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battery terminals

bradcad

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Gday all

This might seem a no-brainer to some, but I thought I'd post it anyways, as even I didnt think it would really make that much of a difference on my VT V6. Hopefully it helps someone....

I've got a fairly new battery & alternator with regulator, yet sitting at lights the dash lights dim with the indicators. In general lights seem dim, and power windows slow.

After an oil change I decided to look at those nasty festy battery clamps. Pulled the battery out and sand papered the terminals till shiny and wiped down with turps, completely dissasembled the battery clamps and soaked them in turps. I even found the original red positive terminal cover!

All of the connections at the clamps were cleaned with sandpaper and turps- the 3 or 4 wires connected to the positive terminal included.

Next, the clamps were dissassembled (all nuts, bolts and plastic bottom guard thingys) and scrubbed with a toothbrush in turps untill they were shiny. There was some sort of goo all over them which took a bit of handy screwdriver work to remove. I wasnt sure, however whether I should coat the terminals after installing with vaseline or some other product...

everything was assembled in its correct place, now I've noticed .7v minimum additional charge over the entire rev range, and she is a lot smoother to drive and picks up revs a little easier. Not bad for a quick, free fix
 

davey g-force

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...I wasnt sure, however whether I should coat the terminals after installing with vaseline or some other product...

Yeah, I think they usually coat them with Vasso or grease to prevent/slow down further corrosion.
 

craigvk

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Yeah not bad. After I added relays & new wiring for my headlights on my VK, the voltage drop from battery to globe was .2V. Before it was a 2 volt drop!
The problem is mostly bad cable and connections, especially in older cars.

Poor battery terminals lead to resistance which you saw. Good advise. Maybe everyone can pop their bonnet and check the condition of theirs.
 

ssute57l

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Good idea to put grease or vaso around the terminal, make sure you put it between the batt post and the plastic top as this is where they usually leak.
 
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