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Hello everyone. This has been a long running issue if you view my account. I own a 1985 Corvette, 54000 miles.
Recently when trying to fix a problem with my passenger window a wire connecting to the door panel lock button ripped. (Someone got in this before and bypassed the wire disconnectors/plugs what ever you want to call them, the door panels can't come off completely they have wires going into the harness.)
It caused an absolute landslide of electrical problems including shorting my dash, ruining my alternator and constantly draining my battery. I have completely replaced the alternator and connector wires. The dash is still shorted/broken, and my battery is still draining.
I took it into a specialist and for the 2 months they had it could not identify any problems/cause. They believed it might've been my headlight motor but after it died again I realized they were clueless.
JUST realized as I was taking the battery out that the positive terminal looked funny and is an absolute battle to put on/take off. It was very corroded. I cleaned it and went to get another battery from Autozone using my Warranty.
When installing it I noticed the positive terminal seems to be rotated in such a way that it pulls away from the battery and when I try and tighten the terminal bolt it goes loose as if I stripped the hole in the battery. However when I move the terminal out of the way and just screw the bolt in it does just fine, snug and all. I can see clearly that the terminal is not making perfect contact with the battery.
Am I crazy or could this be the root of the problem? Are there any easy solutions or should I just try and replace the positive terminal? Any help is greatly appreciated, this is my daily car, Thanks!
Pictures of positive and negative terminals will be added in a reply because they are too big to upload to this post.
You certainly have issues but a reasonable solution depends much on the quality/gauge of the positive cable and similar for the negative. Someone 'charged' you for that work? A reasonable approach would be a pair of new battery cables. I thought responses might improve if the actual snapshots were added to the thread. The negative cable looks to have the ring terminal & protector still intact and the smaller wire just an add. The positive cable looks to be what's left of a compromised ring terminal and protector. If the positive cable is long enough some might just add an S/T 'ring terminal' and protector.
How would I go about replacing battery cables? are they easily detachable from the wiring harness? Or do I need to cut the old ones and join wires together. Also how would I go about removing the damaged ring terminal, can I just remove the rubber? Or is it a whole separate part. Thanks for the response!
An '85 could possibly have had 2 different positive cables depending on options. Do you know if your car has Heavy Duty Cooling which would have been an Auxiliary Fan in front of the A/C Condenser/Radiator module. General appearance of your positive cable at the battery indicates replacing the cable would be the suggested repair. I don't believe the larger diameter cable that goes directly to the starter has sufficient length to add ring terminal & protector. Battery cable replacements are pretty straight forward. The negative cable is generally much easier.
Do you maybe have the FSM (Factory Service Manual) for your 1985? I believe you're 'Active Duty Military' and I likely provided you one for your car in January. Yes?
***** There's many '85 owners here on the CF that should be able to advise regarding your car and issues. Many seem to maybe be on summer break!!!
An '85 could possibly have had 2 different positive cables depending on options. Do you know if your car has Heavy Duty Cooling which would have been an Auxiliary Fan in front of the A/C Condenser/Radiator module. General appearance of your positive cable at the battery indicates replacing the cable would be the suggested repair. I don't believe the larger diameter cable that goes directly to the starter has sufficient length to add ring terminal & protector. Battery cable replacements are pretty straight forward. The negative cable is generally much easier.
Do you maybe have the FSM (Factory Service Manual) for your 1985? I believe you're 'Active Duty Military' and I likely provided you one for your car in January. Yes?
***** There's many '85 owners here on the CF that should be able to advise regarding your car and issues. Many seem to maybe be on summer break!!!
Good source for battery cables is batterycablesusa.com High quality cables made in USA ! Have them on my 84.
My coworker thinks that I might have a bad ground, going to have to take some time to look at them but I know i wouldnt even be able to identify a bad ground by looking at it. Currently Ive pulled the Clstr and LCD fuses and it seems to not be draining or at least not draining as quickly because its lasted 2 days on this battery which is sadly a record. I have also found a coolant leak near my AC compressor and im not sure if its the coolant itself but part of the metal/plastic there is burning cause I can see smoke coming off it. I know for sure its not wires because I moved em around felt em and the smoke was strictly coming from the metal bit anyways.
C4 1985 Battery Issues
