I took out a dead battery from my 06 F150 this afternoon and noticed that the positive terminal was corroded to the point where it broke apart while removing it from the old battery.

I'm in a pickle. I cannot replace the entire cable. 1) The positive terminal is like a multi-headed cable that snakes to a conduit under the engine. I don't have the tools or the ability to do that job. I also know that the stealership will probably charge me $300 to replace the near $100 cable. 2) There's nothing wrong with the cable. It's just the positive terminal that's the problem--the negative had some teal fuzz on it but it's in great shape.

I was thinking of replacing the terminal with a $10 generic part from Autozone, but the positive terminal has multiple wires going into it and I don't know how or if the wires will fit into the generic connector.

At this point I'm tempted to sell this truck out of frustration on how the simplest repairs are always a huge ordeal with this truck.

I have a clogged windshield nozzle and I have to remove the entire windshield cowl along with both wipers to fix it.

The expensive front brake rotors with the hub assembly.

Etc, etc.

I don't understand why Ford makes this stuff so complicated. A 30 minute DIY project with any other vehicle is now a massive ordeal with this truck.

Do I have any options that don't involve a soldering kit? I can cut and crimp wire all day, but I don't want to start cutting and find out that the generic terminal won't work.

 

You could just replace it with a high end stereo terminal such as this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These allow you to hook up multiple wires in different gauges...

 

These batt terminals are awesome:
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-TZKIT3-L...tteyr+terminal

Mil Spec, very heavy duty, I had a similar situation with my Jeep XJ Cherokee, used these connectors, they also allow for multiple lug ends on either side of the long bolt, which was nice for my plow motor wire and allows you to use a lug end for each wire the Ford has and attach to the battery terminal.

Just get some copper lug ends to crimp/solder onto your factory battery wires.

I liked these terminals so much I ordered a second set to have around for another vehicle.

EBC-150, that Rockford fosgate block is fine for car audio when the line side is fused, but I wouldn’t trust those screw connectors for unfused battery amperage.

 

Funny. My negative was corroded pretty bad so i cleaned it up some. There were some areas i couldnt get a wire brush in so i fear ill be doing this rather often. Fwiw the rubber cover is missing from it.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

Sorry if I come off harsh but it just sounds like you're lazy. I agree I like the simple fixes but other than the front hub everything else you listed seems pretty darn simple to me. The wiper cowl takes like 5 minutes to take off and a battery terminal is a very simple repair with the many options available.

 

A simple Google search will yield baking soda and water solution to clean terminals, also soaking the end of the cable (disconnected) in Coca Cola.

 

There is no factory rubber on the neg cable FYI.

Corrosion comes from a post that didn't seal correctly in the plastic casing. A good preventive is felt washers with some grease on the bottom side to help combat the acid and gases coming from the post.

 

^^^ this ^^^. Your battery is leaking

 

Pic of these terminals on my Jeep:

 

My factory battery also leaked on the + post. Almost ruined terminal. I bought an OEM replacement for I think $22. Haven't needed it yet.