91YotaExcab

While i was trying to chase down a electrical issue i found that the wire goin to there starter was barley on there so i simply wiggled it and BOOM it broke off. no big deal right? well the bolt that holds it on there is so rusted i cant get it off. and i was wondering the best course of action to getting it back on there... Soldering it? a battery terminal clamp? im at a loss and its preety embarassing have to crawl under my truck with jumoer cables every time i wanna start it. Any advise would be AWESOME thank you in advance!

abecedarian

If you've got threads showing, maybe you can crimp another ringlet on the wire and put another nut on top?
Also, spray a bunch of WD40 and try taking a socket and extension, place them on the nut and tap it a few times with a hammer.

91YotaExcab

Already tried that one man there are NO threads showing whats so ever o ya and its just one fat wire i need to get on the bolt id say like 4 gauge wire but its solid and all corroded

abecedarian

You could try opening up the wire end of the lug and re-crimping your wire into it.
or if there's enough of the old lug sticking out, you may be able to crimp one end of a barrel splice to your wire and the other to your old lug. Most electrical supply houses usually have those type of connectors.

91YotaExcab

"You could try opening up the wire end of the lug"

i dont understand that

do you think you could explain more maybe?

btw i replaced my altenator and my lights are still on too

abecedarian

Opening up where the old wire was attached to the lug. Spreading the old crimp open. Does that make sense?
As for the light problems, I'm mulling that over. Possibly a short in the dash wiring maybe?

91YotaExcab

the thing that the wires was crimped to is totally rotted away. Not a single trace of it left. and i havent found one big enough yet and evan if i did that damn nut wont come off. ive used 3 different penatrating oils and a hammer. im afraid to heat it up tho... it is on the starter. Would soldering work or will that mess it how somehow?

abecedarian

If you're going to try soldering it, you might as well try heating it up with a torch first. The solder will be nearly as hot.

91YotaExcab

direct heat from the torch would be way worse i would thing than just a quick zap with the soldering gun... but would the solder ive been told not to use it on car audio equipment because something to do with the current being messed up so i dont know if that would happen with the starter as well.... im very aggravated with this whole situation.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

You can use solder if you want, any type is fine. For electronics, you would want to avoid using an acid core solder, since the acid residue can corrode the small electronic parts or PC board. But on heavy gauge wiring, no problem.

Just clean things very well and use some flux on the bare metal and tin both ends first. You'll have to get a pretty hefty soldering iron/gun for that, probably 100 watts minimum, to get things hot enough to melt the solder.

One thing you might consider is pulling the starter out to get better access to it. On the nut, you might try a small butane torch:


Heat up the center of the nut/stud and then apply some candle wax (paraffin) and let the heat wick it into the threads. Let cool then try tapping on the nut with a small hammer and try removing the nut.

91YotaExcab

that starter looked like a real pain in the ass to remove i dont thing that i would need to remove it to get it out if i heat it up im tryin to decide wich eay to go still