VettesRule

The positive cable to the battery is covered with green junk so I removed the battery, cleaned the terminals and the cable terminals, but couldn't tighten the screw enough to get it tight enough without fear of stripping the screw threads.

What is a good solution? Thanks in advance!

EVRose

Make sure the nut on the clamp is cone shaped on the bottom. If you took it completely off you may have it upsidedown. If there is no cone shape on either side you need to find a new one.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c6-corvette-general-discussion/3808611-battery-nuts.html#post1591994264

unclecookie

Or just buy a new cable. If the cable end was covered in "green junk", then quite possibly the entire cable has "green junk" all through it.

VettesRule

I'll check the nut and look into replacing the cable too.

Anyone changed a positive cable? Got a PN maybe? Thanks guys!

CadVette

Not a proper fix I know. But you could temporarily wedge a small screw between where the clamp closes together for a tighter fit until you can put a new clamp on later.

wayback

I had the same problem with the negative cable on one battery....would not tighten. What I did was loosen the nut and use a small slot screwdriver to spread the clamp apart. Push the clamp down as far as possible then tighten the nut.

Worked for me.

RAW1

Bought Autozone epoxy coated marine terminals. Cut OEM terminal off the "copper" strap as close to it as possible with tin snips (old school heavy duty straight snips with about 18" handles) and straightened the strap. Drilled 3/8" hole in strap. Attached to new Red marine terminal with SS lock washer and nut instead of supplied wing nut. OEM red rubber cover still in place. Less than 1 hour job, no worries about cable length, no electrical issues, no heat detected on connections after multiple start/stops.

carls2004

Same here... After they are removed a few times they need to be spread back apart. Then re tightened.

Dutch08

I wanted a more OEM look, so it was buy new GM cables or fix the ones I had. I just bent the edges of the terminal in with pliers so that there was bit more "bite" into the post when tightened. About a month now and perfect.

BTW - If covered with green junk it might mean the battery is in its last few months. That's what happened to me, cleaned it and the terminals would not tighten. Then when I bought a new battery, same problem.

Tombovette

Thats exactly what I did but I used an audio terminal unit. Works Great

RagTop69

I'm kinda favoring duct tape.

ByRiver

I use the universal tool, vice grips. You can use them to hold anything together.

Vet Interested

Was not on the Vette but I kept replacing a cable every 6 months because of heavy "green junk". Finally replaced the battery (and the cable) and problems gone!

ByRiver

I still have the same spray can of Silicon spray I bought 12 years ago. Once I mess with the battery clamps, I spray some on each terminal after I tighten the bolt. It never corrodes or turns green.