Hello

turns out if you drive without an undercover, a lot of bolts rust out. Trying to remove the positive, it just snapped with little effort.

is this just a screw with a square end? I could just get the screw at a parts store? Can the whole clamp be replaced and added to the wire harness?

 

#4 & #19

 

I would not serve the forum a purpose if I don't chime in. Your claim without an undercover, a lot of bolts rust out. That claim is not true. I kept my undercover off since the first oil change. Even though the 2017 LX CVT has over 156K miles, no rust has occur. My engine compartment is still clean. I believe your situation is you live in a snowy area where salt in spread on the pavement to minimize icing.

 

I would not serve the forum a purpose if I don't chime in. Your claim without an undercover, a lot of bolts rust out. That claim is not true. I kept my undercover off since the first oil change. Even though the 2017 LX CVT has over 156K miles, no rust has occur. My engine compartment is still clean. I believe your situation is you live in a snowy area where salt in spread on the pavement to minimize icing.

 

The square end on the bolt is just there to keep the bolt from turning when you tighten - or loosen - the other end. It's not really required. An ordinary bolt/nut of the right thickness and length will do as a replacement. I suspect the original bolt snapped because you have been over tightening it, combined with the corrosion I see which indicates you haven't been lubricating that clamp/terminal to protect it from the corrosion which would weaken it..

 

thank you captain obvious . Yes, if you don’t live in the rust belt, you can do what you want and won’t get rusty bolts.

this is a car I purchased a few weeks ago so I’m pretty much stuck with what I got. I was going to try and remove the battery to see if I could remove the rad cover without taking off the headlights but it seems that it might have had to do it anyway. I gave up on trying to repair the snapped bolt because of Honda’s design choice that you have to take half the car apart to access the radiator fan.

went to the part store and they didn’t have the bolt I needed, but they did have a replacement battery connector with the right bolt in it for 5$ so I just bought the kit and used the bolt. The last owner cranked the terminal down so hard, it left a deep impression in the terminal. I might eventually get back in there and try to clean it up better but at least I now have a good contact. Thanks for all the help!

my red battery cover is close to breaking off. Anyone know if I buy just the cover?

 

#5

 

I'm not sure the undercover has much to do with it - the reality is that if you have a car from a salt area that wasn't washed regularly, a lot of bolts (and body panels, and suspension parts, etc.) will be rusty.

In this case, it seems like you're well past the washing stage, so you need to invest in a case of rust penetrating spray. I like Blaster products, but others favor Kroil or Zep or WD-40 or (insert your favorite). Whichever product you choose, use it early and often whenever you're contemplating the removal of hardware on your car. If you don't know, it's also beneficial to use a bit of patience and "back-and-forth" when removing rusty hardware: 1/4 or 1/2 turn out, then back in, then a bit more out, then back in, and so on. This action helps clean the threads of the bolt and nut. It takes longer, but you get a great forearm workout and you're much less likely to snap a bolt.

 

thanks for the tips. I do live in a rust area and my GD with undercover has some rust in the engine bay, but nothing like this. A lot of the used GEs I saw also had very rusty engine bays and they don’t have engine under trays from the factory.I’m 100% convinced that not running an under tray in a rusty area is ill advised, especially for your ac compressor, and all your pulleys that are right there above the road.

I take penetrating oil everywhere I go when I’m working on a car. I’ve tried all the brands and oddly, I’ve found liquid wrench works great and is among the cheapest brands. PB blaster is probably just as good but considerably more expensive.

I do try the back and forth method but that is also what ends up work hardening the bolt and snapping it. It is also deceiving because just when you think the penetrating oil is working and the threads are starting to slide, the turning actually was easier because the bolt was shearing. I also always use the tiniest wrench I have to put the least force possible.

the best thing in my experience is heat. Most bolt will loosen right up with heat but there’s no way I’m taking a torch to my battery or really any of the bolts in my engine bay. I’d burn the paint and there are wires, hoses and plastics everywhere. If possible, an impact wrench on the lowest setting can also help but there’s always a risk.

oddly, you’ll find that the underbody is actually pretty rust free. Probably because it was treated with rustproofing and cleaned in car washes. No one ever cleaned this engine bay so I’m having to deal with it.

 

It is difficult to clean the upper part of the engine bay because there's so many electrical things that water can damage. The alternator has to be enclosed with plastic and there's all the fuse blocks, electronic modules and electrical connections that need to be avoided. The battery though by itself is easy because the clamps can be taken off, sanded down, put back and sprayed with a protectant. When the clamps are off the top of the battery can be cleaned off with wet rag and the fluid level in the cells can be checked and distilled water added if necessary to bring the level up to the indicated mark without overfilling (I'm guessing that few people bother to do this last step)..

 

That thing probably had the hood open for a while or sat in a VERY muggy area - I always stay away from these. You can tell they weren't taken care of.

Over 200k on my 2015 and no under cover for at least 80k probably. Maybe 2-3 bay washes since then. Still VERY clean.

 

nope. I’m telling you guys, I must have seen dozens of used vehicles in different conditions. No engine undertray means super corrosion in the bay if you live in my area with salt on the roads. ALL the GEs I saw had rusty engine bay components (to different degrees) since they do not come with an under tray. This doesn’t apply to people in California or that get snow for one week a year, obviously.

im gonna be doing some work on my car again this weekend and im slowly starting to clean my engine compartment. Im not that afraid of water since the engine is made to resist some ingress of water. As long as you don’t hose down the bay like a moron and try avoid soaking the electronics it should be fine.

 

In fairness OP mentions that he just purchased this car a few weeks ago so he is not to blame for what you see or for the end result of the battery bolt snapping.

 

thanks woof. Yes, I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got. Honestly, the car runs well. Good idle, AC works, paint is bubbling and pealing on hood and bumper though so I have to address that this summer.

you are correct that the battery was waaay over tightened. The positive post has a deep imprint of the terminal connector. Don’t see why someone would do that. I have since replaced the bolt as shown in a picture above. Had to buy a kit (5$) and throw away the clamp; the replacement screws at the parts store were all too big.

 

Looks like you should get an aftermarket battery tray(Part #: 31521-T5A-000) and when your battery dies, time to upgrade to the 51R battery.