Your test would assume low idle is connected to a bad neg cable, and also assume the clamp, new sleeve, and battery are good.
I check battery cables by removing both (or all) ends of the cables, using a multimeter connected to each end of the battery cable, and set to read ohms. Anything over 0.2 ohms is bad. If you giggle the cable while maintaining connection to the meter and the readings fluctuate high, cable is bad. Check positive and neg cables.
If your clamp is loose, that is bad. I'm not fan of battery sleeves. Better to replace the clamp.
Cleaning requires removing clamps, spray battery cleaner, & scrape all corrosion off with a wire brush including mounting bracket (if corroded), then spraying battery terminal protector. If you leave corrosion, it will just grow back.
Test battery too.
Hope that helps. Cheers.
Consider the steps you've already taken and it seems pretty obvious you have a bad ground connection. Consider too that you removed and cleaned the negative battery connection. What you haven't done is remove and cleaned the other end of the negative cable where it attaches to the engine block. If there is an issue with the ground connection in most cars it is almost always caused by a bad connection at one end of that cable or the cable itself.
Yes, running a jumper for a test works when you are in the woods.
Since you did not identify make, model, and year, engine, trans,options, no testing advice should be put into practice without reading the electrical schematics.
a vehicle with airbag SRS for instance requires special handling and steps taken prior to any electrical work.
You may update your question if you like but read-up and communicate fully or it could be to your own detriment.
Your vehicle should have body ground, engine ground, and battery neg. available for ohm checks. lessthan .5 ohms, and continuity should be at those 3 verifyable points.
Just take the b+ side off for the test. Then wait for any self powered systems to power down. This does not diagnose a low idle speed concern fully.
But since it is obvious you have fallen behind on your maintenance, catch up with it before continuing to invent a diagnosis.
Corrosion is happening because it has a neg. ground.
This is by design since 1954 in the U.S.
and rightfully so.
Lack of maintenance leads to simple problems that are easy to correct.
This brings the operators attention to his maintenance schedule.
Read your manual, recalls, tech bulletins, or have your dealer inspect during an oil service.
Pretty simple stuff.
Further tests can then be indicated and recommended.
Yes, this can be used to identify if your ground is bad.
So, i noticed that the negative battery terminal on my car was corroding very easily and quickly. I noticed this because one day i started the car and it was running rough with a low idle, to the point where letting off the brake wouldnt move the car i had to actually step on the gas for it to move. After cleaning the terminal (without removing it) the problems instantly went away.
A few weeks later it happened again. I then noticed that when tightened all the way, the cable was still loose. So i removed it and cleaned it, then installed a post sleeve. Still having low engine idle problems.
My question is, Can I connect one end of the jumper cable to the negative battery terminal (while regular ground with possible bad connection is still connected) and the other end to the grounded frame? this way the jumper will be the better ground eliminating the idle problems, therefore telling me my cable is bad or has a bad connection?
