Battery end would be the one I want sealed the best, not much room to work down in the battery box.

Possibly. But you can put the battery end on first, then the Oring crimp on the other end, is no larger than the cable itself..and would snake anywhere.

Id think.

I have changed my F-250 from 6 awg & 8 awg cables to 2 awg, with a noticeable change in starter operation. (The Ford starter is a very high-draw design.)

I have thought about changing the 928 to 2 awg cable, and had done a little quick research.

2 awg American-made welding cable (made of VERY fine 30 awg strands) with rubber insulation, sells for $2.50/foot, including shipping.
The positive cable should be about 9' long, and I took 10' as a reasonable purchase - so cost would be $25.

Total resistance for 10' would be about 1.5 milliOhmns.
It will carry 195 amps continuously with a resulting temp of less than 60 deg C., and will carry 1300 amps for about ten seconds.

I think that tin-plated brass terminals would be acceptable.

Now all we need is terminals, clamps/retainers, and tools...

So who makes the best battery crimp terminals? NOCO?

Cable ends all the way to size 4/0 here:

http://www.remybattery.com/Departmen...Terminals.aspx

Demo video:


Much heavier ground straps- 1/0 instead of 4 ga.

http://terminalsupplyco.com/Store/Pr...spx?pc=GS-1015

Need to use this at the neg battery terminal to use the 1/0 strap:

Made of copper- not lead:

http://www.greenboatstuff.com/ticobate.html

When you do crimp it, I like this:

http://shop.genuinedealz.com/items/i...itemid=5229952

Add a 2lb sledge, then solder...it's never coming off.

So I'm thinking I have 4 wires on my positive terminal, the fat one, the two to the CE panel, and one to an amp for the stereo.

What size wire is used for the fat one now, what is being suggested?

Which style of battery clamp, assuming one of these fancy cast copper types, but straight, left or right?

Keep the lugs on the CE panel wires and connect to the clamp bolt? (same for amp)

Do the CE panel wires need replacing, can they be?

Once we know the length, why not have one of these marine suppliers do at least some of the termination?

BTW clamps at all the sources look the same to me so far.

Sterling mentioned that the original cable is somewhere just north of 2 gauge, well south of 1 gauge. If I can get a 1 gauge that will fit in the factory guides I'll go that way, otherwise 2 gauge will have to do it. I can suffer the added weight.

I have both sizes of welding cable, but not at the same place where the car is.

Marine cables are tinned copper to resist corrosion. Closer in copper construction to an automotive cable than to welding cable, so maybe not ulra-flexible. Question then comes to oil/solvent/heat resistance of the insulation. Is the welding cable insulation too thick for the factory guides? I'll have measurements to play with for thickness and make the decision before the cable cutters come out. The local marine supply place (West Marine) has all the pieces and the marine cable in stock, and will do the crimping for me.

So at this point the diagnosis is in, and the cure is defined. All except for the length of the cble eye-to-eye. Anybody know that dimension?

Perhaps Mr. Anderson could shed some light:

dr bob,

The overall length of an '88 battery cable including ends is 12' 3". I would think that an '89 cable would be the same length as an '88.

Earl

Be gentle with the clips that hold the + cable to the body, they're NLA.

Thanks, Earl. That's exactly the number I need.

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I have a crimper for the regular 1- and 2-gauge lugs, the ywo-arm-squeeze type not hydraulic. Not sure if it will work well with the battery end, but will certainly do OK for the starter end. The 1ga is under $3/ft at the marine store last I looked, buy the ends and they install them.

For those playing along at home, the picture of Mark's factory cable shows that it comes with the grommet/pass-through for the battery well, and all the extra protective sleeves in all the right places for a relatively drop-in installation. If you aren't comfortable making stuff like this, and/or don't have the tools or experience needed to do it right, the factory replacement piece is a very good and accurate solution.


Depending on time available, I'll try to do a simple how-to for the diagnostic part anyway.

That 1/0 cable is overkill on capacity, and would be a real chore to route and attach I'll speculate. Plus, none of these cables reveal what the insulation OD works out to, so more research is needed to make sure the new cable can be installed in the original guides.

dr bob,

The OD of the cable including insulation is .540". The two extra sleeves at the starter end are 7" and 11" long with an OD of .750".

Earl