bws Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Hi all. Newbie here. Have a 2004 Mk1 Focus 1.6 petrol and noticed an issue the other day. There was a lot of blue/white coloured stuff (purple in places) over the positive battery terminal area. I cleaned it up and noticed that it has pretty much dissolved some bits of the battery cable, the clamp and the nut that holds the earth(?) cables on. It's a mess. Take a look at the pic. I have been trying to find a replacement cable but can't seem to find anything on the internet. Is this something that is a Ford dealer only part? I would like to try to replace this myself, but I'm new to spannering so if it's too complicated, I'll take it somewhere to be done. Has anyone seen anything like this before and replaced the cable? If so, was it an easy job? Also, does anyone know where I can source a cable and new clamp? From what I can see, it runs from the top of the alternator to the battery and is routed along the front of the engine. It has two earth(?) cables clamped to it on the battery too. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 First of all those are the "live" cables and before doing any work on them you should disconnect the earth cable on the other battery post. I think that looks worse than it is. If you take it off the battery post and give it and the post a really thorough clean up with a wire brush and/or sandpaper then liberally coat both with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and refit it I would say it will be fine. Actually the Haynes manual says that the deposit can be cleaned off and neutralised by washing with a solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking powder) followed by a good rinse with clean water. The only slight issue is that the plastic sleeve over the connector ferrule on the right-hand one of those cables has split and opened up. It would be possible to detach the connector, remove the split sleeve and replace it with shrink sleeve but assuming you don't have the facilities to do that I would just pull the sleeve away and put some insulation tape around the ferrule. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil3747 Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 When I first started mechanicing, 35 years ago, we used to just pour boiling water over the terminal to clean it up, with a drain tray underneath. I don't know if that is still the done-thing these days, but it certainly worked a treat, followed by some grease/Vaseline and insulating tape as mjt says above. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 Thanks both. It took a bit of cleaning to get to the stage on the photo. The main issue I'm seeing is the fact that the fastener on the earth cable bit has partially dissolved. I guess I will need to find another, clean up the earth cables (I have insulation tape for the sleeve) and refit. Or, just leave them alone if they are ok for now. Bugs me though seeing the cables in that state. I'll try the baking powder solution too. I saw a video with that on last night. Thanks again. Will try the clean up, then coat with vaseline and see how it goes. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Like mjt already said, it should clean up quite well. If it really does go t*ts up though, any decent motor spark, do NOT got to 'Ford' unless you have access to a trust fund (!), will be able to crimp up a new cable and install at relatively little cost... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 “ The main issue I'm seeing is the fact that the fastener on the earth cable bit has partially dissolved.”. You mention earth cable, the pic only shows the live cables. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Thanks again all. Quick update. Cleaned the area with water and baking soda. It fizzed up like crazy and looks a lot better now. Trouble is, I couldn't shift the positive terminal at all. The corrosion has been so bad that it has sealed itself to the battery terminal, and obliterated a large chunk of the connector too. To get it off would probably involved breaking it off, something I don't want to do without a replacement. Looks like I'm going to have to contact an auto electrician to get a replacement lead. I could look into one myself, if it isn't too expensive. Only thing I cannot fathom is how the leads are connected to the fuse box. Is it a connector or is the cable soldered in? Pics below of cleaned up terminal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 On 4/5/2020 at 4:50 PM, isetta said: “ The main issue I'm seeing is the fact that the fastener on the earth cable bit has partially dissolved.”. You mention earth cable, the pic only shows the live cables. Yes, thanks for pointing that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 That nut does look quite poor. It looks like if you got that nut off you could just put a new nut on as the thread the nut screws on to does not look to bad. A cut with a junior hacksaw and then some work with hammer and screwdriver to get remains of nut off shouldnt be too difficult 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 I agree with Isetta and was about to make the same point. As regards getting the whole thing off the battery post I would suggest taking off the clamp nut (the right-hand one in your pics) then tapping a suitable sized flat-blade screwdriver into the slot and prising it apart slightly. Once you've broken the seal between the connector and post it should come off easily enough. I seriously wouldn't worry about the small amount of material that's been lost. As long as you can get it properly cleaned up and protected with a coat of Vaseline it will be perfectly fine. Once again, though, before you do anything first disconnect the earth cable from the battery negative post. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 Thanks all. Quick update. Managed to gently coax the clamp off the battery. Undid the bolt, got a screwdriver and gently tapped it into the gap. It broke away from the battery terminal easily. I went steady as the corrosion has eaten half of the clamp near the point it secures via the bolt. Gave it a gentle clean, bit of wire brushing and some more baking soda water. Then bodged up the sheath from the cable with some electrical tape. Reassembled everything (tightened up just the required amount as didn't want to go too mad and snap what little is left of the clamp) and coated in vaseline as per pictures. Hopefully it should be ok now. Thanks for the help everyone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Well done sir, for someone, " new to spannering ..." you have accomplished an excellent job! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 5 hours ago, StephenFord said: Well done sir, for someone, " new to spannering ..." you have accomplished an excellent job! Thanks. 😀 I am indeed new to this sort of thing. It's actually the second job I have done on the car though. First was to fix the broken window wipers. The linkage fell off, but I managed to find a part on the internet for around £5.00 to fix it. Took a bit of time to resolve due to acquiring tools as I worked, but got there in the end. Next job I'm attempting is oil change. Then I need to investigate a rumbling noise from the front right when you turn left slowly, and something that seems to be loose on the back end (could be exhaust or shielding as it sounds like that). As the car is only a £500 runaround, I'm trying to keep costs down by doing things myself. Thing is though, I'm secretly falling in love with the old girl. 😁 Oh yes, have some rust to clean up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicam49 Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Well done too! Every time I do a job on my Mondeo, instead of taking it to a garage I buy the tools needed for the job and that way I have built up a half decent toolkit. One tip I can give you is to get yourself a Haynes manual. Another tip, I've never done an oil and filter change! I always take it to a Ford main dealer's Rapidfit dept. who does the job for around £50, and uses the genuine oil and oem filter AND disposes of the old oil for me. However, if you do diy , then you might need the 36mm socket to undo the plastic filter housing...(if it's the same as on the Mondeo) and if you overtighten it you risk cracking it... another reason I take it to a Ford garage. Anyway, enjoy your motor! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 11 hours ago, bws said: Thanks. 😀 Thing is though, I'm secretly falling in love with the old girl. 😁 Yep, there's a lot to be said about the joys of an older lady! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 4/19/2020 at 8:28 AM, StephenFord said: Yep, there's a lot to be said about the joys of an older lady! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 Quick update. Looks like the blue/white powder is coming back already on and around the positive terminal. Bit of a pain. I have been doing some reading about this and I think I need to check that the alternator isn't overcharging the battery. I will nip into town today and purchase a multimeter to take a look. I have read that corrosion around the positive terminal could be overcharging. It's either that or the battery is past it. Multimeter is £8.00, battery around £70, so will start with the cheapest item first. Will also be useful to add the multimeter to my tool collection. I'm hot on this because the positive battery terminal doesn't have a lot of it left due to corrosion. I'd rather try and nip this in the bud now before the whole thing dissolves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie eastwood Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Are you putting something like Vaseline on the terminals, it does help keep the corrosion away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 1 hour ago, eddie eastwood said: Are you putting something like Vaseline on the terminals, it does help keep the corrosion away. Yes. When I last cleaned them up I coated the terminals in vaseline after rettaching them. Are you supposed to cover the battery terminals and the clamps in vaseline, then reattach? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie eastwood Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Attach and tighten up first then apply plenty of the Vaseline all over the clamps and terminals 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 Thanks. Well, I have run some tests. I'm getting just over 12v across the battery terminals when the car is off, and just over 14v when the car is running. I guess these figures are ok and show that the alternator is not overcharging? Next step I guess is to replace the battery. I have cleaned everything up again today and reassembled. Put more vaseline on this time too. I have noticed that when I clean up with baking soda, there is residue around the base of the positive battery terminal. I'm wondering if it has a slight weep that is causing this corrosion build up. I did a quick battery test and the tester stated the battery was actually fine. Could have a little leak, who knows. The battery on the car looks old so no harm in changing it. It has a recharge date of 00 2018, which probably means it is pretty old. I don't know for sure though as I don't know when this one was fitted. One thing I will say is the battery hold down bolt was a pain to remove from the tray. That probably hasn't moved in a long, long time. I am worried about this constant build up of corrosion because I don't want it to dissolve the battery clamp. I'll leave this post with some more pics of the damaged battery clamp and the corrosion around the base of the battery terminal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bws Posted August 17, 2020 Author Share Posted August 17, 2020 Quick update. Problem solved. I changed the battery for a new one and swapped it in July. Four or so weeks later and the terminal is still clean, apart from the vaseline: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Ford UK Shop
Sponsored Ad
Name: eBay
Ford Model: FordUK Shop
Ford Year: 2024
Latest Deals
Ford UK Shop for genuine Ford parts & accessoriesDisclaimer: As the club is an eBay Partner, The club may be compensated if you make a purchase via the club
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.