Best Way to Clean Up Electrical Grounds?

[BaLisTek]

my car has been having similar instances. I will be driving and my radio will lose power and restart. Just the other day as I was idling in the parking lot, I lost enough power that even the needles on my cluster and lighting went out for split second. The car almost died completely. My battery is maybe 1yr old at most. I think my alternator might be starting to give out.... I dunno

[BeaterEP]

Yikes man!

Fortunately, at least according to the "trained professional" at Advance Auto Parts, the starter/alternator seem to be ok.
Priced those alternators...jeebus.

For me, it's really just been the lighting that's giving me trouble, and it's not a constant, just occasional dimming during shifts and at low RPMs.

EDIT:
Also, PM noodz of your av. kthnx.

[BeaterEP]

So Chad, or whoever else might want to weigh in...since it looks like the old girl's gettin' a new battery for the new year, any advice? Any particular Group 51 batts that might be a little smoother/longer lasting, or are they all pretty much crap, so just find the cheapest one available?

[talonXracer]

my car has been having similar instances. I will be driving and my radio will lose power and restart. Just the other day as I was idling in the parking lot, I lost enough power that even the needles on my cluster and lighting went out for split second. The car almost died completely. My battery is maybe 1yr old at most. I think my alternator might be starting to give out.... I dunno

Sounds like a weak battery and alternator, crappy grounds can also be a culprit and even cause the battery and alternator to fail.

So Chad, or whoever else might want to weigh in...since it looks like the old girl's gettin' a new battery for the new year, any advice? Any particular Group 51 batts that might be a little smoother/longer lasting, or are they all pretty much crap, so just find the cheapest one available?

Personally I will never again purchase a conventional battery as a replacement. I would get a Odyssey 950.



Clean all the grounds clean enough to eat off of, run a tap into any threads, and after making all the grounds and battery connections, spray them down with battery terminal protectent

[BeaterEP]

Yeah, been cleaning the grounds sorta piecemeal over the last couple weeks, just got the two big clusters under the bumper left to do, but the battery is 4-5 years old and needs replacement anyway, so figured I'd just roll in to the next thread here
Thanks for the info!

EDIT:
So looking up the Odyssey unit, to install in place of the OEM it will need to be on its side, looks like.
Anything special to know? Special terminals, tie-down, etc?

[talonXracer]

You can order the battery with the correct placement of the ground/positive terminals as well as with "J"spec terminals. I would also consider the metal jacket version.

[BeaterEP]

LINK: Odyssey PC925MJT

That seems to be the OEM replacement, just to throw it in here for future reference.
So what's the dif? In other words, is the "jspec" option the one that has the terminals on the side?

Sorry, I've always been a "gimme the cheap one!" kinda guy LOL, but she's over 200k miles now, so I'm looking around for "special treatment" options LOL.

[Passenger]

LINK: Odyssey PC925MJT

That seems to be the OEM replacement, just to throw it in here for future reference.
So what's the dif? In other words, is the "jspec" option the one that has the terminals on the side?

Sorry, I've always been a "gimme the cheap one!" kinda guy LOL, but she's over 200k miles now, so I'm looking around for "special treatment" options LOL.

same here & I always end up getting stranded once every year and a half - two years and buying another one lol

[BeaterEP]

srsly, getting tired of that crap, and if there's a more stable option, that's actually worth the extra cost, I'm ready to jump on it.

[BeaterEP]

LINK: Talon's Install Thread

SO, found that, and realized Mr. Talon here isn't running his baby in the stock location.

The Odyssey site states that the 925's will fit in the stock tray, on their sides, and on page 2 (I think) of Talon's thread he mentions that working, but needing spacers. I'm assuming the spacers are in lieu of one of Odyssey's brackets.
Those go for $50+, so that's adding a bit to the cost already LOL.

So, do you just coat the plywood and used it to fill the gap between the edge of the battery and the edge of the tray? Because that might be the short-term option until I've got a few extra bucks for a proper tie-down/bracket from Odyssey.

[Chad]

I've been using a stinger SPV35 with great luck. The next "battery" will likely be custom using a group of smaller AGM cells that I can custom fit.

[BeaterEP]

No issue with the lower listed CCAs on these AGM batteries? I figure if you northerners can handle winter with these, Hill Country TX shouldn't be an issue :D

[talonXracer]

The 925 only needs a little space taken up (it is not much), to fit the stock battery tray. Nothing a piece of plywood or two cant fix. Coat the ply with epoxy, sand and paint.

[BeaterEP]

[BeaterEP]

So, last question before decision/spendin' time:

Here's the "standard", metal-cased, Odyssey for the EP:
LINK:Odyssey PC925MJT

and here's the "left-hand" model:
LINK:Odyssey PC925LMJ

I figure I probably want the lefty, since the "normal" orientation for the terminals would actually put them backwards...right? Pretty sure that's right, since the battery has to be on its side to fit, with the terminals facing towards the cabin.
Dunno, just kinda wanting to check my head here. Seems right to me