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When I look in the frunk of my 95 and 96, the negative battery cable is exposed copper all the way to where it connects to the body of the car on the right hand side down behind the battery.
If I look for that part online I find an insulated cable rather than an exposed one. Does anyone know if this part is the right one and why the difference?
Not my car but mine is an oxidized version like this... The part for sale now.
@@gmorat I have the same non insulated ground cable as well. I see no benefit replacing it unless it is damaged. Looks like a high quality copper low gauge wire that is more than adequate to supply high current to the starter where it matters.
Mine is uninsulated, not a bad thing as it makes any corrosion readily apparent and allows any liquid that may get in it to dry out.
The important thing is that the cable is in good condition. If yes, in my opinion, don't mess with it.
Andy
FWIW, a few years back, I seem to remember something about a technical bulletin that the braided copper part was being superceded by the insulated cable assembly. If you were to have the new part on hand at battery-changing time, it might be worthwhile to install the new version to avoid a future problem.
As mentioned above, the insulated on superseded the bare cable. Years ago I had some strange electrical problems that turned out to be caused by corrosion in the bare cable. The corrosion was at the ends of the cable where the terminals were crimped on so it was not visible until I had the cable out of the car. The insulated replacement part is supposed to prevent this from happening.
Actually the corrosion can travel from the exposed section from the battery to inside the insulated section over time. I am sure the insulation helps slow it down though...
Overall, if the wire is not corroded (you will see white/green powder which is the copper oxidizing) you will be fine. If you do, try using a wire brush to clean it up. The factory ground wire s quite nice and bigger than most aftermarket car audio amplifier grounds that are installed so there is plenty of "capacity" for the electricals. What is important is the the connection of the ground wire with the battery and the connection of the ground wire with the body is clean. Issues with the ground wire (assuming the ground wire itself is not severed) are due to poor connections.
Are there any electricians who can weigh them n on this?
The reason is another tale I heard is resistance will build in the ground cable itself.
True or not?
Are there any electricians who can weigh them n on this?
The reason is another tale I heard is resistance will build in the ground cable itself.
True or not?
You need a physicist or chemist to answer the question.
Resistance can certainly build in any conductor if there is corrosion or any other process which might impede the flow of electrons, but since your cable is copper, rest easy as seen in this snippet from Wikipedia " For copper, corrosion is not an issue. Copper is resistant to most organic chemicals and can operate indefinitely in most industrial environments. A green patina may be formed after long exposure to the atmosphere, but this is a function of the protective surface film and does not indicate a harmful attack. The protection of copper is in fact unnecessary, even when used in offshore installations when it is exposed to a salty atmosphere."
ps, my 96 had an uninsulated exposed copper cable, it worked fine.
03-18-2019, 11:13 AM
Negative battery cable
