question

ok i had post a few questions recently about a 1997 buick lesabre and a battery problem. ok someone said it might be stripped. well im lost i took it to autozone they said its fine and the batterys charge was good. they didnt know why the battery cables comes loose they said contact buick and talk to them. well before i took the car to autozone i was comming home from work the check engine light came on and the tranny if you read reviews it says about misfire etc. it felt like that problem. autozone hooked it up on a machine and it needs a tuneup they said. im so confused about the battery though sighs

Reply to
MichaelPa2004
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I don't mean to knock the fine clerks at autozone, so if the tester they used showed the battery charge to be adequate, it may very-well be. I'd be curious how the battery-cable connection nuts were tested. Overtightening is the usual cause of losening battery cables. The bolts are steel and the nuts the bolts are connecting into are a lessor metal. IOWs, it's very easy to strip/damage the threads in the nuts. (there is a torque value to tighten the bolts) Make some sort of depth-gauge and determine if the depth of the nut is deeper than the bolt. If that is the case, use bolts long enough to 'almost' bottom-out in the nut and maybe apply some type of thread-locker. Now, if that course of action won't work, the better solution would be to use a battery with top post connections(some batteries come with both side and top-post connection) and change the cables or just the cable ends(not the best way but less expensive) to accomodate the post connection. Battery connection problems are not something you should have to deal with/worry about, especially in cold weather.

Hope this helps......

Dave S(Texas)

Reply to
putt

Did the factory battery leak acid? A notorious problem for GM. Chec

the positive cable to be sure its terminal is clean. If so th cables could have wicked acid and are corroded inside the insulation. sometimes this can go the whole length of a cable to the starter. Th post above pointed out a good point that is usualy missed, the bol maybe too long, I grind down one full thread on even new bolts because they might be too long, if you tighten the bolt but ca still move the cable terminal around, like its loose, it may very wel be that bolt.

Hope this help

-- Bun Bu

born in 59 grew up in Arcadia Ca. served in the army from Dec 79 to Ja

84 worked for a number of security companies filling posiotions fro guard to manager. Became a electronics technician for GM in 95. Married to an outstanding person and gotTrackpads.com! Community Forums, Gallery, more! 150,000 Photos, 3,000 Videos and growing!
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Reply to
Bun Bun

Well, actually no. The bolts are the "lessor" metal. For precisely this reason. What's better? A 2$ or less bolt or an expensive battery? The batteries have a hardened steel insert...not the lead you are looking at. So unless you are trying the backwoods approach, (a grade

8 bolt and washers from Bubba's hardware store and a 1/2 inch drive ratchet,) the bolt strips out before the bolt hole. The OP didn't mention replacing the bolts with new ones, the correct ones. Chances are *very* good, that will fix their problem. At least it has almost every time I've done it, with the only exceptions listed above. Of course, what do I know? I've only been working on them since GM started using side post batteries some thirty years ago.

Why not use the correct replacement parts? They are the correct length, the correct design, they have the feature of being made of a softer metal than the insert in the battery and they are available at every auto parts store in the United States. Oh, you must be one of those I was referring to above. 'Nuff said. LOL!

It doesn't. You are making an easy solution much more difficult.

Reply to
zamboni30000

Well I'm certainly not going to argue with someone that started 12yrs after I did. I didn't know he had a GM battery.....how did you? I was only trying to help the man, as I always do. Your mean-spirited, know-it-all, reply will get the attention it deserves.

Reply to
putt

Didn't mean to slight you for so long. I didn't know what brand he had. All side post batteries sold in the US have hardened inserts. Well, as long as they come from Johnson Controls, Exide, or Delphi which account for about 99% of batteries sold in the US.

No, I just cut to the chase and try not to waste peoples time. Often, I come across as harsh, but I don't mean it. :-/

I don't frequent the group, and was just looking for some old info at the time. If I stepped on your toes, I apologize.

zamboni30000

Reply to
zamboni30000

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