There almost certainly is but without wishing to sound sexist or racist (and I don't think Teri will object), Teri is female, from Florida and living in France. Now she'll try to tackle things she understands but has minimal tools and the local 'mechanics' see her coming and use it as an excuse to charge her vast sums of money and only ever seem to succeed in making things worse. It will have been one of the local mechanics that lost the bolt from the battery terminal when they replaced the battery as it was all complete the last time I saw the car back in June last year. Finding a decent mechanic in France is very difficult, it's taken my mate in the south 12 years to find somewhere capable of balancing a wheel and making it better rather than worse. The French don't repair things, they throw them away and buy something newer.
Is this something that we might be able to get from a breakers? Where in France is she, my work takes me to quite a few places?
It seems that the battery cables are different to any that anyone has seen with the main battery terminal being on the end of the cable to the starter rather than on the one going to the fusebox. With a standard starter cable with the ring terminal on the end, that could be changed so it would fit onto the standard one with the terminal on the cable to the fusebox which I've already sent her. No idea how easy it is to get to the starter on a diesel though if that was going to be changed. Either that or the battery terminal could be taken off the starter cable and replaced with a ring terminal to re-engineer it so it is the same as all the others.
She's in a village called Ableiges which is about 30kms NW of Paris, just off the A15 autoroute.
If Rcutler needs to know which part I need, Gilbertd has placed a great picture at the beginning of the post string.
Could it be one of these thats required? (to replace the missing bolt i mean, rather than swapping the clamp?)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-MINI-Range-Rover-Audi-VW-Ford-Battery-Cable-Therminal-Clamp-T-Bolt-10mm-NUT/192444821022
Dunno, looking at the clamp I would have thought it's some sort of cone that goes on the top to squeeze the sides together. I think I've seen something similar on something like a Renault but can't be sure.
Terri, from what I understand, you need a battery clamp that takes 3 cables, any clamp with a bolt will do the job, 1 cable ( thickest) to clamp itself, other 2 on ring connectors to the bolt, any decent electrical store ( Maplins etc) or electrician should have ring clamps to fit the thicker cable.
Do you know why the first garage cut the clamp off ? I know there not the best connection wise, but it's easy to tighten the connection up..
It hasn't been cut off Chris, it's missing the bolt to clamp it onto the battery terminal. The difficulty is that unlike than all the others the battery terminal isn't on the cable to the fusebox but on the one to the starter. I don't think Maplin are in France (and they've just gone bust anyway) so any bits would have to come from their equivalent to a DIY store.
Gilbertd wrote:
Dunno, looking at the clamp I would have thought it's some sort of cone that goes on the top to squeeze the sides together. I think I've seen something similar on something like a Renault but can't be sure.
I'd wondered the same - can only thing it must be a conical washer to sit ontop of that with the nut ontop of it. I've never seen one quite like it either, though i've never needed to remove the bolt to change the battery, only loosen it.
It looks too well made for Renault - They are usually little more than two wire loops now though maybe on an older one it would be like that.
Maplins are still open, though not in France, so no help there.
Gilbertd wrote:
It hasn't been cut off Chris, it's missing the bolt to clamp it onto the battery terminal. The difficulty is that unlike than all the others the battery terminal isn't on the cable to the fusebox but on the one to the starter. I don't think Maplin are in France (and they've just gone bust anyway) so any bits would have to come from their equivalent to a DIY store.
Aha, got ya,, I'll have a dig through garage ( the tardis) tomorrow and see if I have one floating around..
Just a thought as a temporary fix, would a small pair or mole grips not work ?
Note to self,, tidy the bloody garage..
Just been out and discovered the ones on my 99 Disco 2 have those same bolts - see attached.
Its a V8 Thor if that helps any with locating the bits from anywhere else
On the mole grips suggestion i would advise if you have that as your only option then do it on the negative terminal not the positive one!
Well done Brian,, now I know what I'm looking for it will be easier. I agree with the neg terminal,,
Neg is fine, it's a standard clamp type, it's the positive that has lost the bolt and conical nut. Question now is, does anyone know where to get the bolt and nut and she'll be sorted?
Gilbertd wrote:
Neg is fine, it's a standard clamp type, it's the positive that has lost the bolt and conical nut. Question now is, does anyone know where to get the bolt and nut and she'll be sorted?
A scrap Disco 2 would be an option - I've looked in Microcat and can't even find the positive lead there (negative has the same bolt though I think and i can find that on there, will double check tomorrow on the car when its light).
There are a few leads on ebay etc - but at £20 for a complete lead not ideal but better than not being able to move the car? Replacing the lost bolt seems the most sensible option as it shouldn't involve anyone else to cause Teri a headache that way.
Negative vs positive is in regards to the mole grips suggestion - as obviously shorting the positive terminal to the bodywork is not something you want to do (swap the bolt off the negative if its the same - Which i don't know as we can't see it in the photo?
The negative one has the same nut/bolt on mine - This is about the best bet i can find, though it would have to get to Teri somehow. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-2-TD5-OR-V8-NEGATIVE-BATTERY-CABLE-EARTH-LEAD-YTB101240/132338455149
The photo shows the bolt there, but also shows 7 available, so I'd be inclined to confirm the nut/bolt is included before purchase if thats the way to go. Unless one can be found elsewhere of course, which would be better.
Ad says he posts to France Brian. As you say, worth making sure the nut/ bolt is included
£20 + postage just for a nut and bolt is a bit steep. I'll see if I can find a D2 in a breakers locally. If they rust as fast as the D1 I shouldn't have to look that hard.
Gilbertd wrote:
£20 + postage just for a nut and bolt is a bit steep. I'll see if I can find a D2 in a breakers locally. If they rust as fast as the D1 I shouldn't have to look that hard.
That was my thinking as well - more likely to find one suitable there. Even one off a D1 might be an option if theres one there. The D2 suffers with rear chassis rot as you well know, and a lot end up scrapped for that reason.
And yes £20 is steep for a nut/bolt, but if thats what it costs (plus posting it there ontop) to get the car usable again then its probably still cheaper than trying to find and pay an auto electrician to sort it (and taking a gamble they don't make it worse in the process).
Finally got digging through the garage, seems I don't have any clamps like that one, I will keep an eye out, terri , 2 options to get it moved, small mole grips,, ( remove battery camp first) and cover so it doesn't earth out, or a small clamp, available in £ shops here, will just get it back to you place till the correct bolt is located..
Mole grips? No idea what that is. Unfortunately no one at the local dealerships speaks English and my French is awful, so I can't get past the receptionist to speak to someone in Service Dept. Ugh. Don't know where any of the "breakers" are in this area, or if they even have any.