My starter failed and I am going to replace it tonight. Seems pretty straight forward, but is there anything special I should know before doing this? Also, is a starter from Advanced Auto going to be okay, or is OEM/ Genuine going to be a better option? I find it hard to justify the price difference for a starter.

I also have a very badly corroded positive lead on my battery. Is there any option to replace the double positive lead without spending the $100 that Atlantic British wants for their kit?

Thanks Guys!

EDIT** Will something like this work okay for the replacement battery terminal?

 

I strongly do not recommend those types of terminals. They'll corrode in no time and likely work loose. AB kit is also overpriced junk.

Best way to fix it is a mil-spec battery terminal or similar style. You want something that accepts copper ring lugs.

Then you need to crimp copper lugs onto the fuse box and starter cable. You need a hydraulic crimper, $50 on amazon, or visit a local shop and they can probably do it on the spot for ~$25

tools
- large gauge wire stripper
- hydraulic crimper
- cable cutter
- heat gun
~ $85

materials
- battery terminal kit
- double wall adhesive lined heat shrink
- 1/0 AWG 3/8" tin plated copper lugs
~$40

 

Thanks Jeff. So, assuming my Father in Law has the heat gun, cutters and stripper (I am fairly certain he does) then would this be sufficient to do the Pos terminal?

http://a.co/3SF26vc

 

That crimper looks just like mine... good price.

Yeah that should do the trick.

After cutting off the terminal, try to check the copper in the cable to see if any corrosion has wicked deeper down the line. Unfortunately there isn't much wiggle room to shorten those cables without modifying the factory battery tray.

 

Go to an audio shop and get some 0/1 fine wire cable, and appropriately sized terminals. Standard "battery" cable is junk.

 

Problem is that the starter and fuse box cables use a non-standard connector on the starter/fuse box end. I've tried to find replacements before to make my own cable, but no dice. and the stock cables are actually plenty beefy.

And the best cable to use is welding cable.

 

This is what the wire stripper looks like:
you could knife it... but you have no margin for error for accidentally cutting copper strands.

 

I feel like my positive cable has about 4" of "play", so I think I should be able to cut far enough down from the corrosion.

This is really a daily driver for my wife, so there wont be a lot of draw on the battery for off road or auxiliary power use.

 

I'd definitely go with the military-Spec pos and neg battery clamps as stated by Jeff Blake. I used these while in the Air Force on all of our Ground Support Equipment battery connections.
When I do my Big 4 cable conversion on "Disco Myrtle" to 1/0 cables, I'll change out to the the mil-Spec battery clamps too.

FYI... I have the TEMCo hydraulic cable crimper kit. It's never let me down...
TEMCo Hydraulic Cable Lug Crimper TH0006 - 5 US TON - 12 AWG to 00 (2/0)