Close Call tonight!!!!

Well I was heading home from the river when my rear antilock idiot light came on. When it did my tach and voltmeter went crazy. My FM radio also turned to static. This continued for a little while off and on then went away. About 45 minutes later it started again but this time my headlights and my dash lights all dimmed out. The engine still ran like a champ that she is. I was on the phone with Diesel JD trouble shooting and thinking if it might be low gear oil tripping that idiot light (remember that pinion seal question i had last week? I havent gotten around to it yet) Just then I heard a crackling noise and my brother who was riding shotgun mentioned that the heater core was REALLY HOT. I pulled into a gas station and popped the hood. I looked for any wires burning but didnt see any. Just as I was slamming the hood shut I noticed some blackened pipe dope where my coolant filter is. Closer inspection revealed that the positive starter cable had chafed against the ball valve and melted halfway through the cable. I pulled that battery (passenger side) out and wrapped the lug and cable with my cup holder/ duct tape. I couldnt get her started with the weakened cable and only one battery. not even running jumpers from the other battery could crank her fast enough. Luckily a nice man in a 2000 F-250 PSD pulled in and gave me a jump. THANK YOU!!!!! Well I guess its time for new battery cables!! Cha Ching! About two years ago I wrapped my cables in a lot of tape and I think its time to bite the bullet and buy some new ones. I am just thankful that I made it home safely and no damage was done to Big Green.

Instead of the straight through design for the positive terminal on the passenger side is there a way I can get a right angled terminal? This will direct the cable away from the filter plumbing.

Thats crazy, Ive got a few sets down here where Im at, theres also a place in Orlando that sells thick battery cable for 8 bucks a foot. Its what I used on mine and I couldnt be happier.

Yeah i can always go to west marine and get 2/0 but ill have to sell my first born to buy from them. Ill call around a few truck places here and shoot an email to custombatterycables.

Glad you got through that good. My suggestion to you for a battery terminal comes from me being an Electrician. They make bolting lugs that have an allen head bolt to tie down the wire. Now if you used a large sized one for the 2/0 wire and then drilled out the extreme ends to use to tie in to the 2 bolts on a regular battery cable clamp, you could tie the battery cable clamp to the battery and the wire lug to the battery cable clamp and thus the new wire at a 90 degree angle to the battery post. Let me know if this makes any sense. I can picture it in my head and it sounds like a ghetto rig, but everything would be tightly bolted with no loose connections.

i have made battery cables cheap using welding cable and the ends, way cheaper then buying them and its a better product

Try any of your local Custom Stereo shops. they will sell you power cable by the foot and its usaually cheaper than going to an autoparts store or anythign like that...It's just as good and they should even have some battery terminals ends that your looking for too...they may be pricy but they are gold plated...I redone my battery cables from each battery the starter and the alternator, used the gold plated battery terminals and some gold plated terminal rings, used heat shrink on the terminals to protect from possibly shorting on anything. no corrosion at all has ocurred and its been 5 years

I'm not sure im following you Silver...

Ive heard that welding cable is not oil resistant which is bad because theres more oil on my engine than in it (bad valve cover gaskets that leak after a year)

gatorman21218 said:

Instead of the straight through design for the positive terminal on the passenger side is there a way I can get a right angled terminal? This will direct the cable away from the filter plumbing.

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Are you meaning the goofy mid-cable terminal ??

If so, ditch that Ford mess and run TWO separate cables; then, you can orient the terminals any which way you please.

There is absolutely no good reason for the single HOT cable set-up as it came from Ford.

Think about it; that one little cable must carry the current of both batteries.


While you are at it, convert to copper lug "ring style" terminals and stud-type batteries; this is the absolute best improvement that can be made to these trucks, making the rest of your life much more enjoyable.

thats a really good thought on running two separate positives. How would I connect them to the starter then?

gatorman21218 said:

Ive heard that welding cable is not oil resistant which is bad because theres more oil on my engine than in it (bad valve cover gaskets that leak after a year)

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Many argue the point both ways, but I prefer quality welding cable.

Automotive "battery" cable is comprised of a few very stiff strands, whereas welding cable has thousands of fine strands, thus making the welding cable far more flexible and resistant to vibration fatigue; plus, the numerous fine strands make for a superior conductor.

gatorman21218 said:

thats a really good thought on running two separate positives. How would I connect them to the starter then?

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Just connect them.

Put one cable on, then the other, then the lock-washer and nut.

okay then i guess tomorrow i will be calling truck shops looking for cable. Whats the best way to connect the terminals to the cable? I have a propane torch so i can solder but i dont have any crimping tools.

gatorman21218 said:

okay then i guess tomorrow i will be calling truck shops looking for cable. Whats the best way to connect the terminals to the cable? I have a propane torch so i can solder but i dont have any crimping tools.

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This is another point where there are arguments for both methods.

On anything such as 12-AWG connections, I am a firm believer in soldering; but, not so for big stuff like battery cables; on those, I much prefer a good solid crimp.

The factories have been crimping battery terminals for generations and most outlast the vehicles they were installed on.

A good crimper can be made by grinding an appropriate sized "diamond" notch in the jaws of an old set of bolt-cutters.

Many times, the place where you buy the cable will crimp the ends for you.

I have had great success by clamping a short length of angle-iron "channel up" in a vise.

Insert the cable fully into the lug and have an assistant hold the lug and cable in the angle-iron.

Starting at the open end of the lug, nearest the cable, strike firmly with a blunt-pointed "staking" punch, until a deep dimple is formed.

Move forward a little and punch another dimple.

Repeat for the third and final dimple.

Go over all three dimples, striking each another couple times.

Try hard to jerk the cable loose; done properly, it won't budge.


There is too much opportunity for a soldered connection to vibrate loose, especially if one is not an old pro at soldering big cable, which not many of us not in the professional cable soldering business will ever hope to acheive.

Welding cable is not oil resistant and it is not a better conductor for vehicle starting and charging systems .The so called skin effect on electric wires , only applies to AC circuits running 60Hz and above, it does not apply to DC circuits such as we're dealing with in an automotive starting circuit.
Obviously you would want to be using the smaller wire strands for AC welding, but there is just no reason for it in a starting system. You are much better off running proper truck battery cable. It was designed to hold up to oil and heat. If you can afford 3/0 your batts will thank you . THe larger the cable you can run the better the load it carries, 3/09 is about as big as you can comfortably bend. 2/0 works fine. You can get solder on lugs, or you can buy a crimp tool for about $45, it pays for itself the first time. just saturate the cable strands with a conductive grease like Noalox (find it at Lowes etc where the service entrance boxes are ) and then after crimping seal the fitting with heat shrink and the cable will outlast a factory cable
Alternatively if extra hands are available you could rig a crimping setup with a piece of angle to lay the end in and a large ( about 1/4" or better )square end punch and a big hammer and a trusting friend to hold the pieces put while you whack the end on.
If you have a Truck Pro nearby they have good prices on everything you need.

Even if you still have the lug batt, you can get an adapter to attach the stud type cables to it so you can attach the cable from the pass side to the adapter , then another cable from the adapter to the starter, then next time you get batts, buy yourself a set of group 31s stud tops and you'll be in business