Battery cables and/or terminals?

2005 AC Tundra 4x4 ... I love it when it runs. I've kept it in the city for a while and the mice stopped chewing on it.

But: I had some trouble with it starting in the spring ... I took it to the shop and they "cleaned up the connectors" and it started fine for a while.

I was having trouble starting, and it wouldn't jump, and now I'm getting no power to the dash lights AT ALL. I pulled out the battery to put it on a trickle charger, and it seems to be fine.

I read the threads here pointing at the terminals and/or the wires.

There's a bunch of corrosion on the positive terminal. So I ordered a new SDHQ terminal kit (I have a couple of after-market accessories that came with the truck). Also the compression lug kit because my negative terminal is crimped right onto the wire.

My question is: any suggestions on how to decide whether I just need to replace the terminals, clean up the positive wire's attachment point, and give it a shot, or whether I should be working on replacing the battery cables as part of the project? Replacing the cables seems like a lot of work.

thanks guys

-Dave

 

No real way to know ahead of time without cutting open the insulation and making the question moot. If fixing the terminals, fixes the problem, you know the wires are okay.

 

^^^
This and pictures might help especially showing or mentioning the “accessories” and condition of terminals.

As for the “lot of work” comment. Pay me now or pay me later comes to mind.

Properly maintained, an 05 has manyyy miles of enjoyment left. There are worse projects one has to do sometimes on an 05….SAIS, starter…. being just a couple !

 

Get a test light with a really sharp probe tip and just work your way down the positive cable with your good battery connected. See where you stop losing power, then get inside the sheath there and see if you’ve got corrosion.
Sounds like a corroded cable. I had this on another vehicle and was able to wire brush it back to bare copper and retape the cable good as new.

 

If you truck sits unused all winter you might want to disconnect battery and hook up a battery maintainer.

 

@BubbaW, here are a few photos of the terminals. I have the battery pulled and on a trickle charter while I wait for the new terminals.

 

That ground is fine, but that positive cable is nightmare fuel. Not only is it not OEM, but it's not even pieced together well. Not that mine is much better, but ... I'd definitely be working toward replacing it with a proper center-post clamp, sanding off all the rust from the connections, and reconnecting with dielectric grease.

 

"Nightmare fuel." Sure enough.

You guys are 3 for 3 on this truck. I replaced the positive terminal with the SDHQ one, brushed and sanded the connectors, hit them with dielectric grease, and it fired right up.

Thanks again!

 

I need to get similar done on my truck tomorrow. It's on the agenda of things to do in prep for finishing audio buildout.

 

It's not hard to diagnose if you spend a lot of time here.

Usually several times a month someone makes a post about replacing the starter only to find its not working and the real fix is either terminals or wires.

The starters on our trucks seem to rarely go out, unfortunately nobody ever asks until after they have tried replacing it.

 

It’s almost painful. The number of unnecessary starters, fuel filters (it’s never the fuel filter!) and fuel pumps we see unnecessarily replaced around here is … inexplicable. I mean, I get the logic. But it’s not any less painful to watch, considering the amount of info available on the internet.