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$600 battery cables for 96 T&C??!!!

My wife's '96 T&C LXi 3.8l needs new battery cables as the insulation on the original ones has cracked and corrosion has gotten down into the cable. There's multiple cables attached to each cable clamp, and as suspected, the local parts house told me it's a dealer only item. I spoke to two different dealers parts guys, they both claim that it's only available as part of the engine wiring harness @ $600! Replacing the clamps isn't as easy as one would like with the multiple wires going to each clamp, and there isn't much in the way of extra wire to allow for trimming off the corroded section. Does anyone know if the cables are physically part of the engine wiring harness, or if it's just that they're only available to be ordered together? Any suggestions - at this point I'm wondering if it's worth trying a junk yard, or if I should just cut theends off and try making what I have work with new clamp on cable ends.

Thanks!

Reply to
Bearcat
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Probably true as far as it goes, but the supplies are available from all the major wire and cable manufacturers (e.g. Belden/PowerPath, Whitaker, Standard...) to make, right on the benchtop, whatever battery cable configuration is desired. The difficulty nowtimes is in finding someone to do this, because the tendency is to want to just "remove and replace".

You may want to check your local Yellow Pages for auto and industrial battery specialists/supply houses in your area and call around to see if you can find someone who can make custom battery cables for you. The cable companies are selling those supplies to *someone*, otherwise they'd be dropped from the catalogues. Once you find someone willing to do the work, if they work dilligently, the finished product will be superior to the original and *vastly* less expensive.

The consumer-grade "repair terminals", typically with a strap held on with two bolts, are a temporary deal *at best*.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Reply to
mic canic

While this can be done successfully if you know what your doing, what Nomen is suggesting isn't exactly the way to do it.

What you want to do is go to an electrical supply house and buy a special crimp connector that is designed for these large sized wires and use the appropriate crimp tool to crimp both wires into the connector. (basically it's a copper alloy cylinder) then you run solder down into this. Dip both wire ends into a tin of flux designed for this before you crimp them. (Electrical flux, not the stuff plumbers use on copper pipes) Use a propane torch but use the torch to heat up a fat copper soldering bit that fits on the torch and is designed for this. Do not apply flame directly to the joint or you will ignite the flux and burn it off in which case the wires will not be properly cleaned by the flux and the solder won't bond. Then use a heat gun to shrink the heat shrink tubing around the joint which you slipped on before you did the crimping.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

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