beamer242

ok so i would like to redo my battery cables. i need to replace the post connectors and well i would just like new wires to replace the 16 year old ones. any ideas on bigger gauge wire or any other suggestions to make the electrical system better.

Thanks in advance.

Brian

Needa13b

Search harder...
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...FD+Alt+install

beamer242

hey guess what i dont want to switch to an fd alt. so i didnt search for that... also you are the one that did that tread so you are the only one that knew that it would also have the battery cable replacement in it. so thanks. but next time just tell me you did the thread and give me a link. DO NOT SAY SEARCH HARDER..... all i do on this forum is search i bearly post and thats how i gain my knowledge on all of this. i never post useless threads unless i cant find them after an hour of searching or more.

Brian

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/ro...grounding.html

beamer242

awesome sideways that is a much better write-up i greatly appriciate that.

Brian

Needa13b

Well, if you would have searched, "battery" or "wires", that's in the first sentence. Looking back at the thread, all the words I thought would come up in a search were in the pictures as a .jpg, so relax, and I still think you could have found it.

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

The best thing in this case would have been to look for a grounding writeup, but you wouldn't know that unless you knew to look for it.

beamer242

actually needa13b i did search battery and it didnt come back with anything good for about 3 pages or so. also your write up is lacking some of the questions i have. including gauges of wires and length of wires.

thanks sideways7 i was thinking about searching for that, but from recent topics i saw that you dont want to reground everything as it could cause more problems. maybe i should have searched for it anyways. i am planning on doing the new grounding write up aaron cake is writing at the moment, but he wont be done with that for awhile so untill then im just going to do the power and ground for the battery.

now more questions i have after all of this nonsense. would you suggest going with a bigger guage wire? what kind of connectors should i go with: brand, type of metal, heat srink, solder? can i use audio power wires or should i get another kind? again thanks for everything and please leave rude comments out of this im not that much of a noob. thanks

Brian

beamer242

anybody have answers to my second round of questions. (sorry for the bump)

Brian

Needa13b

I used stereo wire from a local stereo shop.
4ga. Red - 13ft. * ($2.25) = $29.25
4ga. Black - 6ft. * ($2.25) = $13.50
Ring wire ends, 4per Box - 3 bx. * ($4.00) = $12.00
Gold plated + Post - $10
Gold plated - Post - $10

Total = $74.75 +tax = $79.98


It was alot more expensive that I initially thought, but worth it once it was installed, and I didn't have the money anymore.

oakback

I went to Home Depot or Lowe's (can't remember which) and bought several feet of 4 gauge wire from a giant spool, all black. Bought 4 awg ring terminals, heat shrink tubing, already had solder and soldering iron, and 2 battery terminals. It was quite awhile ago, I don't have prices. The only thing I didn't get that I wanted was a ring terminals for 4 awg, but with a small enough hole for the alternator post. I end up clamping a too-big one on anyway, still works fine, just looks messy.

For the positive cables, I just wrapped a bit of red electrical tape around them, so I knew they were positive. Nothing special.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

There's a lot of crap on this forum regarding battery cables and grounding...I'll try to cut through it.

First, ideally you would just replace the engine harness. This is the wiring harness that connects to the battery, ground, starter and a few of the engine sensors. Can be replaced without much trouble and doesn't require a huge amount of disassembly. However, not entirely cheap.

If you are just looking at replacing the battery cables, then go to a local auto parts store and find premade cables in the length you need. Most stores have a large selection. These cables come with the appropriate lugs on each end and an alternator wire as well. You can get them in both "positive" and "ground" style. For the positive you need one long enough to reach the starter with a feed coming off the battery terminal for the fuse box. For ground, just a standard grounding cable in the appropriate length to connect to the stock ground point at the drivers shock tower.

DO NOT use the standard clamp on lugs available at most auto parts stores. They are for TEMPORARY use only and will corrode in a few years. The replacement battery cables are actually sealed at both ends and cast in one piece to prevent moisture from entering the cables.

Also, don't get seduced by fancy "gold plated" connectors or fancy stereo cable. If you buy the proper premade battery cables then this is not an issue. If you insist on making your own with temporary lugs, just buy the standard lead lugs at the auto parts store and then head to the welding store for your cable and eyelet lugs. You'll pay pennies on the dollar and walk away with high quality cable.

Finally, ignore most of the grounding advice on this forum. You don't need to add any additional grounds or run 5 million cables around your engine bay. Clean and service your stock grounds (big ground at driver shock tower, ground on starter and ECU ground on the vacuum spider) and you'll likely be fine. If that doesn't cure whatever problem you are having, then you have wiring harness issues and any "uber" grounding is just a patch job to cover up another problem.

Lucky13

Additional grounds never hurt though, just do a clean job and hide them properly. I dont really understand why people have a huge dislike for extra ground, if its done properly then you'll barely notice it. But if its not then well theres going to be a good chance other things wont be done properly either.

88rxn/a

iTrader: (6)

i know i need one... my hesitiation is driving me nuts....

iSP33D-for-J3SUS

I didn't replace the cables on mine, they were in fine shape from what I could see but I just went to a place (no idea if they're a franchise or not) called, "Northern Tool" around where I live and bought new terminal clamps for 99 cents apiece. They also had battery cables there as I assume O'Reillys / Autozone / Napa etc would carry.

The new clamps helped my electrical system out a ton... the old ones were corroded pretty badly.

iSP33D-for-J3SUS

beamer242

thanks aaron cake that cleared up alot. so when are you getting your write up on the forums? i cant wait to get all of that done properly. im all about the cleanest best way of doing it even if it is more expensive and harder. thanks again everyone.

Brian

beamer242

the only problem im having is i was burning up alt. left and right. last year alone i went through about 8 of them. (the joy of lifetime warranty, lol) so i finally got to the point where i just replaced a year old battery just incase that was causing the problem. i went with an 800 cca battery so i wouldnt have to worry at all. well after a new alt. and a new battery my volts still drop to just under halfway under a good amount of load. my clamps look to be the temp ones from an autoparts store and i have no slack to just replace them again..... so i figure why not just replace all the cables and make better, non 16 year old cables.

also my neg clamp wont tighten enough to hold the terminal. you can slide it right off.

Brian