Battery Cable Help!
 

Hello,
Recently, sicne it really started getting hot my truck has begun turning over slower on really hot days before kicking in and also after I drive it and get it warmed up. It's not terrible, but i don't want to be starnded somewhere, and it's been doing it for a while. I figure battery cables are the where it's at.

I check them out and find the positive looks like a decent cable (probably #4) but is a little corroded. No bid deal. The negative is one of those two bolt clamp on deals that probably cost 99 censt if you don't get them on sale. Not what I like. Also corroded. I proceed to follow the negative cable and find a spot where it's clamped onto the frame the wire is actually split so the wire inside is exposed, and of course it's corroded. I figure these little gems need replacing.

I scope out PepBoys and find some nice #1 cables there, in assorted lengths, and they look really nice. Knowing in all the good stuff bigger is always better, they immediately caught my eye. Don't look that expensive either.

ow the positive cable looks to be about a foot long, no big deal there, easy to find that one. HOWEVER, the negative cable I couldn't find the end! I looked and looked and check my manual and can't find it. I was able to trace it back down to somewhere around the air pump, but something tells me this thing is actually 27 feet long and grounds somewhere on the back bumper. I also know shorter is better, so I have a couple questions:

1) Where the heck does thing ground?

2) Is there a better spot to ground it? Something that won't harm anything and/or require tons of work to do? If so, do I just lop off the connector and ground the old battery cable (install an eyelet) and ground it somewhere, then install a seperate new one?

Help me out -- you guys haven't let me down yet!

Battery Cable Help!
 

The negative cable should be connected to the engine block. You are right, in that shorter is better, but since the starter is the heaviest current puller, it needs a connection on the block to minimize the resistance loss. There should also be a ground strap between the engine block and body.


Winford;)

Battery Cable Help!
 

It grounds to the engine block/tranny at the starter mounting flange and to the chassis at the intermediate point.

Battery Cable Help!
 

So it conencts somewher on the block (probably aroudn where I saw near the air pump), then continues on to finally end at the starter? Is that what you're saying?

So the best course of action would be what then? Replace the whole thing? Replace it butjust ground it to somewhere on the engine?

A little more info would be great!

Battery Cable Help!
 

TTT

Battery Cable Help!
 

Adam:

For what it's worth, you may want to pull your starter and have Manny, Moe, and Jack bench test it. I had one once that would crank over slower when hot, and it finally died on me. You may or may not also have a cable problem, but I'd have the starter checked out also.

Battery Cable Help!
 

Well, I went ahead and changed out the cables -- I thought I did a pretty good job. I ran a new #1 positive cable over to the solenoid on the fender, and then ran a new #1 cable from the negative terminal over to a bolt on the fender as well (seemed like a good spot -- and only used a 15" cable -- so I figured it'd be better). Then for good measure, I cut off the old lug for the negative cable, put an eyelet on it and also connected it to the negative terminal on the battery. Made sure the other grounds for the computer were also good (connected to battery). And guess what?

By the time I was done it wasn't hot enough out to give it a godo workout, but so far it seems to chage a little better, but it also seems to start the exact same way.

Well, at least now I know it's not the cables.:-X23

Sounds like it probably is the starter then. :-(

Battery Cable Help!