TurboTahoe
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The GM 6.5 Diesel has a number of areas for improvement. One of them is the battery connections. Bad battery connections can cause anything from problems starting to other gremlins such as battery charging problems, ECM not working properly, etc.
There have been numerous complaints about the side-mount, threaded battery connections, with the connections coming loose regularly or simply not making a good connection. A weak point appears to be the GM connections, which have only 2-3 threads holding double-stacked battery cables onto the battery terminal.
In order to dramatically improve the connections for just a few dollars, replace them with a combination of 3/8" coarse pitch steel bolts. Purchase them in lengths of 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" (for the double positives, etc.). It is recommended to also put nuts AND lock washers on. Here's what we did.
1) Remove all battery side terminal bolts, grounds first, then positives.
2) Take wire brush and Dremel tool with wire brush and clean EVERYTHING until it shines.
3) Remove silly excess rubber hoods over cable ends
4) Put nuts and lock washers on bolts.
5) Place bolt assemblies into positive connectors, and then install them "finger-tight" into the batteries. If you want, you can snug them a little - I probably put them in about 10-12 inch-pounds- don't go any further than that - you might damage the battery terminal.
6) Using two open end wrenches, hold the bolt head, and turn the nut/lock washer combo down, tightening the nut against the the connector, which in turn is pushing against the battery terminal. Snug them up well, probably about 10 FOOT-pounds. This is very snug.
7) I then coat the bolts with anti-corrosion gel (e.g. from NAPA).
The improved connections do NOT come loose any longer, and the vehicles with this modification show improved starter performance and hey - they are even bolts onto which you can put jumper cables! What would be more fun!
More Power!
-Rob
There have been numerous complaints about the side-mount, threaded battery connections, with the connections coming loose regularly or simply not making a good connection. A weak point appears to be the GM connections, which have only 2-3 threads holding double-stacked battery cables onto the battery terminal.
In order to dramatically improve the connections for just a few dollars, replace them with a combination of 3/8" coarse pitch steel bolts. Purchase them in lengths of 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" (for the double positives, etc.). It is recommended to also put nuts AND lock washers on. Here's what we did.
1) Remove all battery side terminal bolts, grounds first, then positives.
2) Take wire brush and Dremel tool with wire brush and clean EVERYTHING until it shines.
3) Remove silly excess rubber hoods over cable ends
4) Put nuts and lock washers on bolts.
5) Place bolt assemblies into positive connectors, and then install them "finger-tight" into the batteries. If you want, you can snug them a little - I probably put them in about 10-12 inch-pounds- don't go any further than that - you might damage the battery terminal.
6) Using two open end wrenches, hold the bolt head, and turn the nut/lock washer combo down, tightening the nut against the the connector, which in turn is pushing against the battery terminal. Snug them up well, probably about 10 FOOT-pounds. This is very snug.
7) I then coat the bolts with anti-corrosion gel (e.g. from NAPA).
The improved connections do NOT come loose any longer, and the vehicles with this modification show improved starter performance and hey - they are even bolts onto which you can put jumper cables! What would be more fun!
More Power!
-Rob
