I noticed a lot of acidic buildup on my negative battery terminal. I cleaned off what I could but there is still a lot of crud on it. I have the original Motorcraft battery that shipped with the Lightning in 2002, and quite honestly the battery itself looks fine. Once I removed the terminal I do not see anything leaking around the battery post. It looks like the 2 ground wires are crimped and heatshrinked directly to the terminal. What's the best way to go about replacing it?

Since I disconnected the negative terminal do I need to go thru the "idle and fuel trim strategy" instructions that are listed in the owner's guide?

 

Wire brush and baking soda ... Til it sparkles ...
Then di-electric grease after you put it back together ...

And YUP to the last question

 

you don't really want to replace just the terminal. nothing you buy will be as good as the factory-crimped terminal. as voltage sensitive as these trucks are the best thing to do is just replace the whole battery cable harness. i just went through this and it's easy. got the harness from this dealer and it only cost $46 bucks. list is like $88.

 

When I said my battery looked ok, I checked the indicator and I see what looks to be a little red ball inside. Does this mean the battery needs to be replaced?

As far as terminals I suppose the fancy ones you can get at the car stereo shops would be adequate right?

 

One of the most frustrating moments in life comes when you turn the key and are rewarded with cranking that is too slow to light the engine. With a 2002 battery, you might make 2007, but at 4 years, the battery is on its way out. It is a lot easier to change at your convenience than in some dark parking lot with no tools. At 4 years, I change 'em. GbGary posted a link to the cable for $48.00. I'd buy the cable and the battery and change both of them at once.

 

I appreciate the replies thus far. I decided to check the water levels for the first time in almost 4 years (hot West Texas weather too), and I think 2 of the cells had the water level just below the top of cell and I could see some of the cell flaking off. I had some distilled water and I filled each cell to the bottom of the black plastic cylinders which left about 1" of air gap to the top of the battery. I hope I didn't overfill.....did I?

I then went thru the idle and fuel trim steps and drove it for about 12 miles. Afterwards while it was running I tested the battery terminals with my voltmeter and it was around 14.4v while running and 12.7v once I turned the L off. I will test it again before I fire her up in the morning. If I still see the red dot in the indicator is the battery truly bad? FWIW I have never had any problems cranking up, gauges flickers, lights dimming, etc.

 

Two Words ...

Yellow Top

 

You need to load test the battery. Most national autoparts stores do it for free. My motorcraft battery showed the right voltage at rest but as soon as a load was put on voltage dropped to 10.6. From your description above I'd guess your battery is .

You can get a new Motorcraft replacement with more cranking amps for about $60.

 

Could I load test it by leaving the truck off, tuning on the headlights, then test with a volt meter?

My mechanic buddy told me that if you see the red dot/ball in the battery indicator that it is not bad. However I've read several form posts saying the opposite, lol.

 

pour some coca-cola on it, let it sit overnight, then clean the area with electrical cleaner in the morning, should be good as new

 

[QUOTE=device manager]Could I load test it by leaving the truck off, tuning on the headlights, then test with a volt meter?


Your battery is rated at 550 cold cranking amps (CCA) so your headlights don't create much of a load test. Pull up to the auto parts store and yank that sucker out for the free test or get stranded, it's up to you.

 

That flaking you saw drops to the bottom of the cell and after it builds up some, shorts out the plates. You have gotten your moneys worth out of the batter, it is time to replace it as most have said.