got the exact same issue as you on your negative clamp.....it's split and not getting a tight fit. Replacements look to be a dealer item only since the battery has that lower deck level for the clamp so that the hood will close. I wonder though if I might just get a small hose clamp and tighten it that way

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TexasAggie

· #13 · May 14, 2020

Doworkscotty said:
Metal Hose clamp is a good idea. Have to get one.

I walked out earlier today and looks as though it'll work perfectly. The one hose clamp that I have is slightly too small, so I'll be getting a larger one today. I'll post pics once it's done.Fingers crossed!

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TexasAggie

· #14 · May 16, 2020

Well the new clamp that I bought is too large and the other one I have is too small. The good news though is that it works perfectly. It is tight now and will NOT come off by hand. Now I just need to get the correct size. For under $2, this makes a lot more sense when I'm not willing to cut the cable and add a new fitment at this time.

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TexasAggie

· #16 · May 16, 2020

DrivenDaily said:
We like stuff that works for cheap!

Ha...true. I would normally always just get a new clamp, but to your point and others, not going to happen on the aftermarket without some mods. I did some in-store measurments and noticed that a Group 58 is a shorter battery and has a deck that is the same height where the cables attach with the stock size in my photo above. Problem is, there's no 58 that I could find without losing CCAs. I'll eventually do what you did with a side post mount setup and then I could probably find a higher CCA as well.

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TexasAggie

· #18 · May 16, 2020

DrivenDaily said:
I went with an Optima Red Top. I'm on my 2nd one now. On the 1st, my positive clamp was so loose that it would not keep from spinning so I cut the cable and replaced it with a side-terminal. The Optima battery has both terminals so it was just a matter of choosing which one to use. Recently I had to replace my starter so I took that opportunity to replace the negative terminal as well, but it was merely for consistency; it was not too loose at all. The battery has 850 CCA and fits in the normal spot with no issues.

850 CCA? Wow, that's a nice jump!

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TexasAggie

· #21 · May 18, 2020

I got the correct size today, which is 3/8th X 7/8th....looks a little cleaner now.

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