So the other day I was driving down the highway when my charging light came on, little red battery on the dash. I kept driving seeing as I only had another 10 minutes to go. A few minutes later my radio shut off, then my ESP and BAS lights came on, then my lights flickered, then my throttle body sensor came on, then my airbag light, then my jeep just up and died right on the off ramp of the highway. Luckily there was a plow right behind me that strapped up and towed me to a lowes right off the highway.

I popped the hood and saw a giant pile of blue and white crap on my battery terminals. I cleaned them off and got a jump and everything was fine. I think there was so much corrosion that my alternator couldn't charge my battey. So I'm thinking of replacing my cable ends to something a little more substantial than stamped steel. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

You might not need to replace unless the cables are corroded too. I would get some battery dressing and foray it on the terminals to prevent this.
My granddad used to always drop some oil or tranny fluid on the terminals when he topped off fluid levels, kept this in check, too....old school.

 

If the connectors are still usable, wire brush clean the terminals and connectors with baking soda & water. Re-attach, then spray on a battery terminal sealer (available at any auto parts store). The sealer will usually stop the problem.

If it's time to replace the battery, using a sealed AGM battery (such as Sears Platinum or Odyssey) completely eliminates any corrosion problem, plus adds extra capacity for winching, etc.

 

If you're going to replace I'd think maybe the cables too. Get something a bit more substantial for the whole length...something that can actually handle the amperage.

 

Well eventually I plan on running a dual batt set up but it's not in the budget right now. I guess I'll jut clean and seal them for now, and replace the battery when it dies completely.

 

Nope. I run an Optima Yellow Top in my CRD and needed to clean the terminals before i start spraying them with vaseline.

 

Interesting... see www.odysseybattery.com/batteries.html]ODYSSEY Batteries[/url] (and search for "corrosion").

All I can say is that my experience with 3 batteries (both Odyssey & Platinum), in different vehicles over several years, has been the same as the advertising claim, no corrosion.

On a side note, I didn't use an Optima long enough to experience terminal corrosion, but a few years ago I did some amp-hour capacity testing of a yellow-top Optima and wasn't impressed. They sent another under warranty, and it was similarly below specs (according to my testing anyway). On the flip side, same test with an Odyssey battery was very close to their specification.

 

I'm not on Optima pay roll... but I really don't see the point of downgrading a company based on old news which are no longer true or relevant.
They had manufacturing problems, and solved them.
I have 2 yellow tops, I know a few more people who use them, and none of us had any problem with the batteries. My Jeep started in an instant after being parked for 23 days. I didn't disconnect the battery, and the alarm system draws power constantly and transmits the Jeeps' location via a GPS-based system.

 

Suffice it to say, Optima didn't admit to any manufacturing problems when I dealt with them, and dealing with them was a severe pleasure. A companies reputation is always relevant to me, but glad to hear they have figured their problems out.

 

I certainly don't like it, but can understand why a company wouldn't admit a manufacturing problem... as long as the guarantee is respected. Did they respect the guarantee?