Negative Battery Terminal -- Really $300 to replace?

[recerman]

Morning, a friend accidentally stripped (actually over- loosend) the terminal tightener bolt on the negative battery terminal in my RS7 and now we can't get it to re-tighten. I think the square end stripped out Looked online about replacing the terminal, as well as inspecting the terminal itself and it seems its a custom terminal that allows for a number of wires to feed onto the negative terminal.

Also it looks like Audi wants like $300 for a replacement!?!

https://www.audipartsnationwide.com/...VkIFByb2R1Y3Rz

Can't say I'm surprised, but WTF this seems needlessly expensive.

Anyone have any experience with different / aftermarket terminals? Same friend seems to think these will work:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N1G7KG7/

but before I go and dig a deeper hole trying to replace with this I wanted to check with the community as to the necessity of the genuine Audi vs any aftermarket part as well as see if there are any unforeseen hidden gotchas when swapping out this for a new one.

TIA!

[Audisthesia]

Welcome to German auto parts. A replacement terminal isn't a critical mechanical moving part, it's a fixed metal object. I see no reason why an aftermarket part wouldn't suffice.

[Valpo A7]

You are sourcing Audi original parts for a 6 figure car, of course they will be expensive. Audi did not make the part, someone else made the part and then stamped the 4 rings on it to give it a $250 upcharge.

If you want to stay all original then get the OEM parts. If you want to fix it and not worry about OEM then there are plenty of options on the market that you can probably find at Advance Auto. You need a new cable end that you can connect a cable to and then secure to the battery. I would bet that Advance will have even cheaper options on the shelf.

[WatchMeSpend]

Because I am not exactly sure what the "square end" is, I'm going to ask a few general questions. One is can you re die the thread and change the nut size. The other is can you remove a bolt and nut and put another in or if it isn't removable drill a hole and convert it to nut and bolt.

[bajan01]

A similar thing happened to my SQ5. I was able to back out the bolt entirely and replace it with a metric bolt and nut that I had laying around. At that point I would have used whatever I had laying around to get the car running.

[recerman]

Thanks for the tips. I'm not planning on reselling the car anytime, so I'm not particularly concerned with OEM, vs aftermarket - especially if there is no mechanical difference. I'll try to get some pics today and maybe take a drive over to Advance (wish there was an Oreilly close) and see what options might avail.

[s4majid]

I was able to back out the bolt entirely and replace it with a metric bolt and nut that I had laying around.

This is what I would do.

[gk1]

It seems the black box contains the battery control module, which is the expensive bit. Why they decided to mold the battery terminal right into that is beyond me, but it is what it is. If it is the just the clamping bolt you are having an issue with I'd carefully replace it with anything that would work.
Here you can see the control module with electrical connector.

[3g_bishi]

It seems the black box contains the battery control module, which is the expensive bit. Why they decided to mold the battery terminal right into that is beyond me, but it is what it is. If it is the just the clamping bolt you are having an issue with I'd carefully replace it with anything that would work.
Here you can see the control module with electrical connector.

Thiss.

It’s like a control module in that cable.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[mrcoolgli]

Home depot. Get a stainless steel bolt and nut and call it a day.

[kbailey2003]

Stumbled upon this today. May help you out if you're still looking for one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BATTERY-NEG...8AAOSwJWddUnWk

[recerman]

Stumbled upon this today. May help you out if you're still looking for one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BATTERY-NEG...8AAOSwJWddUnWk

Thanks - this is a good backup plan! Thanks everyone for your advice!

[paul-g]

agreed with others who said replace with Metric bolt...problem solved $2.00

[vector78]

Many of the German cars have an explosive charge that blows the cable close to battery in case of a collision to prevent fires. Not sure if this is the case here however.