A.R.S.E.

I did a battery swap in the Clio this arvo. Only problem is the new battery has a terminal that is too small a diameter for the lead to tighten onto. Is there any household item that can be used to pack it out? Failing that, what's the best thing to do?

best thing is to change the terminal to one of the smaller type. That will give you the best connection.

maybe making a little "wedge" out of al foil?? get a piece and fold it and fold it and fold it so it is a tight wad and shove that into a gap in the large terminal so that when you tighten it, it will clamp on that as well.

Tin can cut into strips, wound around the terminal.
Wind the lug out to max , fill the space with the strips, tighten lug.
Dont not use hard packed steel wool, as my brother did, it catches fire.
How we laughed.

Use a proper lug, anything else can create voltage drop (potential difference) that can affect systems in the car. Because these newer models use a seperate body control module to the ecu there is a requirement for all the resistance values to remain constant. By packing out the terminal you could create some serious problems.

You can buy terminals for different sized battery lugs. You could buy one that has a threaded flat side to the top of the new lug and then bolt the lead to it. Make sure you use steel bolts, non galvanised.

Thanks guys. It's only temporary until I can get a proper fitting ensconced on the lead.

some form of conformal coating on the terminals when complete would be a good idea too mate. Vaseline doesn't cut it anymore, lol.

Cutter wrote:Tin can cut into strips, wound around the terminal.
Wind the lug out to max , fill the space with the strips, tighten lug.
Dont not use hard packed steel wool, as my brother did, it catches fire.
How we laughed.