No, that actually had a 460 gas in it. I did put a slide in truck camper in the IDI once but have sold that too.

 

Well, with the talk of new battery cables and slow starters, I’m wondering where to get both. My 1989 7.3 idi is original, 84,000 miles on it along with a big camper, but sounds slow as shown in the above mentioned video. I saw PowerMaster as a starter mentioned above. Will check out several gear reduction starters. Other than making my own, is/are there places to get new battery cables?

 

My 86 still has the original battery cables. However they were well sealed with grease and maintained that way. Spins the starter motor as fast as brand new. I'm the original owner so no joke. If you need to replace your cables 6 cents worth of grease applied to every place where there is exposure and they will last at least 40 years...LOL.

 

I as well use grease on all exposed connections, there is no corrosion evident on my system. But, there are long runs of 2/0 that can get corrosion under the insulation. I’m wondering about replacing the cables as a preventative/ maintenance measure.

 

My motto is "if it works don't fix it". But if you see corrosion at the insulation ends and your starter is slow then consider replacement. I also use Fluid-Film on all other battery hardware and cables away from connections. You can use it to protect terminals after a clean connection is made but I don't use it on terminals as it's non conductive and grease works well for that and for sealing elsewhere.

 

For the OP, using a trickle charger might be ok as a maintainer. But you have two batteries. Did you swap the charger from battery to battery, then connect them? If one battery was low, it will draw down the other. If you do use a trickle does it have a circuit breaker? If that isn't cutting off properly you could have two low batteries. I always charge mine equally. Let them sit off the charger for a few hours. Check them to see if they are balanced. Then install them at the same voltage. Verify your voltage after install. Having a DVM is part of owning an IDI.

 

batteries are hooked parallel, so a charger on one charges the other, as long as the positive and negative cables are good.

 

I was trained to disconnect batteries when charging. So I always follow that rule.

 

i was too.....60 years ago.
but you dont have too, they will charge the same as long as all batteries are good, only in a lot less time.

 

Had to put driver's side battery, positive post next to sidewall cuz cables a tad long (2 years ago these were about $40 cheaper).......

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/CBL718186

 

You can't see the corrosion through the insulation. There are signs. When the corrosion gets bad, it causes heat and this heat will discolor the outer insulation and start turning the red cable, dark. If you were to cut open old battery cables, you wouldn't see bright, clean, shiny copper. You would see green wires with white corrosive dust fall out. As the heat builds due to the increased resistance, this is turn causes even more corrosion and the issue worsens. This happens slowly over the years, just like a starter slowly loses it's cranking power.
I'm sure location plays a major role and if you keep the ends greased up, this helps tremendously. I'm like you, I keep mine smothered also. Most people don't do that, and after 20 years, battery cables are generally shot. The ones on my '93 F250 back in '09 were so bad, yet on the outside, there was only a little bit of dark coloration near the battery terminals. All sealed up from the factory. When I went to replace them, I cut them open and the amount of white powder that fell out, made it look like I was a drug smuggler haha.

I went oversized (Ancor 3/0 both pos/neg) with tinned marine cables I got online on that truck and had Napa crimp and seal my ends on. I get 1 second flat 0F cold starts with this truck. It's nice.

 

Generally, you can get battery cables made at your local NAPA. You can also order aftermarket cables here.

https://www.batterycablesusa.com/

x2 on using Fluid Film on the terminals.

 

wow!! the last one i bought was only $94 about 10 years ago.

 

Yes eventually even well maintained cables will need replacement. I know about green cables and white powder as I see unmaintained cables all the time. Hardly anyone takes the time to treat their cables, except you and me...

As long as they keep doing their job and doing it well...if it works don't fix it.

 

It was more like 50 years ago for me. That was the shop rule for charging customer batteries. Now yes you can charge a battery without disconnecting. But the safest and most efficient way is to disconnect or isolate. I still use my old school chargers that have to be monitored, another reason I disconnect. I'll probably spring for a modern smart charger...some day. Like when the old ones STB.