Again a crimping tool - you get what you pay for..

I bought one in halfords - a week later there was a mm gap between the wire cutters!!

Trying an experiment:

Vinegar + salt = acid. dip corroded terminals in solution, wait 5 minutes, give light scrub with toothbrush then dip into baking powder solution to neutralise (alkali).

In theory this should remove the corrosion on the terminals, then i only need to replace the sleeving. Ill post results soon!

It seems to work! They don't come up as good as sanding them, but if someone can tell me how to thoroughly sand the inside of a female bullet connector i'll be impressed :p

Bearing in mind how much surface area there is on a Citroen style bullet connector, I doubt that they've got to have the sort of shine that you find on pub or church brass fixtures, simply removing any surface corrosion is usually sufficient.

It always amuses me when folk write about how sanding/polishing the LT connections on their coil has transformed starting.
Must have been in a fairly grotty state previously...

A 4 or 5mm diameter bolt shank in a battery powered drill seems to work for me, but if you really want to go for it, how about some of these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4mm-x-160mm-R ... 53f16161d1

Don't forget the light coating of copaslip grease or petroleum jelly afterwards...


Much the same story on the much-maligned Citroen fuse box, except that's where a small chainsaw file comes into play to clean up each terminal, then refit it into the fusebox.

ken

Haha, I think polishing them is going a bit far

The terminals on my van were pretty horrendous though due to a water leak that lands right on the dash. They were to the point that when I dismantled the headlight stalk i literally couldn't see any copper

Good tip on the chainsaw file - i have about a million of them lying about the place

I find the wire brush attachmet on a dremel brings them up like new in second!

Did you ever get your ebay sleeving, ken? Did it work out ok? Curiously waiting here :p

The simplest reason for the loom to retain the standard-style bullets, over spades or aftermarket bullets, is that you don't need to change the terminals on everything that the loom connects to.

If you're replacing the rear lights with hideous generic trailer ones, then - sure - you might want spades for that. But it's a bit trickier to replace the connectors on old-style wiper motors, or all the dash gubbins, or...

Aye,
I did, but would opt for a thinner walled version next time round.
Got 4mm ID x 7mm OD for the smaller connectors and 5mm x 8mm for the larger ones.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261112388696? ... 1439.l2649

Might try 4mm x 6mm for both sizes next time, but that could be a while...

ken

Aye,
I did, but would opt for a thinner walled version next time round.
Got 4mm ID x 7mm OD for the smaller connectors and 5mm x 8mm for the larger ones.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261112388696? ... 1439.l2649

Photograph below is 4mm x 7mm on one of the larger bullet connectors.
Might try 4mm x 6mm for both sizes next time, but that could be a while, which would also help see how it stands up to conditions in an engine bay...

ken


Clear silicone tubing as sleeving on bullet connectors by slcchassis, on Flickr