The bolt that goes into the negative terminal of the battery seems to be misshapen. When reinstalling the battery, the bolt would only tighten so much before becoming loose again. Now, sometimes the lights will go on, but as soon as I try and start the car, the battery just cuts out. If I go under the hood and fiddle with the terminal (enough times), the car will start again.

Is it possible to just replace that bolt without replacing the entire battery cable? And is there any risk that this misshapen bolt has damaged the threads of my brand new battery? I know the threads of batteries are typically made of softer metal.

 

yes, the bolt can be replaced seperately. Any auto parts store will have it.