2002 z28, havent driven it for a few months, but started it beginning of last may and seemed fine. went to start it last week but just heard a clicking noise when i turned the key. used one of those portable jumpstart batteries to get it goin and off i went. instantly noticed a hum in my speakers that increased with the revs of the engine, followed by my instrument panel having a seizure with all the lights going on and off. sounded like the car was barely alive, so i turned around and put it back in the garage.

so, dead battery i assumed. putting a charge on it didnt do anything, so i figured time for a new one, this one's the original (lasted me a good while!). ground cable came off just fine, but when i went to unscrew the positive, the whole thing came out of the battery and it started spewing battery acid.

come to find out, the positive battery cable end somehow melted onto the bolt in the positive battery terminal. now i cant get the damned thing off! i tried prying a screwdriver under it thinking i could pop it off in pieces, but nothing works. i'd really like to avoid replacing the entire cable.... Do i have any other options? my only thought was to cut open the red cable end and get the wires out that way, and buy a new cable end and screw...but i dont know if that's possible. not really a huge car guy here, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

well after working all morning on it i finally got the damned thing off.

i am still kinda curious about the previous post though, even though i dont have to do it now

 

Yes, it is possible to replace just the end of the battery cable. Most auto parts stores (AutoZone, etc) will have the proper cable ends in their battery department (along with the replacement complete battery cable).

No special tools to do the replacement. A pocket knife and screwdriver or small wrench will do it.

 

yeah thats what i was going to try if i couldnt save the original one.

now the obvious question though...is that just more of a temporary solution that might end up causing more trouble in the long run?

 

Same thing happened to me and I just got a new cable end and fixed it myself.
But what caused it was the battery tray was broken and the battery would rock back and forth, and over a long period of time it eventually broke the terminal.
Just thought I would give you a heads up to look at your Battery Tray and see if the tray is broke on the front side.

 

just a note. is it the stock bolt in there?.. becuase alot of people replace the bolt with a slightly longer one to put a amp cable or somehting on there. then they take it out to tell the car and leave the long bolt in there. a long bolt in there will puncture the back of the terminal and cause it to leak there. so will over tightning it. just be sure you dont bottom out on the new battery, and dont go to tight with the new one and you will be fine,.

 

yeah it's the stock bolt. i will check the battery tray tomorrow, thanks for the heads up guys. it all seemed tight in there when i took the old one out, but if that's what caused your problem then mebbe mine is the same.

regardless, i need to figure out what the hell caused this. hopefully it doesnt happen again.

thanks for all the help!

 

ACDelco battery? Common problem, and it happened to me, too.

 

"The 97-00 AC Delco batteries had a tendency to leak from the positive terminal"

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/...Off0159149.htm

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t590174.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=2012201

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78439
seems common on them

 

oh wow, yep, acdelco indeed. that settles it, thanks everyone!