Toyota updated the positive battery terminal cover

[bloc]

The large plastic cover on my positive battery terminal had a habit of popping off lately, and looking at it I noticed the retaining tabs inside were permanently bent outward reducing the tension. So I looked up the number and ordered a new one.

When it showed up I noticed it had a different retaining strap and at first couldn't figure out where it attached.. then I noticed a hole in the battery tie down and realized they really improved the design.

New cover, part number 82821-60200

The strap on the old design was retained along the positive battery cable and actually contributed to pushing the cover off the post and letting it rattle around next to the engine:

Those of you with older higher mileage trucks but still the stock size battery and mounting might benefit from this update. It was only about $13

 

[TLC2013]

Thanks. Good to know. Mine is all loose goosey and doesn't stay put.

 

[hblx570]

Thanks

 

[PhuckItImDone]

Superb, as mine kept popping off and I finally just gave up on it.

 

[tominboise]

I have a question - why does Toyota double nut the hold down clamp? I see that on my 2008 and thought someone had just screwed an extra nut on at some point.

 

[KLF]

I have a question - why does Toyota double nut the hold down clamp? I see that on my 2008 and thought someone had just screwed an extra nut on at some point.

They're all like that from the factory, and it's kinda strange. Makes me think some dude at the factory is just messin' with us.

 

[bryson]

Double nuts are super secure and don't rattle off, but are easy to remove when needed. Way more secure than any nylock/lock washer/top lock/whatever. Toyota has done this on many vehicles they build for decades.

 

[KLF]

Double nuts are super secure and don't rattle off, but are easy to remove when needed. Way more secure than any nylock/lock washer/top lock/whatever. Toyota has done this on many vehicles they build for decades.

Agreed. But why is the top nut a flanged one? Looks silly.

This is definitely high on the OCD scale... worrying about the nut on a hold down.

 

[bryson]

Agreed. But why is the top nut a flanged one? Looks silly.

This is definitely high on the OCD scale... worrying about the nut on a hold down.

I agree it looks silly.

I'll venture a guess at reasoning - during removal, the flange keeps the wrench isolated on the lower nut and prevents the wrench from engaging on both nuts at the same time while you remove the top nut with a second wrench or socket.

 

[linuxgod]

I agree it looks silly.

I'll venture a guess at reasoning - during removal, the flange keeps the wrench isolated on the lower nut and prevents the wrench from engaging on both nuts at the same time while you remove the top nut with a second wrench or socket.

That's a good thought. I just assumed it was so that when a brainless mechanic swapped the battery it wouldn't matter which nut they put on first.

 

[bloc]

That's a good thought. I just assumed it was so that when a brainless mechanic swapped the battery it wouldn't matter which nut they put on first.

If the battery is getting swapped with the same size the rear hold down strap usually doesn’t need to be touched. Removing the front bolt gives enough play to get everything out and back in easily.

I assumed it’s just what they had access to easily.

 

[linuxgod]

If the battery is getting swapped with the same size the rear hold down strap usually doesn’t need to be touched. Removing the front bolt gives enough play to get everything out and back in easily.

I assumed it’s just what they had access to easily.

That's possible. I recently swapped my battery and conversely I can confirm that removing the rear hold down does NOT allow you to remove the battery without also unbolting the front

 

[4gotalot]

If there was a torque spec for that side of the hold down then people would crush/crack the battery. If you are having problems with your OCD flaring up, then try stacking a few more nuts on to to cover the remaining threads, an even or odd number of nuts depending on your meds. Could some one look up a part number for those starting to get nervous.

 

[CharlieS]

That's a good thought. I just assumed it was so that when a brainless mechanic swapped the battery it wouldn't matter which nut they put on first.

There is a term for that poke-yoke, roughly translates to "idiot proofing". It is a Lean methodology approach to reducing defects/errors.

 

[bronc076]

Regarding the cover on the positive terminal. I was trying to locate the "front airbag sensor left" on my new to me 2015 last night and I saw a plastic cover laying in the area below the battery. I fished it out and turns out it was the positive terminal cover. I wonder how many years it has been down there? The new way of securing the cover will make it harder for the bone heads at the dealership to lose!

My guess on the double nut is that you don't want to torque the hell out of those nuts to keep them from vibrating off, just snug them to hold the battery in place. So a double nut allows you to do that and prevent loosening.

 

[linuxgod]

There is a term for that poke-yoke, roughly translates to "idiot proofing". It is a Lean methodology approach to reducing defects/errors.

Nice. We make similar sorts of decisions in my IT org. We have >20,000 servers and basically run everything on one of 2 different server models. In my case I probably would use the same nuts to reduce the inventory we need to carry. hyper-efficiency.

 

[bloc]

Regarding the cover on the positive terminal. I was trying to locate the "front airbag sensor left" on my new to me 2015 last night and I saw a plastic cover laying in the area below the battery. I fished it out and turns out it was the positive terminal cover. I wonder how many years it has been down there? The new way of securing the cover will make it harder for the bone heads at the dealership to lose!

My guess on the double nut is that you don't want to torque the hell out of those nuts to keep them from vibrating off, just snug them to hold the battery in place. So a double nut allows you to do that and prevent loosening.

Might not have been the dealer, they tend to try to commit suicide on their own once those tabs flex back. I think the airflow from the fan when it gets ripping doesn’t help.

Nice. We make similar sorts of decisions in my IT org. We have >20,000 servers and basically run everything on one of 2 different server models. In my case I probably would use the same nuts to reduce the inventory we need to carry. hyper-efficiency.

So you’ve heard of the term PEBKAC?

 

[bloc]

If there was a torque spec for that side of the hold down then people would crush/crack the battery.

This.
Also, 90179-08185 for the nut.

 

[linuxgod]

So you’ve heard of the term PEBKAC?

Heh, yeah.

Years ago I worked IT security for AOL. Rumor was the help desk got in trouble for resetting user passwords to "id10t" as the default whenever someone called in...

 

[afgman786]

Ha! I replaced my battery with a larger battery the other week and when I saw the double nut on the rear hold down, I thought to myself: "what idiot put 2 on here?" Did not realize it comes like that from factory, and only put 1 back since my 80 only had one and figured it was just a shmuck that threw 2 on for some reason.