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Tue May 11, 2004 7:19 am

I have a 1988 Westy with a battery cable (the big one that runs from the battery to the starter) badly corroded at the battery terminal end. I don't know if I will be able to remove the bad part and still have enough cable to reach the battery terminal. The Bently manual says you have to remove the fuel tank to change out the cable; is there any way around this? Failing that, is splicing on a new short piece of cable a viable alternative?

Thu May 13, 2004 2:57 pm

You have to remove the gas tank to remove the old one and replace it with an OEM part.

You can cut the old one out and replace it by running another cable, without an end on it, through a slightly different route.

If you or someone else hasn't removed the gas tank in the last few years, you are over due for a vent line gas leak. You could have both problems fixed at once.

Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:29 am

Where can one find a replacement cable for the battery to starter? I have not been able to locate one via any of the major online vendors.

Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:11 am

Rhinoculips wrote: Where can one find a replacement cable for the battery to starter? I have not been able to locate one via any of the major online vendors.

Just make your own. It's probably cheaper to get wire and some terminals and a crimping tool locally than it would be to buy a pre-made cable and have it shipped. Then at the end of the project you get to keep the crimper.

Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:42 am

West Marine sells marine grade (which just means more expensive) battery cable by the foot.. They also have the terminals you'll need as well.

As for the crimping tool. the West Marine near me has a big ole industrial size crimping tool there in the store for you to use. Note, the clerks are forbidden from doing it for you, due to liability issues, but they'll show you how to do it.

Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:49 am

What gauge is it? I am guessing 4 gauge.

I don't have my Westy today, does anyone know how many feet of cable is needed, so I can order it?

Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:25 am

Use welding cable. More flexible, and the insulation is much tougher and resistant to more chemicals than building wire, or the cheap wire that is allowable in automotive apps. Any welding supply can sell you what you need by the foot, and the appropriately sized copper crimp-on lugs you'll need, and maybe even large-size shrink tubing to complete the job. Solar supplies also carry the hardware and shrink tubing, but probably not the wire as it isn't yet approved under NEC 690.

Try to determine the exact length you will want each cable to be and have it cut at the store, where they will have the loppers that make a clean cut of the fine-stranded wire.

There is a trick to get all the stranded wire ends into the lugs. Use a razor knife to make two circumferential cuts thru the sheathing, one at 1" from the end, another at 1.25". Slit the 1/4" piece between the cuts and remove it. You should brush soldering flux inside the lug before slipping it over the wire. Then slide the free 1" piece of sheathing down ever so slightly, so you can just slip the lug opening over all the strands. Then slide the lug on further, pushing the free sheathing tube down onto the wire. Make sure all the strands are started inside the lug, and slit the tube and take it off. Now, holding the lug from falling off you can flux the exposed wires, slide the lug home, and crimp it on permanently.

Then use a propane torch to heat the lugs and fill the ends with molten solder. Just heat the copper, avoid burning the wire sheathing. Finally, once it cools, slip a piece of shrink tubing over the junction and to seal it all up, and Voila!, tough, flexible, long-lived battery cables.

This is how we build heavy conductors for the low-voltage DC side of solar installations. The solder is not there for conductivity as much as it excludes moisture, so corrosion can't attack the inside of the junction. There are types of shrink tube that are coated with a heat-setting adhesive inside; this is the best type to completely seal the junction, and insure moisture never gets in and wicks its way up the strands.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:07 am

Does anyone know the gauge of the huge battery cable going from the Battery to starter?

Where can one get a replacement boot that covers the starter terminal?