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Here's Why You Check Your Battery Cables

H

handcannon

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Just thought I would post up some pics of my battery cables. This is so those without much, or any, experience with hard starting or slow cranking can see and understand when someone reccommends that they carefully check their battery cables.

Pic # 1 Shows what the battery end of the battery to starter cable looked like. It didn't look too bad. Sometime in the past somebody had twisted the cable and I was concerned about what the cable looked like under the insulation. There was only a slight indication of swelling from corrosion buildup.

Pics # 2 & 3 This shows what I found when I started trimming the insulation off. There was far more corrosion than I anticipated. In pic 2 the white chunks setting on the battery above the "S" are just a small portion of the corrosion I found. Pic 3 shows how far the corrosion had travelled under the insulation.

Pic # 4 Shows the battery end of the two negative cables. I cut off the insulation on one of the crimped ends. It looked like it probably did when it was new.

IMGP1176.jpgIMGP1178.jpgIMGP1180.jpgIMGP1183.jpg

I had recently replaced the batteries and the guy installing them had checked the alt and said it was putting out enough. However I was continuing to have occasional slow cranking problems. The starter would not crank the motor fast enough for a few times and then suddenly crank over good for a while.

I had an almost new gear reduction starter on another motor so I decided to swap them to take the old starter (maybe the origional at 230k miles) out of the equation. I also decided to start replacing the cables by replacing the starter to battery cable first since I had everything apart in that area already.

I wanted heavier cables than stock. Because I had not planned on doing this right away I didn't have anything pre-purchased. Consequently I was stuck with wire that I origionally didn't want, welding cable. Welding cable is great stuff for flexibility because of the multi-strands of very fine wire. I'm just not sure how long it will hold up to the oily environment under the hood, but I was stuck. I needed to get my pickup running again.

I used 2/0 for the starter to battery cable. Pure beefy stuff at 5/8ths" diameter on the outside of the insulation. I used #2 AWG welding cable for both ground cables. I still need to replace the hot lead between the two batteries. I don't think I've ever heard this thing crank so fast since I've had it.

I still want to take the starter solinoid apart to see what the contacts look like. I'm suspicioning the contacts will be burnt as that would go along with the intermittent slow cranking. If anybody is interested I can post pics of what I find.

Don
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Nice pics Don. I had the same experience, slow cranking, etc. I replaced all my cables with 1/0 wire, just measued them, bought some cable at an auto parts store, and had a friend put the lug ends on for me. I use stainless bolts for a stud connecton to the batteries, everything clean. The difference was night and day, the engine cranked much faster. The final key was a pair of new batteries, last winter it started great every time.

I'm surprised I haven't had to replace the starter, but so far so good. It's been cranked hard at various times during one problem or another, but keeps spinning fine.
 
One of my cable looked like that. This is the one that goes positive to positive between batteries.

Great pics!!! Candidate for Technical Library???
 
I don't think I've ever heard any thing bad about using welding cable, in fact quite the opposite..
 
The rubber insulation on welding cable will burn and isn't oil resistant. The insulation on battery cable will just melt and go out if a flame is held to it. The flexability of the welding cable can be it's downfall because of vibration. It is better than the crappy oe or parts store battery cables. The lugs and terminals should be sealed with adhesive lined heat shrink tubing. I had a positive set custom made. It had dual post batteries so I had a top post + to + cable and a side to starter cable made with 2-0 cable. Day and night difference in cranking speed.
 
I did the same thing too both of 6.5 rigs. I owned Big Blue for about a week and did a top post conversion with a 4/0 crossover cable made of welding cable. That was coming up on 3 years ago and the welding cable has not shown the slightest bit of wear. The key is making sure that they are properly secured to prevent to much movement. Also, due to the vibration and corrosion filled environments these cables are exposed too, I first crimped the copper ends onto the cable, then filled the whole area with rosin core solder for vibration resistance. Before bolting down everything was generously coated in anti-ox paste. Again, almost 3 years later and there is not a drop of corrosion anywhere in my battery system. Less than a month ago I installed 2 brand new Optima yellow tops in Big blue, and was pleased to find that everything was in the same shape that I had made it.

The same applies for 95. I didn't own that thing for less than 24 hours before the old charging system had been ripped out and unfitted with much better stuff. The truck easily cranks over twice as fast as it did when I drove it home the first time. Not to mention how much easier it makes cranking in 5 degree weather. It may take longer, and it may cost more initially. But if you think about it, in the long run, is it really worth it being stranded somewhere because of a corroded battery cable?
 
Race Day Mechanic is a supporting vendor on here now...using his skills as from the race industry to build schweet looking setups

He sells both battery cable sets and glowplug sets. They are on my list. (Not near the top right now, but on there! Sorry RDM, gotta get her a few other tweaks first!)
 
Thanks Mike, The Cables and GPH are In stock and ready to ship, Welding cable is not the best choice as it is not Jacketed for Oil resistance and the Jacket is thinner, The cable I use is SGX, heres the skinny: SGX Cross-Link Battery Cable with polyethylene insulation for higher temperature tolerance than SGT. Meets SAE J1127 and is resistant to oil, grease, and abrasion.
 
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can it still pass a continuity test cabled off the truck with corrosion, a no load test? And! My guy rebuilt the solenoid today and showed me the worn out copper washer very thin. He showed me the thick new one too. Apparently many people say that they don't last long anymore. Is that true? I hope with a really "New" starter that you get the silver color washer that I'm told is the good old kind.
 
Yes, it can, BUT!!

An old galvanized pipe full of scale and corrosion can pass a pressure test too. The example of the galvanized pipe will pass pressure, but will not be able to pass a volume test. The corroded wire will pass a continuity test and fail to pass the amps.

Don
 
My truck's only problems were dirty terminals, cheap batteries, and those crappy terminal bolts. After I cleaned the terminals, and studded the new batteries, it worked perfectly on the factory cables.



This shows how to replace & solder top-post terminals, but the idea is the same for side-terminals:

 
Where do you buy the side terminal ends? I bought a nice set from Raceday but there are times when I want to fix something here and it's handy to have parts sitting there waiting.

Otherwise I end up scrounging a set of OEM cables I have sitting around
 
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