harborman

From my experience, the problem with the battery ground strap is that crimped end which the wing nut goes on to. The inside of that crimp gets corroded maybe because of two different metals, the braid and the brass or copper. Maybe they could not solder that end. I did fix mine and have it as a spare. I was able to spread out that crimp and pull out the braid, then clean and recrimp.

danglerb

I figure going to a fully tinned (marine grade) cable with adhesive shrink overlapping the connector replacing them every 20 to 30 years may be enough.

Jim Devine

The original straps measure out to be something
like 4 ga. These are 2 ga. It can't hurt to change
them even if you haven't had problems. It forces you to clean the connections and do some battery maint. while you're there. Cheap fix for a potential
problem.

depami

Order two from Waytek at $11.70 each. 23.40 + 2.82 tax = 26.22.
Site said 5.00 handling and shipping will be added.
Shipping was 12.63 and they're only 45 miles away.
A 25 MPG vehicle would drive there and back for that, should have jumped in the Supra for a road trip. Oh well.

Alan

Waytek is not the very cheapest and shipping always struck me as a little expensive too - however their service is quite impeccable, components all come bagged & labelled and they ship very quickly with good delivery options and always seem to know whats actually in stock.

If I need it in a hurry I check Waytek first - I have been using them for years and they are a class operation.

The only issues I ever had were resolved very rapidly and well - you get what you pay for I guess.

Alan

Chuck Schreiber

I had originally posted this in the 89 gauge display resets itself thread, but that's pretty specific, wanted to post on a more applicable thread..

Really cold weather (At least for us in DFW) this year. i usually run the GTS every weekend, but the digital dash would run to ---- every week. I ordered a new ground strap from Roger and it has been fine ever since...

I didn't think about it until Sean replaced Richard (Stretch) James' ground strap. Stretch's car would NOT start after sitting for more than a few days. Sean replaced the ground strap on his car and it's been fine ever since. Sean has had the car for a while doing some PM on it and the car sat for 3 weeks. Started up fine after 3 weeks.
(I'm sure Sean will post some pics)

If memory serves me, it was the one that Rob Edwards or Dr. Bob found.
New cable and shrink wrap is about $20-$30 less than a factory replacement. Mine looked "OK", but I guess it wasn't...

It cured Stretch's car, helped mine retain "outside temp", so if you're having a problem, the ground strap may be the culprit, or at least part of it.

My before and after.. The original didn't look bad, but it's 20 years old and there was at least a little degredation causing the reset of the digi dash every week..

tailpipe

Its cheap insurance i'm in the process of replacing all mine plus doing a full physical check on the block ground straps by actually removing and checking the mounting bolts. I have already found one bolt that was all corroded inside the hole after changing the cable and mounting hole the cars charging probs have disapeared I had already change the alternator and battery chasing poor charging issues.

danglerb

I just did two from Waytek, 19" with 4' of 3M adhesive lined 1" shrink, was $33 plus $12 shipping and talked the customer service person into waiving the $5 under $35 handling charge since it was close and they had less desire than I did to stay on the line while I looked for a $2 filler item.

Parts look good, shrink looks plenty big, but won't get a chance to shrink it or install for a couple days.

Location of the Wingnut is a water leak spot. Channel on the side of my hatch was full of junk at the rubber bumper, but when water backed up during washing/rain etc it didn't drip completely straight down, some runs to the base of the hatch and pools around the ground strap attachment point.

5 months ago when this thread was active I found a great source for the ground straps, fiddled around and didn't buy them for some reason, forgot where I found the good price. Some tractor supply type place, good shipping on top of cheap price.

Shark2626

..

dr bob

Couple thoughts...

The 2ga upgrade strap from our vendor sponsors is less than the strap from your local dealer. It has tin-plated strands so relatively immune from most corrosion issues. Most of the corrosion I've seen has that green chloride tinge to it, so whatever "natural" copper surface oxide layer was there has been breached. I wasn't on board with the ground issues, did a ton of testing, replaced cables and cleaned connections. It was my ground strap that "looked fine" that was the solution to some nagging voltage support and battery charging issues.

Invest in the 2ga marine ground strap from our sponsors and never look back.