Battery Cable Question
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Junior User
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Battery Cable Question
I have an 88 f150 with a 300. I am in the middle of replacing a number of things and when I went to pull out the battery cable, it was clamped down to the frame. Where it was clamped, the insulation was stripped and the clamp sat right on the bare wire. I figure this cant be good since it would just lead to corrosion. Does anyone know if this is supposed to be this way? Or should I just clamp down a new one withouth cutting away the insulation?
Thanks for the help
Thanks for the help
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Oregon
I'll assume it's your ground cable..
In theory it's good to have a good ground, but you're right, it'll get moisture in there.
Make sure you have a ground from the engine to the chassis. It's usually on the back of the intake, behind the carb, and attaches to the firewall - Someone might have made that modification, because they were missing that cable, (or had a bad connection).
One option you have, if you're replacing the battery cables anyway: In the bigger towns and cities they have battery retailers, (we have NW Batteries here). They can make custom cables for you, so if you wanted an extra 8 or 10 gauge pos. wire for extra lights, radio, whatever, you could have them make it - whatever length you need. Same with the ground cable. Doesn't cost that much and the quality is better than what you buy, usually. ( They won't have the permenent bends in the wire that the store bought ones do.)
In theory it's good to have a good ground, but you're right, it'll get moisture in there.
Make sure you have a ground from the engine to the chassis. It's usually on the back of the intake, behind the carb, and attaches to the firewall - Someone might have made that modification, because they were missing that cable, (or had a bad connection).
One option you have, if you're replacing the battery cables anyway: In the bigger towns and cities they have battery retailers, (we have NW Batteries here). They can make custom cables for you, so if you wanted an extra 8 or 10 gauge pos. wire for extra lights, radio, whatever, you could have them make it - whatever length you need. Same with the ground cable. Doesn't cost that much and the quality is better than what you buy, usually. ( They won't have the permenent bends in the wire that the store bought ones do.)
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Joined: Jan 2004
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From: b.c.,canada
.....I found a similar ground connection halfway down my groundwire.--in checking it out closely,I found that the bare wire was soldered to the clamp,providing a pretty solid connection--me thinks it's allright,if you have the same!!!
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Thnks for the reply, I had thought it was done this way to act as a ground but it just seemed odd to have the insulation stripped off. This cable did go all the way to the starter. Also, there is a wiring harness that comes out near the terminal end that plugs into a harness near the headlight. Any clue what this is? The wiring for it goes directly into the lead on the end of the cable.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,997
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From: Virginia
You will find grounds running everywhere on your truck. You can't always depend on the sheetmetal to transfer grounds, especially since the engine and tranny are mounted on rubber bushings, and the body and frontend are mounted on rubber body bushings.
