I hate to ask this question - but how does one loosen the clamp on the battery terminal - without mangling it? When I remove the 10mm nut - the clamp was still unbelievably tight on the terminal - and I had to really wrestle the clamp off the terminal (there is no corrosion on the terminal or clamp). Getting the clamp back on wasn't simple either - since it was so tight dimensionally. Am I supposed to get a screw driver and somehow spread it open? It wasn't clear to me how the clamp mechanism was supposed to even work. When tightening the 10mm nut - I would think it should tighten the clamp around the terminal - but when I finally removed the clamp from the terminal - and inspected the clamp - it wasn't obvious how it should work.

 

You have the right idea. Maybe the corrosion has got to the terminals. In my car the stud broke off from being corroded and had to buy a new terminal. Just use a screw driver to let it off or twist the terminal until it starts loosening.

 

Mine is corrosion free. I took a closer look last night - and basically - the AutoZone duralast replacement battery I have - has terminal posts that are a tad too large for the terminal clamp. So - the stock clamp fits on very tight - and is a real wrestle to get off. I've started looking for a generic replacement battery terminal clamp.

 

Tight is good. My positive cable sits on loose. It's a weird design compared to the ground clamp design

 

you should just have to wiggle it back and forth to get it on/off