Hi,

I posted this in a thread on my car not starting but wanted to make a new topic for this specific issue.

The metal piece on the terminal connection for my 2008 Honda Accord battery had somehow eroded away. I went to remove the connector in order to clean it and the metal piece snapped off, apparently it was already partway snapped, which no doubt cause the starting problems.

I picked up a "universal top post terminal" to replace it. However I am having several problems:

1. The copper-colored metal from the broken terminal is really pinched tight on the wires. I do not know how I can get the old metal piece off so I can fit the wires in the new connector. Here are a couple of images of the old metal terminal:




I got the slimmest side cutters I could find but there was no way to get at the metal only in order to remove it from the wires.

2. The new universal terminal does not easily go over the post on the battery. I may be able to hammer it fully over the post but that didn't seem like a good idea. This image shows how far I can get the terminal onto the battery with some slight hammering:



Do I need a different style of terminal?

I tried putting the wires with the old metal terminal into the new universal terminal. When I put the key in the ignition the lights/fan/etc. came on, but everything pretty silently turned off when I tried to turn the ignition. I waited a few seconds and put the key in again and the lights/fan/etc. came back on again so I think the battery is OK at least. Here is a picture of what this looks like:



Any help on the above issues is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Cut the old crimp-lug off with dremel? Hacksaw?

Clean off the wire strands with a thick solution of baking soda in water.

Take a couple big flat screwdrivers & stick them in the space in the clamp. Wedge them apart to spread that clamp open a bit more.