Electrics: Connections to Positive Terminal

[stevepcar]

Just had the transmission out of my 1995 2.4 NA 10V 850, to replace rear crankshaft oil seal. Caused by delay in overhauling the PCV system. I made sure that all of the electrical connections & cables were out of the way. But upon reassembly, I found that the terminal, on the end of the bunch of red cables that are part of the main harness, that goes behind the airbox, and fixed to the top of the positive battery clamp, had snapped. Not sure how it happened, maybe clumsiness, or just metal fatigue. Car has done 168, 000 miles. Obviously in that time the clamp has been removed numerous times, so a certain amount of stress on that part. Anyway, has anybody had the same problem & how did they effect a repair? Any help much appreciated.

[4x4]

A picture would help

[RollingThunder]

My first V70R had a problem with this - but in my case it was the copper core itself that had broken. Tooks ages to find it - only discovered it when I felt how hot that connector was! It was arcing inside the insulation. I'm guessing yours just snapped clean off?

[stevepcar]

If I can find out how to post a picture I will. But I have cut the offending terminal off the wire now, to see if I can find a replacement on line, or in an electrical shop. Its basically a crimped terminal with a 6mm hole that holds 6-red & 1-light green cable, to the threaded pole sticking up from the positive battery clamp. I had not noticed any heating of the connection or problems with starting. I'm not sure what the cables are for, but I suspect I would find out if I connected the clamp without them!

[4x4]

You could (with care) open up the crimped end to allow the cable to be re-inserted and solder it in place

[Boatie]

For the terminal itself look on the Vehicle Re-wiring website. They do a whole host of terminals and I'm sure you will find one that would be suitable. How much slack do you have in the various wires? Maybe you can extend the cables using an in line butt connector with suitable heatshrink insulation The trouble with the larger sized terminals is that you need to use either a hydraulic or fairly large mechanical crimpers. Access may well be the issue. Shame you appear to be in the Bristol area as I have a fair selection of terminals and a hydraulic crimper on my boat (based outside Banbury, Oxon)

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by Boatie

For the terminal itself look on the Vehicle Re-wiring website.

I think you might mean Vehicle Wiring Products:

https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk

[ASt85]

Originally Posted by stevepcar

Just had the transmission out of my 1995 2.4 NA 10V 850, to replace rear crankshaft oil seal. Caused by delay in overhauling the PCV system. I made sure that all of the electrical connections & cables were out of the way. But upon reassembly, I found that the terminal, on the end of the bunch of red cables that are part of the main harness, that goes behind the airbox, and fixed to the top of the positive battery clamp, had snapped. Not sure how it happened, maybe clumsiness, or just metal fatigue. Car has done 168, 000 miles. Obviously in that time the clamp has been removed numerous times, so a certain amount of stress on that part. Anyway, has anybody had the same problem & how did they effect a repair? Any help much appreciated.

All you need is one of these https://www.halfords.com/motoring/ba...or-165365.html
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Terminals-C...6644270&sr=8-5 - £4.39 delivered for a pair!

strip back the insulator and insert cable - Tighten the 2 screws/bolts on the clamp to the bare lead then re-clamp to battery - there are a right angle extended ones available from most local motor factors - THEY DO NOT NEED SOLDERING - soldering is prone to overheating/failure due to poor or dry jointing as it can be difficult to apply enough heat to a copper wire of that diameter.
NB only re-attach the clamp with the key in the ignition to positionII to avoid air bag deployment due to voltage spike!

[RollingThunder]

Those are ok for most cars, but ours have an immediate 90 change of direction so that the battery drops down the side of the battery - its finding a terminal that has this 90 degree drop that is the problem.

If you look at the pic below, you can see there is no room for the cables to run off the battery horizontally - both have to drop 90 degrees to clear 'stuff'

[ASt85]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

Those are ok for most cars, but ours have an immediate 90 change of direction so that the battery drops down the side of the battery - its finding a terminal that has this 90 degree drop that is the problem.

If you look at the pic below, you can see there is no room for the cables to run off the battery horizontally - both have to drop 90 degrees to clear 'stuff'

True, but you can get round that problem by clamping to the existing connector which I did with my old, now sold, 850, which worked perfectly well for several years.

The problem I have with my C70 is replacing the +ve battery terminal cover every few weeks as they don't want to stay put in the Exide battery holes.

The only way I've found to stop the cover disappearing is to use a smear of silicone on the cover's lugs!