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How do you take out a car’s electrical terminals?
I want to work on an area of my car near the battery, but there are a bunch of wires connected with terminals that look like they’ll be in my way. I’m wondering how to take out a car’s electric terminals. Is it something I can do myself, or do I need to have a mechanic just do the work for me?
Jason Crosby · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Separating
car battery terminals
isn’t that hard, and doesn’t need to be dangerous—as long as you turn the car’s battery off and remove the key to ensure you won’t get electrocuted. Otherwise, you’ll just need a few hand tools to separate these electric terminals easily, and without breaking any of the clips or fasteners off. To remove these terminals, you’ll have to inspect the terminal first and see if it’s using a compression style fastening or whether it’s using a locking pin.
For those sorts of terminals that use a compression style fastening, just understand that two wires are twisted together using a wingnut-shaped piece of insulated plastic that crimps down on the exposed wire ends. Simply unscrew the terminal and separate the two wires. For clip or pin style electrical terminals, you’ll want to inspect where the pin locks into place on either side of the plastic mold, and press firmly down on the pin in order to separate the two or more wires from each other.
As with any sort of electrical work, it’s important to remember how each terminal was disconnected so that you can put it back together again. One helpful tip is to use your phone to take pictures of the terminals and area of the vehicle that you’re working on so that you don’t have to guess which wires went where when it’s time to wrap things up. It’s also not a bad idea to make inspecting your car’s wiring and fuses part of your
routine maintenance
—especially if you’ve done any electrical work yourself. Jerry
can also help you remove most of the guesswork from shopping for car insurance. Jerry is a personal insurance broker that lives in your pocket. Once you download the Jerry app, just answer a handful of questions that will take you roughly 45 seconds to complete, and you’ll immediately get car insurance quotes for coverage similar to your current plan. View full answer
- Gregory R.
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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