2018 Hyundai battery posts

[burgessdg]

The brother-in-law put a new battery in. He noticed that the battery terminals would not tighten up correctly. Terminals are fine, not broken, distorted or dirty. He brought it to me. I did not see the old battery. But... It appears that the old battery and thus the terminals are a straight post, not a tapered post. I loosen the terminals all the way out, open up the clamp, push it all the way down on the battery so some post is coming out the top of the clamp, and as I tighten it down, it walks up the post (the taper) and slips off. These are not lead clamps, they are silver-plated hard metal clamps. They are not meant for a tapered post. I searched the internet figuring I would find at least some with the same problem and hopefully a solution. The Positive terminal/clamp has connections and a fuse integrated into it, so cutting it off and replacing it with a standard lead replacement clamp is not an option. Anyone else had this problem? Any solutions?

Thanks, Dan

 

[Rand]

what vehicle would help also pics.

 

[justalubetech]

I would just get the proper straight post battery... I think trying to add shims in this situation wouldn't yield great results and have an iffy connection

 

[WobblyElvis]

I would say they are just contaminated with some sort of lube. Clean all the parts and wire brush them to give them some bite.

 

[doitmyself]

Need pictures. Something is amiss here. I am not aware of any SAE or JIS posts that are not tapered.

 

[nthach]

I’ve had to get battery shims for a car once. Some batteries - more so JCI/Clarios have “angled” posts.

Now, JIS posts - only the 2001-2015 Prius, and Kubota/Komatsu tractors use them, maybe Bobcats(though they are made by Doosan and would use similar batteries as a Hyundai or Kia) and MQ generators. The local parts house stocks the Prius Optima and they tell me a lot of landscaping and construction accounts buy them for their tractors and generators.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Are you sure he replaced battery with recommended one? I know my Elantra needed an AGM battery. There were no issues with terminals fitting properly when installed.

 

[Imadentguy]

Kia has the same problem. Ive been running post shims on mine and they work fine.

 

[Propflux01]

I've changed batteries in 5 Hyundai's over the years and never had this issue. perhaps the terminal is damaged in some way?

 

[Blinker]

Was the correct battery purchased? Most Hyundais have been coming with AGM batteries from the factory for 5+ years. If so, advance auto parts carry’s battery post shims. It seems to be a fairly common occurrence with Hyundai/Kia’s.

 

[doitmyself]

Was the correct battery purchased? Most Hyundais have been coming with AGM batteries from the factory for 5+ years. If so, advance auto parts carry’s battery post shims. It seems to be a fairly common occurrence with Hyundai/Kia’s.

Yes, numerous Google hits for "Hyundai/Kia needs battery shims". Seems to be a design problem with the cable terminals.

hyundai needs battery shims site:www.hyundai-forums.com - Google Search

 

[twouvakind]

With my 2016 Kia I changed out the OEM battery with an O'Reilly's......I ended up changing the positive terminal. Being handy with a soldering iron, I installed a fuse holder for the 10a fuse and called it a day. No shimming for me.

 

[dubber09]

On many batteries the posts are replaceable, screw in type, may be able to replace them. Sounds as replacement battery is of wrong type thou.
I replaced both batts in both Kias in my sig with Costco/Kirkland batts and had zero issues.

 

[nickaluch]

My daughters battery died on her 2017 Elantra put in a champion AGM the post was definitely a little thinner on the positive side took a few tries but finally got it tight enough that it would not slide off

 

[Gimpy1]

Are you sure he replaced battery with recommended one? I know my Elantra needed an AGM battery. There were no issues with terminals fitting properly when installed.

Yea my optima requires an agm also it has non tapered posts.

 

[burgessdg]

Sorry, I posted the solution, but it obviously never took.. Advance is where he got the battery. He went back and no one in teh store had a clue as to what he was talking about. Seems common these days. Very unusual to find anyone in a parts store that knows anything. I did tell him to get shims if they didn't know anything. He did, and that solved the issue. As far as the response of taking the grease off... I put no-ox grease on all battery and power connections. Eliminates the corrosion factor. Thanks for the responses, I had never seen it before.