I really appreciate youtube users and vid makers. I was able to fix my van without taking it to a shop. I had no power to my car at all, thought it might have been the starter, fusible link or a bad ground wire. The problem was a bad connection between the battery to the starter. we had to take the wires off the terminals and got the corrosion off and tighten them back up. This saved me a lot of money because I was about to tow my car to a shop. This vid really pointed me in the right direction to what the real problem was. Thanks again.

6:45 "it's new but I'll do it anyway" This kids is what's called.... INTEGRITY thank you Lord for letting EricTheCarGuy be a genuine man

Glad you disconnected that negative battery terminal first! When you were working on the positive clamp I saw your wrench touch both the positive terminal AND part of the car's frame! Would have been major sparks if the negative terminal was still connected at that point!

Eric you are the main reason I actually retain this stuff. I got to a technical school and when we started talking about parasitic drain and I actually replaced a faulty alternator the instructors were amazed. I took off my negative battery terminal before I even touched the alternator and the teacher was in awe. "You are the only student I have seen do it right". Then I refered him to your youtube channel. He said to keep learning the correct way by whatever means. Thanks.

Eric, I'm just going to come out and say it; you're the best. Thanks for making so many awesome videos for us to view and follow. I'm a DIY guy and you've saved me thousands of dollars and that translates to thousands of dollars saved for my friends as well. Awesome! Thanks man!

OMG!!! I did exactly what you said and my baby is alive!!! thanks for everything man!!!

This is why I'm subscribed to Eric the Car Guy by far one of the best mechanic on KZfaq I have personally figured a lot of things and figured a lot of things out watching his videos. nice feeling when you can fix your own car

Thank you for your videos. Yesterday I had a had a no crank no start and all I heard was a single loud click from under the hood then all the power went out on the car. I used your videos to check the relays, fuses , test the battery and charging system and then did a voltage drop test. Turned out to be the cable that ran from the fuse box under the hood to the positive terminal of the battery (it was really rusted) . I had some room on the wire so I just cut off the corroded part and stripped it, cleaned the terminals and wires all up and it started just fine. So far so good. 02 Chevrolet Cavalier LS sport 2.2l DOHC

Eric, Thank you very very much for this video. Im not afraid to admit that I am not a car guy at all. My dad was the mechanic in the family and I was the computer guy but I did know enough not to go buying a starter and battery. I have a 1996 Chrysler Sebring so it was pretty close to what you had on video so it was very easy to follow. Thank you again. You have been a blessing.

Wish I could’ve found this video first before I bought a starter 🤦🏾‍♂️😂 live and you learn

I knew when I clicked on your video that I would get every details of the subject. I wanted to know if my cable would be an issue even though it doesn't look that bad and your voltage drop told me everything I need to know ! The way you speak is clear and not too fast. I really like your video !

Cleaning the battery terminals makes such a huge difference. Holy crap.

Eric, my daughter's car is having the same problems and the battery terminals look this bad. I will clean them and see if that helps. Thank you for taking the time to post this video.

I typically avoid using those crimp-style terminals - the ones that just smash the wire between the terminal. The invite corrosion and can pull out over time. I typically use the moulded type of connector. Those are the ones that look like ring terminal connectors. You actually insert the wire in and crimp the entire end down, this seals the wire from corrosion. That black wire coming off the other side of the positive terminal is a fine example.

One way to make those terminals work, at least a little bit, is to strip off some wire until it's clean, then solder the strands together. They'll act like a big lug, and they'll last longer with those stupid terminals. Coating them in dielectric grease ought to help after that.

Those white cables look like the wires that came off a 120 volt light or fan that you would have in your house.

Had a charging issue in my Cherokee last month, terminals looked good, but when I took them off, small amount of corrosion on post. Cleaned her up and that was all it was. Glad I didn't order that Alternator I had already priced.

Glad to be back here. I have a different connection, but its not the original either, so staying away like the plague still applies. My radio goes off at times, ABS and such signs go off too and starting, I can tell has a weird start. Found out I have a loose connection because I have the butterfly negative wire. Couldn't see it, but I moved it and sound was going off in the car because I thought the battery "died".

Sound advice. You don't stand a chance if your battery connections are not clean and tight. I liked the terminal cleaning device. Well worth having one and it would last a lifetime.

I had a 6 volt drop between my battery and the key side of the starter with intermittent no crank. I Chased many things for a long time, finally it was just a dirty terminal on one of the small wires! There were lots of small losses in the circuit but the terminal was true worst one.

wow. that's heavy. I can't believe someone bought a new starter and battery. and not a cable!

baking soda and water mix works great!!! it dilutes the battery acid and neutralizes it !!!! This works just as well as the spray you buy but waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy cheaper and I think everyone has baking soda at home

Thanks for the info, Eric. One piece of advice: the terminal cleaning tool is tapered, as are the battery posts-----So you should only insert and use that tool from the underside of the terminal, so it will maintain the proper taper to the terminal.

😂 thank you Eric always my savyer when a problem crops up with my car iv learn so much over the years watching and studying your videos Anyway been having problems starting no lights no dash no crank etc every morning and trying to work out what could be going on upon looking at the battery terminals found the negative terminal had snapped managed to fix it for now but will need a connection when I get round to it Thank you again Eric

I love your stuff. I just wish I had watched this before I bought a new battery!

also if you have dash lights when you turn the key from off to on then turn the key to start but nothing and then dash lights are off. this is also something that gives it away that the clamps are lose or dirty etc etc etc. great video

Excellent video. Thanks for posting this. I love the way you explain things, so clear and understandable.

Dude, you are so awesome. I'm just like you, down to earth, AMERICAN, and are not afraid to show other people your knowledge, way to go. You help me lots. have a great holiday, sincerely, Alex Montero

This video is great. I love the end "Ill just come out and say it.... I hate them"

1:49 those wires look like wicked fire Hazzards 💀

When I turn my key I get no noise except the dinging from the inside of the car. No clicking no trying to turn over. New battery, new starter, fuses are good. What could it be

I have seen some weird stuff happen in newer cars if the connections are even a little loose/dirty. Not so much problems with starting,but other weird stuff like the ABS light suddenly coming on,ECU having 'hiccups',heater controls acting looney,noise in the stereo,all manner of things. Make sure they're clean and tight! It can save you a lot of headaches.

Thanks for the great procedure! It turns out my 20yr old car had the grounding stud painted over in the trunk by the factory guys. Seems the manufacturer had the intention of the nut shielding the stud from paint. Mine wasn't tightened down, so there was overspray on the backside of the nut, and the face of the body where the strap should clamp and make contact.... If it weren't for metalflake there may never have been any connection to ground! 5 minutes with the dremel and a brush bit, and this car is cranking faster than it ever has! From no crank, no click, to super-crank! As you showed I set my multimeter to mV and traced the +'ve and -'ve battery connections outward. With the car in "run", headlights on w/o the engine running the drop from terminal to clamp was 14mV, another 14mV to the body, and I quickly saw my issue.

This guys the freakin best man we need to appreciate people like him

I got a battery in 2016- just died on me now in 2020. I got it changed a few days ago at Autozone but noticed the guy who installed it didn't even clean the terminals. He kind of just blew on it. My car is still making a noise when I start it and I'm taking it to my usual shop to get the starter checked. I hope it's just the terminals! Thanks for the video, it's given me hope I won't have to spend $400-$500 on getting a new starter.

I SO agree man, and i get the feeling there is a set of sub's in this car and a deck, if thats the case someone did a really shitty install and did not know what they are doing, but i would have at least checked what thos wire's were going to, and told the customer how bad that is.

Who buys a new battery, new starter, new negative cable connection and not even clean the one on the positive side :)

Thank you so much for this video, it really helped me find out what was wrong with my car & why it would not start, I had a lot of corrosion on my battery & it needed a good cleaning. Thanks a bunch.😀

When comes to connections i enjoy using some wire brushes and sand paper few times and my cars never fail on me ...batteries last longer and car loves it....show your car some love ....it will return the favor

Eric,don't get me wrong,I'm not a smart ass,but never tap those batt terminals like that,the plates inside may disconnect from the terminals.I saw that happening on cheap batteries.

Eric, I owe you a beer. Cheers! 🍻

Its very rare you see many dislikes on any of Eric's videos. That shows something...

Wow, I tend to forget there’s people out there who don’t know jack about cars. The 1st thing you check in a no start situation is the battery and cables!!!! If that’s not good it doesn’t matter how much money in new parts you buy it won’t fix the problem lol! That’s $300 they could had kept in their pocket or more.

Holy crap! Are those house hold lamp wires? Wow, I hope I’m wrong...lmao

4:25 'to avoid any arching" finally i understand why remove neg first and attach last. Thx bud. Great video. I learned a lot.

@EricTheCarGuy, so what type of battery connections do you recommend?

Probably the new cables are not cheap. And probably the owner of the car has some money issues. You can't just call him a moron. Have some respect! After all it's his car, and if it burns down, than it will be his problem. What Eric can do on a customers car is totally out of his hands. He can't change the wires, if the customer doesn't want it to. That's life. But the video still had it's purpose. Its another educational one. I liked it, just like every other of Eric's videos. ;)

I watch his channel as well. But this is not his channel. So please don't do this! It's called trolling or flaming. Eric has a great and entertaining channel, and he doesn't deserve this. Show some respect for him, please!

I know this is an old video but if you could recommend some other terminals???? anyways good vid.. thanks

14.4 is the normal limit but you're not gonna cause any damage until about 15.5 volts, but that rarely happens, when alternator fail it's mostly gonna under-volt, not over-volt. Between 13.8 and 14.4 is ideal and tells you that the alternator is in good working condition.

Nothing like a good battery cable end, those DIY repair ends are nothing but a headache

Thank you for you great videos! I hope the notes I took help me figure out what's going on w/ my car. I took it to O'Rielys and their checker said it was a bad connection... I also took the alternator out and took it there to be tested and they said it was bad. A while back I accidently punctured my power steering pump resivoir which is right above my alternator. With all that fluid leaking down onto the alternator over time, do you think that could be what is causing it to go bad (this is the second time I've had to replace it in like a 2 year period, granted I got a used one as replacement last time, not new)... anyways I am going now to check my connections since that's what they said the problem was and here in the video you show me how to do that so THANKS.

Eric, I put the key in with a two week old autozone battery and as soon as I turned it, (1) The dashboard lights which WERE really brightS, then kinda fade off and then no lights and then won't start not even a click. I remember 10 YRS ago with a different vehicle, per your "LESSON" of your video, CHECK the CONNECTION FIRST!, So I know 2weeks ago along with the new battery, autozone-guy suggested to change the POSITIVE terminal. So I went with it, I asked him, "How about the NEGATIVE?, I thought, here we are doing it, $4 to 10 bucks, WHY NOT?" So he says something like, "Still looks OK still has 3 years or so" So..we did NOT replace it. So today it happened as my first 2 statements above. Since 10 years ago something like this happened, I decided to get my little hammer and banged it/NEGATIVE terminal and even cursed at it, "Work, you S.O.B.!" LOL. So I am not expecting much,,,,but hey I put that thinking and effort, might as well put the key back in and turn it again. It went "Vrooomm!!" So obviously NOT ( 1)THE BATTERY NOR (2) THE STARTER, (3) NOR THE ALTERNATOR, BUT DEFINITELY the OLD, UNREPLACED, UNCLEANED NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL!! FOR I BANGED IT WITH A LITTLE HAMMER AND IT WENT VROOM! SO after almost 30 minutes on idle ,,,,I turned it off. Locking the Sienna Van, walking away,,,,I said to myself, "Wonder IF it will NOT START, again. So I got in the van and put the ignition, and I saw the lights very bright on the dashboard, as I turned, it dissapeared again and it WONT even click. DEAD as a door knob. So I called Autozone and tell them what is going on and agreed IF I GET IT GOING tommorrow morning..01-08-2021, I will drive to their store and this time to REPLACE THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL AND MIGHT AS WELL CLEAN IT LIKE YOUR TOOL IN THIS VIDEO. BTW,,,THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL IS AS TIGHT AS IT CAN BE. I THINK THE METAL IS OLD AND IT HAS A BIT OF CORROSION BUT NOT A LOT. BUT I KNOW ITS GOTTA TO BE IT. I Hope you agree with me and any tips would be very much APPRECIATED by me and my wife(her van) before I hammer the negative terminal and drive the Sienna Van to Autozone Sincerely thanking you Eric for your precious time, Mike

I tend to coat the terminals with grease. Keeps the oxygen away and therefore less corrosion.

Adjustable wrenchs work when used by Eric.Eric is a Mechanic.

It’s a good thing Eric caught that in time, otherwise that car might have caught on fire.

Sounded a little to me like the new (or rebuilt) starter might have an overrunning clutch issue (and/or a drive or ring gear issue). Overrunning clutches aren't routinely replaced by rebuilders as they're big $. They can, and often do act up intermittently in their early failure stages. Modern overrunning clutches are much better than days of yore, but a dunk in solvent can still kill one. Did I also hear the alternator belt squeal after one of the starts? As in a loose or bad 'v' belt?

Subbed. Exactly the video I was looking for

How would I replace the whole wire/cable? Not just the terminal ends. A few months ago I bought a used Toyota Corolla 2005 LE and it has had a few hiccups that I have taken care of but I want to get a decent battery (currently using a crap Wal Mart battery) but the length of the cable is a bit short as if it has been cut down. Plus it looks old. I assume it was a shore car as there is some corrosion. Other than that, and the muffler that I need to tighten, it runs well.

Thank the lawrd. Your amazing. U helped alot

I've had a 97 eclipse for almost 7 years and had a problem with the power wires. Mine was doing the same thing and upon research after fixing it, I learned that most of them have this problem at some point. It's just one of those things with these cars.

Great video , well worth the watch. Many thanks..

Same issue with the negative terminal. My opinion is using the wire cleaning tool removes a whole bunch of lead from the terminal causing it to be loose.

how do you add length to your existing battery cable, once you have repaired your terminal connection?

Erick is so helpful,and I am glad I subscribed to his videos.

Hi Eric; One of the reasons why the wires are discoloured/burnt is heat. The voltage drop you're finding causes the same power drawn by the starter to require a higher current. Bad connections also increase the resistance to the passage of current and therefore contribute to increased losses of power to heat. Heat generated in wires is mainly a function of current flow and resistance (the Joule effect). Also, a voltmeter with a MAX HOLD function is great for that voltage drop test :) Cheers!

Thx a lot!! Worked for my wife’s PT Cruiser.

I clean the battery connections on all cars I service. Warm water and a wire brush works like a charm. I do this on both my cars about twice a year.

Great video!!!! I love the content of your channel..awesome tips and tricks..I too hate those terminals. Not sure why they still make them, I also hate how most terminals are very soft metal. Gets me everytime.

Just bought a Volvo 740. It starts whenever it feels like. Now I'm swapping spark plugs, cables to the plugs, distributor cap, rotor and battery terminals. It's a turbo, and driven somewhat hard, and these things are several years old, and I've heard they should be swapped once a year or so :P (not the terminals of course).

Yes, you are one of top guys. Hey do you have a post on grounds how to find , inspect, and repair engine, body and frame.

That is very good infoation. thanks.

Wish I lived by you so you could work on my 09 maxima. A $281 alternator had now cost me $2300. First mechanic damaged stuff under the hood so now it's at Nissan getting fixed. Wasn't sure where else to take it. Initial repair $400 in parts and $821 labor, Nissan fixing their mistakes is $1100. Can't trust anyone anymore. Car is in mint condition too. 105,000 miles Very disappointing this happened to me.

So what battery connectors should I use

This is a great video! Thanks for posting! My car is doing the exact same thing and because of this video, now I know what to fix, my terminal connectors are very loose

Oh look the other one isn't tight, lovely.-haha how I felt to a T!!

What's strange is new earth lead, a new battery, new starter motor, and them not noticing that the postive lead is that bad, then they want you to just clean it up lol.

You can also spray copper grease on the terminals for maintenance.

Reminds me of my old '98 eclipse. Full of problems and short lived, but was a good car. Seems its problems have carried over into our galant though o.o

I am not sure but would it be better to check the voltage on the starter by pulling the plug to the distributor so it can crank long enough without starting the engine and you get a stable read on the voltmeter?

This has to be the funniest one of these yet. New battery new starter but hmm, I think we see the problem lol. Epic. "Since this is so loose, I can just take off my ground cable, this is very convenient" . Dude you owe me a new keyboard.

Will you come see why my truck won't start? Lol! I googled My problem so many times, and now that I've seen your video, I'm guessing and hoping this is my problem! The only thing is that the temperature dropped outside from 35 yesterday down to currently 3° OMG its sooo cold! I'm in Michigan. What State are you in Eric the Car Guy?

I have the same car and I'm having the same problem. The wires look discolored as well. I will try this trick and see if it works!

I had to replace my connectors to get mine working in my dodge ram 3500. thanks for sharing

eric, what was the black cable going across the tie down?

Those are cheap "repair" terminals. Something meant for a road side repair, not really a permanent replacement. They aren't all bad, but like Eric points out you have to clean them regularly.

Did those other wires ever get warm after the repair? They look to be made from lamp cord

I had no crank and no start. sometimes it would start and other times it wouldn't. I bought a new battery and starter, it was working fine. a couple of weeks ago it wouldn't start for 3 days, someone came to help and all he did was wiggle the terminal and it started. he tightened it up for me and said it wouldn't happen again, 2 days later it wouldn't start and still won't. my terminals are clean no corrosion, I don't know what to do. please help

do u lay the cable wires on top of eacother before tightening them down or side my side

You sir give great advice, informative video thanx

That was a bad connection from the positive cable wires but if the negative cable wires are frayed and the postive were ok, would it be tested the same?

Hello Eric, excelent video, can you show us how change or upgrade batery conections with "big three"?

you are a car legend ! my honda all of a sudden sounds like its struggling to turn on even tho it does .. you think this video could apply to that?

Smart. Seem like when they replaced the starter they would have changed the positive battery cable. U was already there.

Yes and NO I had a no turn over issue Cleaned terminals (will explain more later) changed ignition relay solenoid, starter, checked all my terminals 93 Ford Ranger all ground/hot leads make sure tight enough. Factory terminals are sealed at lead ends I could not see through the lead. Yes they are bad on inside, cut off changed out I have had no further issues.

I spet half of a day dealing with my no crack issue, what a headache then i spent another 5 hours on youtube still no crank. Still going nuts after trying all types of tricks, then i slow it down a little and checked the pedal and sensor and the rubber stopper wasent engageing the sensor so i held it down with my hand and turned the key vrooom vrooom baby car started rite up.... Thankz doh

CLR cleans copper beautifully.

I have a 2006 Nissan Titan the possitive terminal has a fuse cable it is loose and I put a piece of metal to thicken the terminal and also did same to the negative terminal which is regular no fuse but is loose again do you have any suggestions and of course thank you for the videos they are always helpful

Eric, if you don’t like the universal battery terminals, what would you recommend using?

Very good advice