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MG MGF Technical - Positive battery terminal needed

Opened the car on the remote the other day, jumped in, everyhting normal. Turned the key and 'click' all the lights went out and no power to the car at all!

On further investigation today, it would appear my positive battery terminal (the bit that screws onto the battery pole) has corroded away to almost nothing. It was caked in gunge too and is not useable!

Has anyone got a spare positive battery terminal that I can get attached to the wires that need it? I'll happily pay for one....Or does anyone know if a generic type would be useable?

(2001 MGF VVC by the way, if that's important)
Chris Heinrich Perkins

Heres a link

http://www.ripaults.com

Should also be available at car accessory stores,mobile home/caravan shops/boat chandlers.

I Uk Maplin an electrical store sell gold plated one for ICE fanatics.

So should be no problem finding what you need at loads of outlets.
Joe one

Thanks Joe,

Are generic types ok though, do you think? There are 3 wires that are attached to the MGF positive terminal, and perhaps they wouldn't all fit into some generic types.
Chris Heinrich Perkins

Your local auto electrician can no doubt put together all that you need using generic bits.
The terminal is of course integral with the starter solenoid cable. Dieter's IPC gives YTA100700 available from Brown and Gammon for £26.
Geoff F.
G. Farthing

Right, so to buy one new I'd get the starter solenoid cable too.

I haven't had a close look (mainly because it's covered in corrosion and in a dark garage) but if I got just the terminal part from a breakers, is it possible to fit the starter cable to it and all the rest to it??

If not, I imagine I'll be ok with generic bits. I'll see if I can find someone that can come and do it.
Chris Heinrich Perkins

Look at http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk Battery Terminals. Universal Terminal 39901. You should be able to cut the old solenoid cable and clamp on one of these connectors available at any auto electrician. The other cable lugs should then fit on the clamp bolt.
Geoff F.
G. Farthing

Fixed it now! No problems at all with a generic terminal, a couple of ring connectors, a bit of fiddling with the short wire that comes from the fuse box and a little patience.
Chris Heinrich Perkins

Chris,it begs the question as to why the positive clamp was"eaten"in the first place.I had a lot of trouble with this with an MGB.On one occasion,I had only done 700 miles into France and found the pos clamp had been half-eaten through.I was forever brightening the posts and clamps but still they disappeared.I thought it was overcharging from the alternator at first but that checked out OK.Eventually,when I mentioned this to the late excellent Rob Wilson at Welsh MG Wrexham he immediately knew the problem and just gave me a collar( off an old Renault as it happened)filled with petroeum jelly to place round the battery post .It seemed that there was a very slight escape of gas from the battery itself as the post was not a perfect fit and the corrosive gases were eating away the clamp directly above.Problem solved at a stroke.May be worth checking with your car or try changing/borrowing a different battery to see if that was causing your problem.Good luck.
MR Blencowe

Do you not always smear the battery post with petroleum jelly (Vaseline to those that use it) when fitting battery terminals ??
Geoff F.
G. Farthing

No,never had.Always found it to be a waste of time as I prefer to check regularly for bright contact clamp to post and for tightness.In fact,cars I have often seen with Vas over the posts always seem to attract dust and muck which has to be cleaned off anyway to check inside the clamps.

I once had a Frog Eyed Sprite that would only start intermittently until I realised the actual battery post was very slightly loose in the casing so when you wiggled the clamp/post the car would start thereafter.
MR Blencowe

This thread was discussed between 21/11/2006 and 25/11/2006

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