# 1995 Truck Battery Terminal Clamp Corroded



## Smurf_Stomper (May 4, 2011)

Recently I couldn't get my truck to start up at all, turn the key and nothing, as if there is no battery connected. I examined under the hood and found the positive terminal absolutely corroded (a persisting issue), to the point where the metal wasn't even making contact. After extensive scrubbing with my wire brush I've got the some of the metal on the positive terminal clamp exposed again, but the corrosion is so bad I'm afraid there isn't enough clamp left to make adequate contact. The battery is fine, my multimeter shows 11.8 volts output.

Researching the issue a bit leads me to 2 conclusions: 1. Replace the whole positive side cabling for over $100. or, 2. Find a way to replace just the clamp metal, for very cheap, as detailed on a different Nissan truck model here. However, since my truck is so old, the universal battery terminal clamp I bought at autozone doesn't fit the wiring on the positive side due to how Nissan attached the terminal clamp to the wiring, and included an additional wire/fusebox assembly that gets attached to the factory terminal clamp.

So my question is if anyone has found themselves in my situation, and how to replace just the positive terminal clamp. As you can see in the first attached pic, the older Nissan's have a fuse assembly that slides in with the terminal clamp, and the terminal clamp itself itself is machine-crimped onto the copper wiring (second picture), complicating matters further.


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## pittmanjustin (Apr 11, 2011)

just cut the wire strip it and put it on a new terminal or take the old off and pour coke on it. coke will eat the corrosion off of it


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Water and baking soda work better at removing the acid and corrosion. As far as the cable, cut the "loop" off of the cable and run one of the bolts of the new cable end (cable end, not the clamping bolt) through the bolt hole of the former cable end at the end of the cable. Keep in mind, those cable end replacements are called "temporary cable ends" for a reason. Periodically, you should check them and make sure the bolts are tight. There are a couple of ways to prevent the corrosion buildup, including protective sprays available at your auto parts store and those red and green rings to put around the battery posts before you attach the cables. Make sure there's not a leak from the battery at the base of the posts. BTW, 11.5 volts does not indicate a good battery. A fully charged battery should test at 12.2-12.5 volts.


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## Smurf_Stomper (May 4, 2011)

for some reason the images didn't make it into the first post, so here's an idea of what the two cables look like:



Thanks for the tip on baking soda/water, that really cleaned off the terminal clamp well. Seems now my main issue is the second cable that has the plastic fuse box attached to the eyehole lug, which can't be attached to a replacement terminal clamp w/o it standing vertical, which there isn't hood clearance to do.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Corrosion on the positive battery terminal is generally indicative of slight overcharging...generally that is...not always...and could be caused by, among other things, rotten alternator (or even the whole electrical system) grounding, maybe an ugly negative battery cable, or even something as simple as a bad seal at the battery terminal itself. It's really a bit of a crapshoot to figure out what's causing it. In my case, it was both a rotten battery terminal and somewhat bad grounding.


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## Smurf_Stomper (May 4, 2011)

thanks for all the tips. After more careful investigating and testing it was the battery at fault, after all. Thing was a workhorse though, I was coming up on it's 7th birthday!


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## chad1 (May 18, 2011)

*fusebox*

what is the proper name for that? and where can i find a place that sells it? ive tried autozone and o'reillys and neither knew what the thing was.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

chad1 said:


> what is the proper name for that? and where can i find a place that sells it? ive tried autozone and o'reillys and neither knew what the thing was.


Fuse box is a fuse box, or sometimes a power distribution center. Now sure what you are exactly referring to, but you're probably going to have to go to Nissan to get it. A pic would be helpful.


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## P24ever (Mar 9, 2011)

*A word of advise*

I don't mean this to offend you but you should consider trading in your hb for a lot newer vehicle. If something this simple gave you so much trouble, you should reconsider owning this old of a vehicle. This was a simple fix grind the terminal to expose completely the Coper wire and replace with the universal clamp. Drill the fuse box whole a bit wider and connect it as would be connecting an amp, with the side bolt holding it together spray a little wd40 for protection and your good as knew. That's exactly what happen to me and this was how I fixed it.


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