[ACURA2008MDX]

Hello guy's, I'm working on my girl friends 2008 MDX with 65K miles.

We had a bad battery from Pep Boys, which they replaced & installed free. But now the terminals especially the one for positive post will not stay on. The terminal has been stretched and just will not clamp tightly.

Also, terminals clamp bolts are not perpendicular to the battery post. They are angled up about 45 degrees which does makes nut (not the bolt head) easier to get at. Is the 45 degree angle by design, or did some tech perhaps bend too tighten terminal on post?


I've search here and seen:

1. Shims (caps) to fit over battery post effetely enlarging the post. But not sure that's a good permanent solution.
2. New OEM cable(s) a bit pricy, and just gets it back to what I consider not well built as terminal stretch so easily.
3. A few talked about replacing just terminal, but not sure they actually did nor did I see what this may involve, or if cable was long enough to permit replacement easily.

In the end I'd like to end up with a longer lasting, more reliable and stronger battery terminals which are not so easily stretched by shop techs.

What have you guy's been doing to solve this minor issue?

Thanks!

 

[csmeance]

Cut off the existing terminal and put on a new higher performance one. That's the route I've been thinking about but haven't found one yet that suits my liking. Plus extending the power cable may be necessary if there isn't enough slack for a new terminal if the old one doesn't come off nicely.

 

[qqzj]

Let us know when you finally decide to do it. And take lots of pictures. I was thinking about it so I bought a Dremel so that I cut out the terminal w/o damaging the cable. Most 'experts' would advise against putting a Walmart terminal on. They regard those screw-tighten terminal as ghetto-rig type. The preferred approach is to buy a solder-on type terminal and insulate it with heat-shrinks. Quite some work.

 

[Bluepill]

1. The off-angle bolt you mention sounds like it was damaged during removal.

This is a "Healthy" terminal:

Note the gap that shows it is properly sized.

You may be able to get a used cable at a junk yard. Positive and ground are different sized terminals. Almost any Honda or Acura cable end will work, if you want to use one off a different model and splice it into your existing cable.

Some auto and truck parts stores have proper crimp-on terminals and the tool to do the crimping.

 

[ACURA2008MDX]

1. The off-angle bolt you mention sounds like it was damaged during removal.

This is a "Healthy" terminal:

Note the gap that shows it is properly sized.

You may be able to get a used cable at a junk yard. Positive and ground are different sized terminals. Almost any Honda or Acura cable end will work, if you want to use one off a different model and splice it into your existing cable.

Some auto and truck parts stores have proper crimp-on terminals and the tool to do the crimping.

I've wondered if the PBoy tech bent terminal's too tighten on post, (bad practice). I stopped by Honda dealer an a mechanic said he's see more and more like that from factory "makes easier to get at". I've since gotten conflicting reports on what is right for this model.

What I did for now is just put a ~$1.00 lead cap (spacer). It's worked so far, but is not a good long-term solution.

When I get some time, I'll order a new cable from Dealer so I can at least see what factory correct for this model looks like. If I find it's as you've pictured Buepill, I'll have a talk with Pep Boys for doing this to the cables. They've pulled and installed this battery twice and at minimum stretch the terminal by over tightening.

Thanks everyone for your replies & ideas, keep them coming!

 

[Priscillababy]

I don't think you can replace the terminal by itself...

my '09 MDX had a similar problem last year- in fact battery cable kept popping off while driving!!! (was quite scary and super inconvenient- MDX would be chugging along anywhere from about 30-60mph) and then suddenly NO POWER....very scary....I had to pull over, pop the hood, and then manually secure the battery cable just to get the car running again- HOWEVER, any bumps/potholes encountered along the way, continued to cause the cable to keep popping it off the battery cable- let's just say my (RIGHT/SLOW lane only) beeline to the STEALERSHIP which normally would have taken about 15 minutes from where I had been inconvenienced at the time, took me at least twice as long (in part thanks to all those damm potholes/bumps in the metro DETROIT aka DETOILET area)...

in summary the dealer had to replace the entire positive battery cable (too much excess corrosion even after a thorough cleaning attempt)- problem has since disappeared.

oh that STEALERSHIP job was about a $450 hit (parts & labor)...and to be honest, the worst part about that experience was being issued a big, clunky, 3G MDX LOANER CAR- complete with its terrible handling, cheap looking, plastic laiden interior, very cumbersome iPad wanna bee like Display console, and retarded (automatic) shiftless gear system- gosh I really despise the 2014-2016 MDX and I couldn't wait to get my repaired 2nd gen MDX (with newly installed + battery cable) back while at the same time forking over just under $500 bucks to the swindling stealership~ at least they fixed my problem...oh well life goes on...

 

[Fabb]

This is my next weekend project except the assembly will cost me $122 plus tax up here. Exchange rate sucks and we get gouged on shipping too.

 

[ACURA2008MDX]

Well battery died again this morning after car sat for two days! WTF...

To recap; I put battery post shim (cap) on in January, it's been fine since. The battery post and terminals (shim on positive post) are sung clean and greased. So why did battery weaken to ~11.5V (charger indicates)?

Could battery post shim be creating a little to much extra resistance?
Could alternator be weak (checked out ok)?
Could belt be slipping (feels tight)?
Did we get two bad batteries in a row form Pep boys?
What else could it be?

Note: Car is driven only short trips of less than 5 miles, at speeds from 30 to 45 MPH. Car has 67K miles on it. Battery is a Bosch 24F-700B
Pictures is of positive post/terminal with shim

 

[thegazelle]

I don't feel so bad anymore...I screwed mine up last month in replacing the battery and overtightened the positive terminal and warped the bolt and clamp so it wouldn't stay on. This is less than 24 hours after I bought the car and I had to get it towed to my mechanic's as it was a Saturday night and no shops were open. My mechanic just cut it off (the positive terminal end) and installed a much better clamp that is HUGE. Unfortunately that orange rubber cover no longer fits over it anymore.

Total cost parts and labour: $35.00 Cdn.

 

[ACURA2008MDX]

Pep-boy measured a key off excessive draw off battery of 2.905 AMPS. Anyone have clue what this could be?

 

[csmeance]

Pep-boy measured a key off excessive draw off battery of 2.905 AMPS. Anyone have clue what this could be?

bad hands free link unit in the the back of the center console. Unplug it and try again. Be sure to lock the car! After 10 minutes of being locked it should be drawing .2 to .5mA.

 

[carpayment4life]

bad hands free link unit in the the back of the center console. Unplug it and try again. Be sure to lock the car! After 10 minutes of being locked it should be drawing .2 to .5mA.

x2............... I checked mine twice: 1st with the drivers door open and the interior lights on = 1.449A draw................... 2nd with door closed and interior lights off = .255A.................... An easy way to check your alternator is at night....................... Locate the alternator and look at it while someone starts the mdx................. If you see sparks, your alternator is not doing its job correctly.................. Change it, before it completely shorts out and stops recharging your battery.

 

[Rusich]