Posted by David Sherman on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 19:27:08 :
In Reply to: Every battery I ever disconnected was oily between the parts posted by chriscase on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 19:04:37 :
I agree that it probably doesn't help make a better connection. The main thing with battery terminals is to clean the oxidation off them with a wire brush and then tighten down the terminals good and snug. If you do that, the connection is good. I think all the oily washers, battery terminal spray, etc do is keep corrosion from building up on the outside of the terminals and maybe help protect the screws. I've never heard of plastic battery terminal screws. Stainless has never corroded when I've used it. Bronze bolts (from a marine supply place) would probably be good too.
By the way, my good quick test for bad connections is to crank the engine for a while and then feel all the connections in both ground and hot cables and ground strap from block to chassis. If there's a connection that's bad enough to affect the cranking power, it will get noticeably warm. If it's not obvious, sometimes I have somebody else crank the engine while I feel the connections. Usually one will turn out to be much hotter than all the rest.