Dodge Repair: 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan Battery Cables

Question
Roland,

We corresponded just about 2 years ago about a problem that I was having with my sliding door lock, and you subsequently referred a couple of people to me who had the same problem.

This time I'm having a battery-related problem. My vehicle is a 2005 Grand Caravan, with a 3.3L engine. I am experiencing a build-up of a blue-green deposit around the positive battery terminal. In looking online, I found that this would indicate a leaking of sulfuric acid from the battery. Obviously, I will need to replace the battery. The problem that I have is that the terminal end of the cable has also become corroded in the process. There is not a lot of slack in the cable to remove the clamp and replace it. Also, the clamp has a right-angle attachment to the cable. The cable also appears to be part of a wiring harness, with other wires running along with it.

Is there a fix for replacing the clamp without replacing the entire cable. I saw entries on a couple of websites that indicated that the cable was quite expensive and its replacement involves more than just a simple single-point of attachment. One suggestion was to replace the clamp with a piece of soft copper tubing, but I'm not sure I could do that without making matters worse.

What is your recommendation in terms of a solution?

Thanks.

Ed

Answer
Hi Ed,
I would start by removing as much of the blue powder from the battery post and the cable clamp using a wire brush or stiff bristle bush collecting as much powers as possible. Then wash the post and the clamp with a water solution of baking soda to neutralize and remove any further acid coating both the parts. Then polish the post and clamp with emery cloth. Then inspect to see whether the clamp can be applied to the post and tighten it down. If still loose you should be able to file away metal at the slot of the clamp where the bolt is located enough so that the effective diameter of the clamp hole is reduced further such that when tightened down it will indeed grasp the post. I suspect that you may be able to still use the clamp.
I would suggest that you buy a tube of battery post/clamp compound and apply that to the interfaces when you reassemble it as that will often stop the build of acid fumes/condensate.
This may thus be solved with a bit of 'elbow grease' rather than buy expensive replacement parts.
Please read the PS below and respond to it.
Thanks,
Roland