Starter Motor

[Carimbo]

The OEM terminal is made of a lead alloy... You can Dremel off the remains of the OEM terminal...

In case anybody is going to follow this route, be sure and take all precautions to avoid any possibility for inhaling or ingesting the lead dust. I.E. do this outside, fan blowing on the work away from you, wear appropriate mask, keep mouth closed, etc.

[asavage]

I saw the clamp kassim503 has but the part that crimps onto the cable does not seem large enough. Also, his cable seems much thinner.

Kassim's car is a gasser.

[SoCalanz]

Starter Motor question time again! I am having my starter rebuilt and the
rebuilder told the shop I am buying it from to make sure my battery is fully charged. Is he saying this because it could damage the starter or because diesels need more starting power from the battery? My battery is less than 2 weeks old so I believe it is fine; 850 cca and 1000cc.

Thanks guys!

[Carimbo]

Both: Weak battery could cause the starter to pull too many amps and burn out; IDI diesels like your LD28 need more powerful batteries to start them because 1) the starter is more powerful to crank the high-compression engine and 2) large amounts of power that the glowplugs consume during start sequence. That is also why your battery cables are several sizes larger than on gassers.

BTW, be kind to your new starter. Don't crank for longer than 10-15 seconds, wait 1 minute between each cranking attempt. IOW, avoid overheating the starter.

[SoCalanz]

Thanks for the advice, Carimbo.

[kassim503]

Kassim's car is a gasser.

And I still think the positive cable is not sufficent.

I went to pep boys thinking of picking up some 00 wires, and they didnt have any on the shelf? I bought a 00 ground cable there years ago, now all they got is the just to get you by garbage.

[asavage]

For 2/0 (00) battery cables, either stock lengths or custom, check out CustomBatteryCables.com. A 2/0 positive battery cable 36" long with a single 8ga pigtail (for the fusible links etc.) is $32 + $10 shipping, which is less than half what I pay to have one made locally.

(negative cable shown below)

[SoCalanz]

I checked the dealer price for a pos. battery cable for my 1983 wagon, which shows on their screen as an 810, and price is $121.85. I have to call back to see if it even available and if it is I have to wait a few days to get it. If this 2/0 cable from custombatterycables.com is for a diesel max as opposed to a gasser I will order this tomorrow! My neg. cable seems to be ok, but if I replace one should I replace the other. The neg. cable is attached to the block and looks like it may be difficult to get to so I hope I don't need it.

[asavage]

The offerings from CustomBatteryCables are pretty generic, and I doubt they will have a pre-made one for our rigs. You will have to specify the exact length you want and specify the terminal ends you wish, and they will make one to order to your specs. That will cost more than the "off-the-shelf" one I quoted above, bit I bet if you measure, you'll find that that one above is pretty darned close. The length is the wild card, I have not tried to measure the OEM one.

The OEM negative cable has a tap for a chassis ground under/behind the battery box, IIRC. If you use a std. cable, you will need a second cable to act as a ground strap between the engine and the chassis -- do not neglect this, or terrible things will happen.

(I recall an incandescent manual choke cable on a '65 Rambler. Glowed red when you activated the starter. The Maxima is loaded with electronics that would fry in an instant in that situation.)

[SoCalanz]

Mine is removed but in the trunk of my car and I drove a different one today. I will measure it and let you know the length, for future reference.
As long as the thickness of the replacement is ok for the diesel it looks like a much better alternative than the dealer's high price and the FLAPS' "get you by for now" stuff.

[SoCalanz]

My pos. cable is removed from the car and in the trunk of a my car, but I drove a diffeent one today. I will measure it so you'll have the length for future reference. Even if I have to have one custom made I think that is a better option than the dealer or the FLAPS' "gets you by for now stuff." The 2/0 is correct for our diesels? The photo looks as if it is still to thin.

[kassim503]

2/0 for a wire size is more than sufficent for the diesel model, 2/0 is a large wire size.

Your home is probably powered by 2/0 of it has a 200A service panel, and im sure the starter cant suck in more than a house's worth of power.

For batt. cables, id say 2/0 is all you'd need unless you are trying to start the big diesels.

[asavage]

The picture above is just a generic picture, it's not a picture of a 2/0 gauge cable.

I don't have any experience with CustomBatteryCables.com, it was just a promising-looking site when I went searching. If I didn't have an excellent resource here for custom cables (though expensive), I think I'd try them.

Is 2/0 large enough? I do not know. I would think so.

Here's a handy chart, courtesy of Taylor Cable OEM Products:


Looking at the jacket, it's hard to tell if it's 1, 1/0, or 2/0, but it's not 3/0, so 2/0 is the "safe" choice. You will be able to splice both of your fusible links to the single 8 ga pigtail. But do check the length before ordering. A 5/16" ring terminal/lug on the starter end is optimum.

If you have a way of doing it, hacksaw the cable at one and and try to measure it for diameter, before you throw it away, just for our reference.

[SoCalanz]

You got it Al. I wll have the length tomorrow and when I get the new cable I will cut the old one to get the diameter before tossing it...er recycling it.

[asavage]

Your home is probably powered by 2/0 of it has a 200A service panel, and im sure the starter cant suck in more than a house's worth of power.

The "power" that the house draws is at 240v. Amps are amps (amperes are amperes). One coulomb for one second = one ampere. Power could be compared to watts, and a house (@240v) can do a lot more work with its 200A than a car (@12v) can. But the number of amps could be the same, and the wire gauge is predicated/determined by the amps (current).

The amount of amps required to turn the starter can easily exceed 200 amps at low temperature, but only briefly. House wiring has a substantially higher safety margin because the starting application is not continuous, unlike your Christmas lights, for example.

2/0 gauge starter wiring may be appropriate.