How to Change a Battery Terminal When It Is Part Of A Harness

Although this vehicle is a 2004 Suzuki Verona, this repair can apply to a multitude of manufacturers. The general problem is the battery terminal has failed. The bigger problem is that this battery terminal end is only supplied a part of a larger harness assembly by the vehicle manufacturer.

This repair begins with separating all of the pieces. Pliers and wrenches will be needed and care should be taken as it can be easy to injure yourself.

Once the main components are separated, there may be a bolt or nut that is part of the cable that needs to be removed. In some cases they are pressed or brazed on. On the bolt, you can use a setup like I have in the picture below. It may take quite a bit of force.

This one had rolled over tabs holding it in from the back side. A pair of pliers and a screw driver took care of those. Some have a nut that will be crimped or brazed into position. The same setup I showed earlier will work most of the time on those designs. Sometimes it is easier to drill it out/off though.

The back side of the battery cable end.

The replacement battery terminal has a larger diameter post that the original bolt, so the hole will need to be enlarged.  I use a stepped drill bit because it makes a clean hole. Also I use one that has a damaged tip that is fairly useless for anything else. I would not use an expensive bit like this normally due to acid concerns.

Now it is time to clean and flatten the terminals.

The brush in the picture works great attached to a cordless driver. I used a pair of flat jaw pliers to squeeze the metal back flat.

The final assembly. looks pretty good to me.

This one is done.

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