Black battery terminal

[DaveT]

Today I loosened the nut that holds the black (neutral) battery cable to the battery. I was going to connect a desulfator. When I went to cinch the nut down again all it would do was spread the clamp wider, rather than tighten it. Is there some technique I'm missing?

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[Max Crafter]

I never had my battery out.
the tech manuals seem straight forward.
49 inlbs torque

The way the nut is situated, is it some sort of cam style bolt? I don't know how to explain what I am thinking, but could you have overtightened it and over centered it?

 

[rang19ca]

I've replaced my battery and had no issues with retightening the clamps. Not sure what is happening for yours.

 

[DaveT]

Well, I fixed it. I had to take a set of vise grips and squeeze the jaws together, then tighten it. Don't care for the design.

 

[got3fords]

Are you talking the nut directly at the terminal clamp? The captive nut that is not supposed to come off? Curious because that is the nut I removed to connect the ring terminal of the negative cable to the desulfator. Almost regretted it as I almost couldn't get it back on.

 

[DaveT]

Yes, that's the one, and I had the same issue. It has to come off to connect the desulfator. I finally just said 'eff it. No desulfator for now. I was lucky to get the nut back on.

 

[JesseS]

Are these not AGM batteries?, a desulfator won't do squat for a AGM, only flooded batteries.

 

[DaveT]

Are these not AGM batteries?, a desulfator won't do squat for a AGM, only flooded batteries.

They work well on AGMs, several tests on AGMs side by side with 'flooded' batteries have shown them to work equally.

 

[JesseS]

Not from what I have read, several tests on AGMs have shown them to work well.

Hmmm, correct, I have never had a AGM suffer from sulfation issues, normally lasts me 4-6 years. Pulsing the charge to the plates always seemed to be worse to me, but I always keep my batteries fully charged in any case, mitigating any sulfation.

 

[DaveT]

Hmmm, correct, I have never had a AGM suffer from sulfation issues, normally lasts me 4-6 years. Pulsing the charge to the plates always seemed to be worse to me, but I always keep my batteries fully charged in any case, mitigating any sulfation.

The newer Ford Ranger never keeps the battery fully charged. This is the problem, and that is why I wanted an on board desulfator.

 

[JesseS]

The newer Ford Ranger never keeps the battery fully charged. This is the problem, and that is why I wanted an on board desulfator.

Yep, I had to use ForScan to change the running SOC from 75% to 90%, but plugging into a 2A battery tender will bring it up to 95-97% over time as you're by-passing the onboard charge limiter.

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