I took my car to the dealer for a "free" check up and was told I needed to replace the battery cable, they were getting hot?? What's up with that! They wanted $350 for parts and $300 for labor. Was told if I didn't get it fixed it would damage my starter and/or alternator.
Is this a commom problem??
HELP this car is driving me to the poor house.
First time I've ever heard that one! It's possible if the positive one breaks, it could short out somewhere and set the car on fire. However, it should be obvious if this is about to happen, and I've never seen or heard of it. There basically no chance that a cable failure would hurt your starter or alternator. I'd say avoid that dealer like the plague!
The dealer should have taken the cables off and cleaned the ends and made sure there was good solid contact. The only time these large cables have any large currents is when starting which should be for just a small amount of time. If there is sufficiently low resistance to start the car, then the resistance should be acceptable. You can check for yourself by touching the cables to see if they are warm, especially after starting. If the engine does not turn over very well when starting, then there may be a problem. I have never heard of it harming a starter or alternator. Like Mike said, it could start a fire it if came apart.
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