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Battery cables

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Turbo301 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 13-May-2010 at 5:40AM

After I put my new belts on, I noticed that my negative battery connection is quite loose: the old lead (?) terminal on the cable won't get a good grip on the post of the battery, to the point that I actually had a no-start condition last night. The cable and terminal are both in sad shape.

Okay, enough's enough! Time for new cables (might as well do + while I'm at it). What gauge should I use, and is the negative really supposed to ground to the air pump? That's where it goes now (and why I had to disconnect it to change the belt in the first place). Seems odd... I would have thought grounding to the rad support or something might be better?
 
Anyway, if there are any tips on this job - just another in my on-going story to get my Cougar road worthy for more than 2 weeks at a time! - I'd appreciate hearing them.
1977 Cougar XR7
1980 turbo Trans Am
2009 Pontiac G8 GT
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-May-2010 at 6:15AM

I'm gonna get hell for it, but I swear by the cables at Auto Zone.. they sell them in the lengths we need, in 2 gauge pre terminated. 

Go numerically as low as you can in gauge size. OEM is 4 I believe. 

Paul
77 XR7 460/C6/3.00:1 *SOLD*
78 XR7 523/C6/3.5:1
79 F100 460/TKO500/3.25:1
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote occupant Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-May-2010 at 10:50AM
I won't buy anything other than 2 gauge. I do miss the old ones they sold in the 90s, they had lead ends, thick 2-gauge copper wire, and CLEAR tubing. You could see the copper inside and if it was burning up you could see it. Helped me determine the RIGHT time to replace the starter on my '75 back in the day.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-May-2010 at 5:48AM
I'm not a big fan of the lead ends, but I found a nice pair of 4 AWG at Canadian Tire for a pretty good price (20" and 30" for plus and minus, respectively). The ends are nicely formed into the insulation so there's no exposed wiring, which I liked.
 
The car runs like a dream now! There is definitely a drivability improvement, not to mention a startability improvement. It idles smoother, takes off smoother... just night and day. I'm hoping my fuel economy will improve, too!
 
Grounding to the air pump is still a stupid idea, IMO, but that's another story Wacko
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-May-2010 at 6:03AM

Ehhhhhhh Idk about fuel economy, lol.


Paul
77 XR7 460/C6/3.00:1 *SOLD*
78 XR7 523/C6/3.5:1
79 F100 460/TKO500/3.25:1
'I also have some left over potatoes-I understand you can generate electricity from them'- Foote500
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-May-2010 at 6:05AM
I don't really, either, but it'd be a nice bonus :). Every penney saved is a penny I can use towards the next thing that breaks on the car... or maybe some tires.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GranTorinoSport Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-May-2010 at 5:29PM
As an electrical standards engineer in the aerospace industry, I tend to be a bit over-the-top when it comes to electrical stuff on my car.

With that being said, the best set of battery cables I every purchased were when I was doing a great deal of work to my '71 F-250 Camper Special.

http://www.custombatterycables.com/

He makes GREAT battery cables. Wire is good quality, crimp quality is very good, and I like his finishing work (heat shrink applications, etc). You can get pretty much whatever you want, however you want. I got a set of 1/0 gauge cables (pos, neg, start) and an engine-to-firewall, and the negative cable had a second 4ga cable on it where I grounded to the front clip (body) - all for about $130. 1/0 mind you. Very heavy. Very good. Will last forever. But you must be very specific about what you want (you choose everything from terminal size, lengths, wire type, etc).

With that being said, this poor guy makes them out of his garage or something. He is not accepting orders like 95% of the time (if you go to his website, he had just updated today and still not accepting orders). When he is again, I'll be buying two sets for my Torinos.

Probably a bit too much for most, but a good set of 2 gauge cables is always recommended. 4 gauge is really pushing it. Factory or not. So PSquare's 2 gauge from AutoZone would also work well.


Edited by GranTorinoSport - 19-May-2010 at 5:30PM
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Turbo301 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-May-2010 at 11:26PM
If I had heavy loads other than starting the car, I may have been more concerned with larger-gauge wire, but my new wires still look bigger than what came off of there (not sure if that's due to different builds of insulation or a different gauge of conductor). I must admit, though, that some PTFE or ETFE insulation would not go amiss: as you know being in aerospace (I am as well, I am a project leader for actuator and sensor development), PVC is quite frowned-upon, and it is not very durable.
 
$130 for battery cables is a wee bit steep for me, although I'm sure they're exceptional.
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