Battery Cables & Starter Wiring

[highwaystar]

I replaced the battery cables on my ‘94 C1500. One wire is loomed along side the wire that goes to the starter then back up behind engine to the terminal block on the firewall. Was like this on the OEM harness too. So, I re-routed it across the right fender, loomed it & attatched it to the terminal block (marked in pic). It was in a bad place as part if it looked overheated. Will this be ok? Thanks!

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[RichLo]

I dont see why not, what part do you think is sketchy? The fact that its laying on the fender? you can always loom it to provide additional abrasion resistance if thats what your worried about.

 

[Erin]

I dont see why not, what part do you think is sketchy? The fact that its laying on the fender? you can always loom it to provide additional abrasion resistance if thats what your worried about.

He said he loomed it.

 

[highwaystar]

I did loom it laying on the fender. Coiled it up, ziptied it & tucked it out of the way.
The original, being routed behind the engine had part of its insulation melted from the exhaust. So the lug on the terminal block must go to the ignition, eh. Been having intermittent starting issues, so far so good. Think the oem battery cables were corroded inside, have not yet cut em open to verify though.

 

[thinger2]

I did loom it laying on the fender. Coiled it up, ziptied it & tucked it out of the way.
The original, being routed behind the engine had part of its insulation melted from the exhaust. So the lug on the terminal block must go to the ignition, eh. Been having intermittent starting issues, so far so good. Think the oem battery cables were corroded inside, have not yet cut em open to verify though.

Cut the battery cable plastic ends open with side cutters and cut the rest of it back with a sharp knife.
They are bad.
They are always bad.
Cut the insulation back untill you see the color difference in the wire.
And it bends differently too.
Check out the crusty green fuzz and the wrecked discolored weak copper wire.
The plastic shrouded GM side post battery connection is the most decieving piece of crap for anybody new to diagnose.
It is the first thing that most people look at and it will pass the visual test becuase it looks like its brand new.
On any side post GM product ever made if you have any type of electrical problem including, slow start no start slow crank etc...
Its the friggen battery cables or the battery contacts.
The plastic coated ends of the battery cables are designed to have a certain amount of "Crush" that is supposed to make a watertight seal.
That never worked even with a brand new gm battery
If you take a look at that contact inside of your stock GM sidepost cable you will see the remants of four little "lugs"
The idea was that those little lugs would dig into the lead of the battery post and keep it from spinning under vibration loads.
All while that absolutely insane and idiotic plastic collar would somehow maintain contact.
That is an intollerant unadaptive design failure.
So the battery cables work great unless they have interrmittant contact due to rotation at the lugs which will cause an intermittant and corrosion and also great as long as the aftermarket battery standoff is within +or- .020.
The factory battery cables are defective and dangerous and it should have been a huge recall from vehicles stalling on the freeway.
If you have a chevy with the factory sidepost cables dont even waste your time chasing electrical gremlins untill youve replaced the battery cables.
They are bad.
Cut them open and be ready to be shocked.

 

[Komet]

Can confirm, I have cut open cables from a '99, they were corroded for the first couple inches. Older ones are only going to be worse, and I have also seen cables that have worn completely through their sheathing after this many years, and it's always on the side you can't see.

Routing the cable along the fender is fine. It's a slightly longer route which means slightly more resistance but you can just go a gauge bigger if that's actually a problem.

 

[thinger2]

Can confirm, I have cut open cables from a '99, they were corroded for the first couple inches. Older ones are only going to be worse, and I have also seen cables that have worn completely through their sheathing after this many years, and it's always on the side you can't see.

Routing the cable along the fender is fine. It's a slightly longer route which means slightly more resistance but you can just go a gauge bigger if that's actually a problem.

Yep. Pretty much the only deceptive battery connection that will make you chase your tail.
A top post is pretty obvious when it is bad.
A GM side post can look perfect and be internally rotted.
They are always rotted.
So many guys are throwing money into sensors and starters and wiring because of thoses frigging bad battery cables.
They are always bad.
They are always bad.
They are always bad.
When you buy a any sidepost GM,
Stop on the way home and get new battery cables.

 

[351FUN]

So much of the electrical calls I got at Michelin were this. Wire would look fine but you always wanted to pull on the end hard. Often it would come apart a few inches up inside the insulation. It's still the first thing I do with anything electrical even though I'm not there anymore.