Ok, I'm really frustrated with with this!
Long time ago, got the green S & M lights flashing. So cleaned the terminals and charger the battery overnight and that worked for a while.
Then I see the connectors keep getting loose, so i keep rethighten them.
Now the battery died, so:
More than getting a new battery, also Im going to military battery connectors.
I believe that I can salvage the existing cables.
Question: Does anyone knows the different gauges of the wires so I can order the end lugs, pellets and heat shrink ?
Gracias!

 

Seems like difficult to replicate the factory connections. Can you just add a shim around the post? Mine get loose too because the battery post is thinner than the factory clamp. What I did was getting a battery shim
AutoCraft Battery Post Shims AC110/A14079: Advance Auto Parts

 

You sure the clamps are getting down far enough on the post? I have to tap mine firmly with a blunt object to get them all the way down on the posts before I can tighten them down effectively. Of I just push them on by hand until the top of the post is flush with the clamps there isn't enough adjustability in the clamp to tighten down well.

 

Seems to be a common issue with these beasts. Last summer my connection was loose and I could have used a shim. This winter my battery died and I had to tap mine like KingKoopa. Keep the faith RF!

 

True. My other disco I just use a 17mm socket and hammer it all the way down to the post and tighten them.

 

Yep, the factory terminals are not a great design.

Companies sell shims for battery terminals, or you can cut the cables and install new terminals, but I took a more ghetto/redneck approach and drilled small holes into the joint between the battery post and the terminal, then simply screwed small screws into those holes and the terminals are now holding very tightly.

Redneck? Yes. Ghetto? Yes. Effective? Yes. Simple? Yes. Inexpensive? Yes. Time consuming? No.

Look, it may not be elegant, but I grew up a farm boy and learned to do what you need to do without taking off a day or two to get the repair done.

 

When I first purchased my rig, it had a loose/frozen negative clamp. I was able to clean it up with some baking soda and water, then after loosening the bolt up, I was able to get the clamp moving again. I haven't had an issue with it tightening down since. Moral of the story is to make sure the "scissor" action of the clamp works so it will tighten down all the way.

 

@mln01, damn that is ghetto

It's not hard to cut the terminals off and crimp on new marine lugs. The trick is you really need a hydraulic crimper (~$50) to do it.
You have to cut off as little as possible, because the positive cables are very short as-is. You can also cut up the plastic tray a bit, or go for a dual battery tray like I did.

Potential problem with this is after you cut the end off, you may see some green corrosion wicking up the wire, which will make the job more complex as you should really replace the cable (maybe good news as this could be your battery problem in the first place). Separating the large positive cables from the engine harness is a PITA

Also test your alternator output. It might not be giving the battery enough juice, causing premature battery failure

 

Believe it or not, I almost did ghetto. It was a very tempting fix.

 

I used ones similar to these. Any connection that doesn't fit can easily have a ring terminal added and be attached to the cinch bolt and it leaves some room for expansion should you choose to add accessories. The set I used can take up to one 0 awg, one 4awg, and two 8 awg

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/322386557107