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View Full Version : beware, battery cables aren't what they used to be...



CosmicCowboy
01-27-2010, 01:58 PM
I noticed some corrosion on the battery posts of my wifes Expedition and decided to take it in for an electrical system check...It turns out the battery was going bad and that this has become very common with the newer cars...with all the computers, sensors, and all the electrical devices the cars are really stressing the batteries and my mechanic is seeing a lot of corroded battery posts which if not taken care of then "infects" the cables...the corrosion then travels down the cable inside the insulation and starts knocking out sensors and computers...even if it doesn't knock them out it can cause voltage variations that make your car not run right because sensors are giving the main computer funky data.

And you cant' just replace a battery cable anymore...it's a complete wiring harness that hooks up to everything...on my Expedition it costs THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS and the labor to install is another TWO HUNDRED!

Just a heads up to you guys to keep those battery terminals clean...It's not like the old days where we could replace a $5 cable and be back in business.

clambake
01-27-2010, 02:07 PM
make her ride one of the horses.

Viva Las Espuelas
01-27-2010, 02:14 PM
A little water and baking soda.

CosmicCowboy
01-27-2010, 02:17 PM
A little water and baking soda.

or coke

or vinegar

that wasn't the problem, it was the symptom...the battery was putting out 10.3 volts

A little vaseline on the posts every couple of months helps too.

PM5K
01-27-2010, 02:18 PM
Buy the pack of grease at the auto parts store and smear that shit on your terminals.

clambake
01-27-2010, 02:20 PM
A little vaseline on the posts every couple of months helps too.

you might want to delete this part.

CosmicCowboy
01-27-2010, 02:32 PM
you might want to delete this part.

Naaa I don't use Vaseline on that post since Shelly turned me on to Astroglide.

Viva Las Espuelas
01-27-2010, 03:09 PM
Naaa I don't use Vaseline on that post since Shelly turned me on to Astroglide.

:lmao if you need lube somethin' ain't being done right :lmao

marini martini
01-27-2010, 03:09 PM
Naaa I don't use Vaseline on that post since Shelly turned me on to Astroglide.

Shelley is a very smart woman!!!:toast I sure do miss her!!!:cry:

CosmicCowboy
01-27-2010, 03:38 PM
:lmao if you need lube somethin' ain't being done right :lmao

That just depends on what you are packing and where you are packing it...

mrsmaalox
01-27-2010, 03:53 PM
:lmao if you need lube somethin' ain't being done right :lmao


That just depends on what you are packing and where you are packing it...

Uh oh......you guys wait here, I'll go get the yardstick!! :spin

Viva Las Espuelas
01-27-2010, 03:56 PM
That just depends on what you are packing and where you are packing it...

Ah. Bringing up the rear. Then, yeah.

I. Hustle
01-27-2010, 04:11 PM
Real classy guys. Way to act mature. I swear sometimes the guys on here can make us all look bad. All you do is talk about sex, and gay stuff. Way to make this place seem trashy you guys.

CosmicCowboy
01-27-2010, 04:53 PM
:lmao

I.Hustle talking "mature" smack. Now THAT'S funny.

marini martini
01-27-2010, 05:04 PM
Real classy guys. Way to act mature. I swear sometimes the guys on here can make us all look bad. All you do is talk about sex, and gay stuff. Way to make this place seem trashy you guys.


:lmao

I.Hustle talking "mature" smack. Now THAT'S funny.

What a role model!!!:toast

Wild Cobra
01-27-2010, 10:38 PM
Just a heads up to you guys to keep those battery terminals clean...It's not like the old days where we could replace a $5 cable and be back in business.
This is very true.

Everything gets more expensive. Parts and labor on cars aren't something every back-yard mechanic can do anymore.

Now clean and efficient cars are an area of regulation that doesn't bother me, but people need to realize that it causes such extra expenses. It hurts the middle-class and poor more than those voting in the regulations. We could blame the auto makers, but they are doing it the least costly way they can for retail costs, in a very competitive market.

Wild Cobra
01-27-2010, 10:43 PM
or coke

or vinegar

that wasn't the problem, it was the symptom...the battery was putting out 10.3 volts

A little vaseline on the posts every couple of months helps too.
So you had a dead cell. Another problem with newer cars. The computers require a battery with a high enough current capacity to maintain 10V or so while cranking, so the computer, injectors, etc. can still operate. Battery cells are made more dense, with more plates closer together. This increases the problems in batteries, and they don't last as long as with pre-computer cars.

Sportcamper
01-28-2010, 11:52 AM
Nice technical information by Cosmic & Wild Cobra…:tu

florige
01-28-2010, 01:27 PM
This is very true.

Everything gets more expensive. Parts and labor on cars aren't something every back-yard mechanic can do anymore.

Now clean and efficient cars are an area of regulation that doesn't bother me, but people need to realize that it causes such extra expenses. It hurts the middle-class and poor more than those voting in the regulations. We could blame the auto makers, but they are doing it the least costly way they can for retail costs, in a very competitive market.



Not to mention nowadays you have to be a computer science major to fix anything under the hood.

I. Hustle
01-28-2010, 01:40 PM
I forgot about this thread.








It smells like sex in here.

Wild Cobra
01-28-2010, 08:07 PM
Not to mention nowadays you have to be a computer science major to fix anything under the hood.
Not really. To me it's all simple control circuits. I work with such things on automation equipment daily at work. The systems aren't too hard to fix if you understand such things. Start with a code reader, and a volt meter then to check components for expected responses.

RuffnReadyOzStyle
01-28-2010, 09:23 PM
Now clean and efficient cars are an area of regulation that doesn't bother me, but people need to realize that it causes such extra expenses. It hurts the middle-class and poor more than those voting in the regulations. We could blame the auto makers, but they are doing it the least costly way they can for retail costs, in a very competitive market.

What a load of garbage. We're talking about the battery cables on a Ford Expedition here, are we not? That's got nothing to do with "clean and efficient"! :lmao

CC's problem arises out of disposability - today they build cars, and everything else, so that you have to replace entire subsystems or the whole product, rather than making things repairable like they used to be. This costs the consumer more money ($500 vs $5 in this case), the environment more resources (a cable vs the whole subsystem), and the economy repairman jobs. This is a great example of the downside of disposability/material throughput culture, a grand scam run on everyone by the manufacturers of the world to keep their sales flowing.

Also, it has been shown time and again that efficiency costs nothing if you regulate industry to do it properly. For example, since MEPS came in for fridges (first occurred in California in 1975), they have doubled in size and halved in price while using 75% less energy, which means 75% less ongoing operational cost for the owner. Inefficient anything ends up costing you far more in operational costs (ie. petrol, electricity, etc.) over the life of the product.

Frenzy
01-28-2010, 11:01 PM
Buy the pack of grease at the auto parts store and smear that shit on your terminals.

what if the car was neutered?



A richer takes in his wifes ride for corrosion on the battery terminal. :lmao


whats next? Low tire pressure? Oh no... I better get to midas right away!

florige
01-28-2010, 11:08 PM
Not really. To me it's all simple control circuits. I work with such things on automation equipment daily at work. The systems aren't too hard to fix if you understand such things. Start with a code reader, and a volt meter then to check components for expected responses.



I was exaggerating about being a computer science major. But like you stated, you are fimiliar with that sort of stuff since you deal with it daily at your work. For a guy like me when the mechanic tells me that the cpu is bad inside my vehicle, I just pretty much ask him how much. Thats a big plus if you can work on the cpu on your vehicle. Probably save boatloads of money too!

CosmicCowboy
01-29-2010, 09:20 AM
A richer takes in his wifes ride for corrosion on the battery terminal. :lmao

Corrosion is a symptom of a problem. I wanted to make sure the alternator was charging properly and it turned out the battery was going bad. I don't own the test equipment to check the electrical system. what exactly was wrong or strange about that?

Sportcamper
01-29-2010, 10:20 AM
I jumped started a Toyota (obviously it was a Toyota) pick up truck yesterday with my 2009 F-150…Is there any danger of jump starting cars with these complicated electronics?

CosmicCowboy
01-29-2010, 10:42 AM
I jumped started a Toyota (obviously it was a Toyota) pick up truck yesterday with my 2009 F-150…Is there any danger of jump starting cars with these complicated electronics?

No, but you should put the negative cable on the "jumping" vehicle to a direct ground and not to the negative battery post.

Sportcamper
01-29-2010, 11:51 AM
He had a jumper cable set where you connect the cables on both cars & then connect a middle socket…I have never seen cables like that before….The middle sockets had lights to verify that the cables were connected correctly…

Wild Cobra
01-29-2010, 12:36 PM
What a load of garbage. We're talking about the battery cables on a Ford Expedition here, are we not? That's got nothing to do with "clean and efficient"! :lmao

I take it you were never involved in the automation or manufacturing industry.

It's cheaper to make assemblies with automatic equipment, then the labor is less intensive to install it. With the cost of union labor in the auto industry, it saves money.

Care to make any more ignorant statements?

Wild Cobra
01-29-2010, 12:39 PM
I was exaggerating about being a computer science major. But like you stated, you are fimiliar with that sort of stuff since you deal with it daily at your work. For a guy like me when the mechanic tells me that the cpu is bad inside my vehicle, I just pretty much ask him how much. Thats a big plus if you can work on the cpu on your vehicle. Probably save boatloads of money too!
What's bad is they could be lying, and most people don't know. If such costs start getting expensive, get a second opinion. If you can't move it, buy or borrow a code reader and let another expert see the results.