120A Battery Fuse wiggle issue - 2003 Pilot

[billo!]

DANGIT! Just registered and lost my original post. Here's the cliff notes.

Bought a new 2003 Pilot, 88k miles.

Drove great for a few days.

Driving home one night, saw electrical issues. (headlights flicker while decelerating, radio turned off)

"CRAP, bad alternator!! (right???)"

Turn off Pilot. Turn on the headlights. Get under the hood. Start wiggling stuff. Battery connections, wires, fuse panel...

Headlights turn ON. Take cover off main fuse panel under the hood. Tap the 120A battery fuse. "WHOOPS!" Headlights just flickered...HUH?

Tap the 120A fuse some more and see some action. Electrical to the Pilot turns on and off. Wiggle the positive battery wire connection point (LEFT, while looking toward car) and the fuse seems to "spark" on and off. Headlights turn on and off depending on how I wiggle the wire.

SO, I go a couple steps further. First, I un-ratchet the battery cables from the battery (NEG first). Then, remove the battery cables as they were attached to the fuse box with a socket wrench (really, did nothing when looking back) THEN, I use a phillips screwdriver to take out the 120A fuse.

DAMN!!!!

Then I see how the "fuse" works. I bend the 120A fuse "downward" in a concave fashion so that the "tabs" bend "down". So that, when screwed into the main fuse box, the 120A fuse has a better connection and stays pushed together.

ANYHOW, all is well now. Thought I would step any other noob through the scenario that SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF US after only owning the 2003 Pilot for 3 days. No clue if this is a regular issue, but figured the story was worth narrating. (I searched through the forums and could not find what I was encountering, so I wanted to take a stab at my diagnosis)

Key search words - 120A battery fuse - fuse wiggle - wiggle positive cable - loose positive - main fuse panel - battery wire - positive battery wire connection - battery breaker

[samc]

:thumbup: thanks for the contribution. And no I haven't heard of such a problem before but it seems you found a good solution. Pics just for reference?