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Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
Soooo in the process of moving the battery to the driver side to allow for a cold air intake on the passenger side. With the multi-wire aftermarket connector, I'm about an inch from the wheelwell, right below the washer tank. I've always always removed the negative terminal first, and frankly the washer tank makes removal tricky enough as it is, BUT....could I potentially arc over that inch, even while connected?
I thought about putting some insulation in there. ...it's not tighten
ed down,and the tank isn't in there......but you get the idea
Not enough voltage to jump that air gap, the battery would have to rock over and touch the bare metal.
Not just 3.1 cars, I think all Firebirds, later ones anyway, got that plastic shield so you couldn't accidentally contact the fender support with a wrench while you were disconnecting the battery. It actually wraps up and over the fender support lip.
Should be able to find a battery cable insulator boot anywhere batteries and battery accessories are sold. Also could run heat shrink tubing up closer to the battery post to limit chances of shorting something out. That in addition to the battery shield.
There's a couple ways to shift things around and clean up the clutter. The quick way is to use the GM/Delphi type terminals.
They offer the crimp terminals to hold a heavy cable, or a couple heavy cables. You can also stack two of the boots and terminals. Top it all off with a cover, and it's not going to get grounded.
Another thing to consider is moving circuits off the positive battery post. V6 and TBI cars use a junction post that screws to the radiator support, and gives a place where a lead can come from the battery and power several other circuits off a single post. Can do the same thing off the 12V post on the starter, or a lesser extent the 12V post on the alternator.
Also, once the battery hold down clamp is installed, it'll snub the battery away from the inner fender.
No, the set screw isn't enough. It's a **** poor electrical connection.
Wires are crimped in terminal ends in order to provide good mechanical contact to conduct electricity. A solid crimp is really important for larger cable like what you've got. Otherwise you end up with high voltage drop, localized heating/burning, and corrosion in the wires strands.
A proper terminal design also provides physical support to the wire so the strands don't break from fatigue. A long piece of heat shrink provides more support to the cable and also helps prevent water from wicking up inside the wire strands. (water can wick a couple feet into the cable!) The face of the ring terminal should make contact with the conductive surface of the battery terminal. That's the flat surface, not the threads. The area of contact should be sufficient for the current the cable will carry.
In the OE environment, they often go so far as casting the lead terminal over the bare wire. The crimp style connectors were originally intended for temporary field repair. But crimp terminals are becoming the norm as the use of lead is being outlawed by environmental regulations. But it's not the cheap-*** style of crimp like most stores sell. They are full barrels that require heavy duty crimpers to get the job done.
My suggestion is call CE Auto Electric and have them put together a quote for the parts and tools you need. https://ceautoelectricsupply.com/ Or you can have them make something up for you. They're probably going to suggest you move away from the GM style side-post battery because it's a whole lot easier and cheaper to bring in multiple cables to a post style battery. Some post battery even have multiple connections provided at the battery itself.
Battery is only a few weeks old. And only run twice. I could probably get top post.....I actually considered it.
....as for the terminals....sigh....you've convinced me. I said they were good enough, but I never really convinced myself. All my other are crimped. I bought a large gauge crimper several years ago, and that's what I typically use.
I did GM side post battery too but in retrospect it would have been smarter to use a standard battery. My $450 in parts and tools is why I gave you that advice.
Seeing how GM used some pretty serious electrical systems off the side post battery, I'm not sure the top post is worth the trouble. Maybe I just despise top post terminals.
Most better auto shops will have a selection of heavy terminals, and solder slugs. Clamp the lug in your vice, drop in the slug of solder, heat it with the torch until the slug melts, stuff in the stripped cable and let cool. You can stake the terminal to the cable and solder it afterwards also. Or use the GM style terminals I mentioned earlier that crimp onto the cable, and have a proper stress relief. Plenty of options that will get the job done.
Take a look at GM luxury cars and SUVs from the 2000'ish time frame. Cadillacs, Buicks, heavy trucks or SUVs. Some of them have a couple 4ga or better battery cables stuffed into them, along with a 10ga accessory cable.
What vehicle and year was that particular picture, Drew? I found something similar in 2000 Cadillac DeVille for $27 but the one you found is better for me with the extra 10 AWG wire.
And yes, I'm about to puke over the amount of money I spent building my own stuff.
Live and learn....
Keep in mind I just posted that picture as an example of how GM was packing those terminals. You might want to verify the cable sizes on the application if you're planning to adapt an existing cable assembly.
Any reason I couldn't just use a big ole 1' foot section of 1/0 gauge and run it to a junction stud? ...then run my cables from there? ...or is that a bad idea? The issue is I'm running 3 heavy cables. Starter, alt and amp. Two 2 gauge and a 4 gauge for the amp.
Those cables that drew mentioned look cool too. I may look into that.
Battery is only a few weeks old. And only run twice. I could probably get top post.....I actually considered it.
....as for the terminals....sigh....you've convinced me. I said they were good enough, but I never really convinced myself. All my other are crimped. I bought a large gauge crimper several years ago, and that's what I typically use.
I've posted this in my thread, thought I would repost it here as it might help you and it has to do with the talking points in this thread.
While I'm at it I'll post a few pictures of how I make my cable ends because if you buy them at a parts store you'll be paying close to $5 for a pair. Ouch. Anyway, head out to your hardware store and grab short length of a thicker walled copper tube that has about the same id as the od of the bare stripped cable you are using. Bring a length of the stripped wire or a caliper or just buy a couple different sizes.
When you get home strip the cable to a sufficient length if you haven't already and make a mark on the side of the copper tube that shows how far inside the tube the wire will reach. Then based on the gauge of the wire add a distance of about 1/2 the id to allow the pipe to crimp down without wanting to push the wire out. Then add another inch for a mounting tab and cut the tube. After thoroughly deburing the tube put the cable back in and clamp the pipe in a vise at the mark that is just past the length inside the tube that the wire will reach. Tighten the vise to smash the wall together.
Then give it a few whacks with a hammer to flatten it out some more. Put the end back into the vise and fill it up with a bunch of cut up solder chunks. Grab the torch and heat up the copper till the solder melts. Slowly dip the cable into the lug, if you jam it in solder will splatter out or just flash freeze. The solder needs to be able to wick up the strands.
Once the end is soldered I use some 3M heatshrink to cover it all up. In the past I've used electrical tape (again 3M) and sometimes the tape stays forever and other times it begins to unravel an hour later.
All that's left now is to drill a hole slightly larger than your bolt!
06-29-2018, 04:20 PM
