Dumbdumb needs help with battery terminal issue

Hi guys,

So yesterday I replaced my battery in my 2016 tacoma. I'm in Florida so that's about the right lifespan. However; there was so much corrosion on the battery and terminal block that the block has become brittle and needs replacement too. When taking it apart to replace, I broke the original corroded one in half holding it steady to break loose the rusted nut holding it together. Beyond that, it appears that the L shaped terminal ( we will come back to this) is stuck to the original terminal block. I would have no problem cutting the wire and putting a new terminal on it, but alas the wire is much too short to do that. They don't give you ANY extra.

Does anyone have any idea what this L shaped terminal is called? I've googled and googled some more. I have found the OEM terminal block and it appears the L shaped terminal is supposed to be separate. Mine appears to be corrosively welded to it. My only option at this point seems to be to drill a hole through my new terminal block and try and use that AND the old one. I made it to work today with the old one kinda pinched under the new one, but I would prefer not to start a fire.

Any info from you gurus would be much appreciated. Or if someone has the OEM wire for sale with the L piece on it, that would work too. Thank you all in advance.

~Jesse AKA dumbdumb

 

I'm not sure what parts are available but if it were me I would replace any an all parts affected even if that was a second cable. You also need to remove all of the corrosion, you can do this with a mixture of water and baking soda. Just pour it on and let it eat the corrosion off, repeat as needed, brush if needed.

 

I know I need to remove all the corrosion. I rigged this up to make it to work today. A second cable is 150 bucks on eBay and requires a wait. I need to fix this today preferably. If I can't get the L shaped piece, a cable is next, but I'd still need a better rig than what I've currently got going. Can't not work because of this little issue.

 

I (regrettably) hacked mine off in my 2nd gen when I was into car audio and replaced it with one of those terminal caps made for adding amp wiring. I had the amp power cable and the truck's electrical wiring connected to it with no issues for 200k. It's a simple and quick solutions if needed. You can get them from Amazon pretty cheap.

 

This might be the way I have to go if I can't find another solution. Lord knows I don't want to go to toyota to replace it.

 

You can get terminal cleaner and protector from CRC to help prevent this in the future. My terminals were corroded by 23k, when I bought my '17. I cleaned and hit them with some protectant to help delay this problem.

 

I actually had stuff on them and it still happened. You can see in the original pic I've got those little circle disks and I had the grease on them. I hadn't had a reason to open the hood for a while because I had the toyocare for maintenance. Of course the dealership never mentioned the corrosion, so it just built up incredibly. Obviously it's my fault for not checking on it, but I didn't expect that amount of corrosion after 20K miles. Probably has to do with location I would imagine. Being near the water.

 

The L shape part and the positive terminal clamp is actually 2 separate pieces. You could just get the positive clamp and replace that, clean the L shape part really well and it should be fine.

 

I know it's two pieces, but mine is effectively welded together with corrosion. I tried pulling it apart and broke the connector. I found a wiring diagram online, but of course I can't get just that part.

 

If anyone can make heads or tales of this... This is the figure it says to refer to.

 

I see this a lot. The positive battery end is corroded to the wire harness so I have to get a strong impact and break it loose. Then I clean off the corrosion and put a new toyota positive battery end on and thats it. The top nut is a 12mm and the positive battery end is a 10 mm.

 

Make sure that the corrosion doesn’t go down under the insulation.

 

I used to get a lot of that. Every time I went in to the shop they'd clean it for me. Battery lasted a total of 3 years and would have kept on going if it hadn't been for me leaving for 2 weeks. At that point it died and I got a north star.

 

So, I am trying to summarize your problem.

1. You prefer to replace the whole wire, bit that is both expensive, and you would need to wait for the part to arrive.

2. Replacing the L shaped Lug would leave your cable short, but you could find them at Advanced Auto parts. You would also likely not do a good job without a hydraulic crimper which your store may or may not have available to loan you.

My suggestion is this.....

A). Make a temporary fix using battery lugs you can buy from Autoparts store (Ask if they have a crimper to loan you). You can use to make an extension from the battery to the OE cable with new lug. Insulate the positive joints where the extension and OE cable meet.

You can instead use a mechanical bolt lug adapter to join to a short extension cable.

B). Create your own replacement cable by ordering the correct gauge wire, lugs, cutting to length and professional quality using a hydraulic crimper.

C). You can buy a splicer like the one in video.
$19.99 Amazon

https://youtu.be/XDgB_m1s0To

 

Look like this is all you need.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...6-P?navigationPath=L1*14920|L2*15001|L3*15610

 

Guys, I have the nut off of the corroded terminal block. The OEM cable end with the crimped L shape piece is galvanically welded to the OEM terminal block. I would not prefer buying a cable, because it's expensive and my current one is fine. I would like to buy the L shaped crimp connector and use a new terminal block (which I already have). The problem is that I cannot find the name or a part number for the L shaped connector. Because I cannot find that, the next best option is buying the cable, but even then, I need a quick fix for now that isn't a fire hazard. I think @The_Devil is right in his suggestion of using a mechanical bolt lug adapted for the time being, but I'm not positive what gauge the wire is. So that would be the next step.

 

My sister lives on Galveston Island and I have to check hers every time I visit.

 

Jeezuz, 40 bux??????!!!!!!!!!

 

I would highly recommend the Slee Offroad terminals. Little pricey at $50 for the pair, but beefy as all hell and make wiring additions easy peasy. They also give you an extra inch or two of working room to relieve the tight cables. Using a group 31 battery, I needed all the slack I could get!

 

They are way cheaper elsewhere. Even from Toyota, but that's not what I need. I have that. I feel like people didn't read anything and just looked at the pictures posted.