How Best to Clean Ground Cable

[LazyDog]

My cooling fans are not working on the Jetta. after noticing that the plug at fan switch had some busted wires. I order a pig tail and all seem fine until I removed the battery. For some reason they cut the insulation of the negative cable and added a pig tail to the frame. The weather cover broke and the cable showing is showing some corrosion. VW needs to get a better bolt quality the rusted bolt broke into pieces.

My idea how fix this is to clean it w/ some lemon and baking soda. Grind any loose stuff and in case the whole thing w/ liquid tape.

Any other suggestions or ideas.

 

[bdcardinal]

How far back into the loom is the corrosion?

 

[97prizm]

I would use crc contact cleaner and protectant.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

I would start with a wire brush to clean off the loose crap, then go to CRC electric cleaner. At some point you need to remove the screw and clean the terminal and frame. Once you get it clean cover it with dielectric grease.

Just my $0.02

 

[LazyDog]

I only removed the rusted bolt which broke and grind the frame to removed the rust. The work will continue tomorrow and will peel the insulation
to see how far back the corrosion is, the heat/ humidity had me done for the day.

 

[SHOZ]

Use some sudsy ammonia.

 

[Trav]

Peel it back till you see clean wire then mix some baking soda and water into a thin past and brush any corrosion with it. Leave it for about 30 min and rinse with warm water. Spray the exposed dry wire with a light coat of rattle can clear and wrap it well with self vulcanizing rubber electrical tape. You stretch the tape as you apply it then fuses together and is water tight. Clean all connections spotless, tighten the connection and clear coat it.

Scotch Linerless Electrical Splicing Tape 130C for Wires and Cables, 3/4 in x 30 ft, Rubber Backing, Self Fusing, UV Resistance, Highly Conformable, Moisture Seal, Black, 1 Roll: Electrical Tape: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Scotch Linerless Electrical Splicing Tape 130C for Wires and Cables, 3/4 in x 30 ft, Rubber Backing, Self Fusing, UV Resistance, Highly Conformable, Moisture Seal, Black, 1 Roll: Electrical Tape: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

[ka9mnx]

Trav has it right. The way I would do it. Baking soda can do miracles.

 

[Donald]

Clean it with baking soda and water. If it comes back the seal between post and case is damaged. Or an Exide battery. So then you replace, clean monthly, try felt washers. You cannot fix the seal. Deal with it or replace.

Some twist the battery clamp to pull it off rather than use a battery clamp puller to lift it off. The twisting can damage the seal. As can battery technicians at Walmart who might over tighten.

 

[SHOZ]

You could try cleaning the seal area good and using some clear gorilla glue to reseal it.

 

[ChrisMU]

I had corrosion issues with my wife’s 2003 Corolla battery cables. I found that ketchup works well. I let it sit overnight, then rinse it off.

 

[SHOZ]

ammonia works best, rinse with water. It will dissolve the crusty corroded crap and rise squeaky clean.

 

[JHZR2]

If you have a terminal then you can apply shrink wrap. Key is to validate the corrosion in the wire and the resistance it may cause at the lug interface. Assuming that’s not too fouled, I’d just apply some new shrink wrap, maybe electrical tape over that at the ends, and move on. Bigger key is likely the cleanliness of the exterior of the lug, and the surface the lug is contacting.

 

[SHOZ]

Hyundai's and Kia's use the body as the main ground vs the engine block. If you add another cable to the engine block it's much better.