Perfect OEM battery cable replacement?

[iTurbo]

I've been looking online for some nice battery cables to replace the crappy ones on my cars. I found this looking through NAPA's online catalog. Is this a perfect replacement or what? It even has the right tube connector for the power distribution. What do you guys think?

http://www.napaonline.com/NOLPPSE/(S(1rhh2n55sfwwmd2wnht0qa45))/Detail.aspx?R=CBL718225_0240122351

Another possible:

http://www.napaonline.com/NOLPPSE/(S(1rhh2n55sfwwmd2wnht0qa45))/Detail.aspx?R=CBL718132_0216729935

[jckrieger]

Links are broken :(

[iTurbo]

Not sure how to link to the catalog properly. I'll be back with part #s...

[135sohc]

http://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/631668.jpg

not bad but the starter end is totally wrong for our cars.

[iTurbo]

If you go to napaonline.com and click on their PartsProSE search, you can plug these #s in to the parts number search.

CBL718225
CBL718132
CBL713816 (this is the one NAPA online suggests for replacement for a 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T, but the top post terminal looks kinda flimsy.)

Jeez what a crappy website!:mad:

[iTurbo]

http://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/631668.jpg

not bad but the starter end is totally wrong for our cars.

Actually, it would probably still work just fine, even without the molded OEM starter connector.

[135sohc]

Those clamp style terminals are how everything is done nowadays.

Last year I bought a set of NOS factory cables on ebay and the negative cable/harness was made in 2000 and had that sheet metal style clamp on it.

[iTurbo]

Yup, I noticed my Caliber SRT-4 has those kind of terminals. Maybe they aren't so bad.

[iTurbo]

I order cable #713816 and #718132 today. They said it had to come from the manufacturer so it will be a while before I get them. I'll post pics comparing them to the original cables then.

[moparfwdsleeper]

Jeremy is this for the R/T or 8V that your going to make the comparison?

[iTurbo]

It is for my Spirit R/T. Although the '91 GTC TI harness in my Shelby Lancer is just the same.

[iTurbo]

Damn, it's been over a month and NAPA *still* hasn't been able to get them in. I'm wondering if they'll ever show up. Anybody know if Mopar still has them?

[supercrackerbox]

Yup, I noticed my Caliber SRT-4 has those kind of terminals. Maybe they aren't so bad.

I actually prefer them. They don't seem to corrode, crack, and wear out as easily as the old lead ones.

But then again, I haven't been using them for 20+ years, so time will tell.:o

[135sohc]

4661342 is the part number. Mopar threw them all away years ago I bet.
A super long shot but maybe you might find a dealer who has one sitting on the shelf collecting dust somewhere.

[supercrackerbox]

I actually have one sitting on a shelf collecting dust somewhere. Not actually a Mopar one, but an identical replacement.

Man I hoard too many parts.

[iTurbo]

4661342 is the part number. Mopar threw them all away years ago I bet.
A super long shot but maybe you might find a dealer who has one sitting on the shelf collecting dust somewhere.

Thanks for the part number. The cables don't seem to be TIII specific so hopefully I can find something.

[iTurbo]

I actually have one sitting on a shelf collecting dust somewhere. Not actually a Mopar one, but an identical replacement.

Man I hoard too many parts.

Oh man tell me about it. I have so much crap in my garage sometimes I feel like spare parts = ball and chain. I keep telling myself I'll eBay it all off someday.:amen:

[moparfwdsleeper]

Oh man tell me about it. I have so much crap in my garage sometimes I feel like spare parts = ball and chain. I keep telling myself I'll eBay it all off someday.:amen:

:DI am pretty much without 'spares' nowadays.

Sold It
Gave It Away
Trashed It
Crushed It(GLH for one, thought about making it a weekend warrior after I parted it, but ended up finishing it off)

I got tired of it all, couldn't take it anymore lol. I had a shed full of totes NOTHING but TD parts, then there was grandpa's barn, more totes holding... more parts.

The R/T purchase made throwing stuff away so easy lol

[135sohc]

Theres been too many times in the last year alone where my hoarding has paid off bigtime.

If you have the $$$ to blow than I suppose you could never keep spares and rely upon finding someone who has what you need at whatever the price is.
But I'm too cheap for that :)

[moparfwdsleeper]

Theres been too many times in the last year alone where my hoarding has paid off bigtime.

If you have the $$$ to blow than I suppose you could never keep spares and rely upon finding someone who has what you need at whatever the price is.
But I'm too cheap for that :)

I don't have anymore 8V cars, don't plan on buying another one, so those won't ever be used again.

As far as buying up 16V parts... I've already debated about leaving the car scene so that wouldn't be a good idea until I knew if I wanted to go on or not.

CSX and GLH burnt me out pretty good lol

[supercrackerbox]

I've got every single piece to restore my Daytona inside and out except for a rust free body. That along with the GLHS and it's various parts take up a lot of room.

And then there's the Regal and all the parts I've collected for it too.

[135sohc]

When 8V parts won't work on an 16V car... It makes making room to breathe so easy haha

Most of the stuff I have is weatherstripping (3 full sets of window scrapers :amen:) interior trim, mechanical parts, fasteners and the like. Stuff thats not entirely 8V vs 16V specific.
Currently occupies a corner in the basement and part of a shelf out in the garage.

[moparfwdsleeper]

I went back and edited the post lol.

[iTurbo]

I FINALLY got my battery cables from NAPA. They look like they will work great, especially cable #713816. It uses the small band clamp looking terminal and is just the right length. Cable #718132 has the bigger lead original style terminal, but the cable going to the starter is way too long. It might work well for a battery relocation though. Both cables have the correct OEM-style + accessory tube connector which will make these about as easy as it gets to integrate.

First picture is of my '91 Spirit R/T starter sub-harness next to the new cable (#713816).

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04196.JPG

Here's my nasty old + connector. The wiring under the sheath was green and pretty corroded as well.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04198.JPG

NAPA part #713816 new battery terminal and OEM style + accessory connector.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04199.JPG

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04197.JPG

Next I have to take apart the + sub-harness so I can integrate it with the new cable. Going to go get some new loom, friction tape, and the high temp fabric insulation at NAPA next. Still got to get a new battery as well. Will post pics when it's done.

[iTurbo]

Here's another pic...the top one is my + battery cable and starter sub-harness with all the tape and loom removed. The middle is #713816 which is what I'm going to use. The bottom is #718132 which has the bigger OEM-like lead terminal and long starter cable.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04204.JPG

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04205.JPG

Both of the new NAPA cables use a regular eyelet connection on the end of the starter cable instead of the molded plastic OEM connector. I could cut off the OEM starter connector from the original and put it on the end but so far it looks like the eyelet terminal on the new cables will work just fine as-is.

[iTurbo]

Here's a pic of my original starter connector. Pretty rough, broken insulation...I'd rather not even reuse it.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04206.JPG

Original compared to new cable end.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04207.JPG

Here's what the original looks like connected to a Nippondenso starter. The molded OEM connector is designed so the main starter cable and solenoid wire maintain distance from each other and can't short out, even if the nuts get loose.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04208.JPG

Here's the new starter cable attached. It doesn't have the 90' bend or the molded connector like the OEM one. It still goes on just fine though, and if you look close there is a small piece of plastic separting the main + terminal and solenoid terminal so it doesn't look like shorting out will be an issue even if it gets loose. I may bend the terminal lightly to get it started in the right direction a little better and make sure it clears everything no problem.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04209.JPG

[minigts]

Personally I would get some good quality heat shrink tubing and cover that thing, twice. And then I'd get some fireproof sheathing and put that one. I'm sure it won't move at all, but the idea of a battery grounding against the starter by some freak accident doesn't sound all that much fun. Those parts will be cheap and easy to find and it will take about 5 minutes to do it.

[iTurbo]

Yeah, I wish I could find a new OEM type starter connector. I've searched all over including dodgeparts.com (OEM catalog), RockAuto.com, and napaonline.com and haven't been able to find anything. I'll probably hit up the dealership and see what's available tomorrow. I'll give the napa cable end a try and if I'm not happy with it I think I have a decent OEM starter cable somewhere in the garage.

After this is finally done I'm going to redo the negative battery cable and front engine sub-harness. Probably add the FWDP ground wire kit too.

[supercrackerbox]

For splicing battery cables, I use a kit made by Gardner-Bender that I found at Menards or Home Depot. It's designed for splicing underground cables for yard lights or whatever. It has a brass coupler with two set screws to join the cables, and the heat shrink tube that comes with it has the wax sealer and gets very thick by the time it shrinks to our battery cables. Very heavy duty stuff.

Dunno if this helps or not, but just throwing it out there.

[Reaper1]

That is nice to know! I might use this info in the future cause finding good OEM ones in the wrecker is impossible!

[Mopar318]

Yup, I noticed my Caliber SRT-4 has those kind of terminals. Maybe they aren't so bad.

They are better. Usually stainless steel, so they dont corrode.

[Omniboy]

Personally I would get some good quality heat shrink tubing and cover that thing, twice. And then I'd get some fireproof sheathing and put that one. I'm sure it won't move at all, but the idea of a battery grounding against the starter by some freak accident doesn't sound all that much fun. Those parts will be cheap and easy to find and it will take about 5 minutes to do it.

I almost burnt my first 85 glh turbo to the ground because of the starter cable. One day it decided to start melting on the egr tube and ark out. Well it just so happened that this said omni was a bit greasy in the engine bay as well. Luckily I smelled it while driving and pull over next to a gravel lot that had some water puddles in it. I popped the hood saw a little fire started and put it out quick with some gravely water. I then unhooked that battery and moved the wire. I drove it home and fixed it.

moral of the story yes make sure you protect that cable good with heat protection as it runs right next to some hot --- metal surfaces, especially when making the boost.

[minigts]

I almost burnt my first 85 glh turbo to the ground because of the starter cable. One day it decided to start melting on the egr tube and ark out. Well it just so happened that this said omni was a bit greasy in the engine bay as well. Luckily I smelled it while driving and pull over next to a gravel lot that had some water puddles in it. I popped the hood saw a little fire started and put it out quick with some gravely water. I then unhooked that battery and moved the wire. I drove it home and fixed it.

moral of the story yes make sure you protect that cable good with heat protection as it runs right next to some hot --- metal surfaces, especially when making the boost.

lol Yeah if you've ever had a fire in your engine, you care about that kind of stuff. That is why I rerouted ALL my wiring from the firewall area and wrapped every inch of my harness is fireproof loom.

[iTurbo]

OK, I FINALLY got done doing the main positive sub harness for my Spirit R/T. I managed to score some really nice R/T subharnesses on eBay, and used those as a template so I could redo mine as close to factory as possible.

Here is a stock unmolested TIII + subharness (bottom) and the TIII subharness I refurbished (top).

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04211.JPG

I decided to reuse a nice OEM starter connector instead of the regular 'ol lugs that the new NAPA battery cable came with. I also got some high-temp fabric loom from NAPA to protect it. It's not exactly the same as the OEM material but very close.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04213.JPG

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04215.JPG

Now it's onto the negative sub harness. Looks like that will be a little more complicated...

[supercrackerbox]

Now it's onto the negative sub harness. Looks like that will be a little more complicated...

They're not too bad. Of course when I did my Charger, I relocated the battery so I wasn't worried about factory fit.

[iTurbo]

Yeah, I got it about half done already, including the main ground splice which is the hardest part. I couldn't find the Gardner-Bender splice kit that was big enough so I used a small section of 1/2" copper tube and some industrial strength heat shrink tube which worked great. The new negative cable from NAPA I'm using is 2 gauge cable, so I'll now have 2 gauge cable from the negative battery terminal to the main ground splice, *and* from the main ground splice to the cylinder head ground bolt.

[iTurbo]

Here's the new negative cable, NAPA part #717906. Lead-free terminal, 2 gauge, with 8 gauge auxiliary lead which I'll use for the driver side inner fender ground behind the battery.

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04219.JPG

http://www.turbosedan.com/t3stuff/DSC04216.JPG

My new main ground splice. On the left side is the 4 gauge negative cable going to the alternator and the separate grounds used for the A/C compressor and a 'dummy' ground that goes to the 2-wire knock sensor connector. I say dummy ground because that ground wire terminates at the plug with another single wire going to the knock sensor. Strange, not sure why the factory did it this way. On the right side of the splice is the 2 gauge cables going to the negative battery terminal and cylinder head ground, and a 12 gauge wire that is used for the O2 sensor power ground (heater element).

[iTurbo]

Got the car running finally with the new battery cables and redone sub-harnesses. Running OK, no codes etc. Looks a lot nicer underhood now with nice new battery terminals and all the wiring routed just like factory and not hanging out all over the place. I did add an additional ground off the main ground splice going to the block, and extended the O2 wiring so it is secured up along the top of the firewall. Man that was a lot of work, thank god that's over with.

[135sohc]

I ordered one of the 713816 cables today. I'm doing pretty much the same thing and rebuilding the starter harness as the one I've got now was a total wreck from literally one end to another and wanted to start with a fresh cable and that matching OE style connector that feeds the whole car. Should be here friday morning.

[iTurbo]

713816 has worked out great on my car ('91 Spirit R/T). I didn't think I would, but I actually really like that style of battery terminal over the factory lead ones.

[135sohc]

Made a few changes to eliminate an extra connector and keep the clutter down. Used the flame-retardant wire loom from west marine to cover everything.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh98/135SoHc/th_shadowinterior_exterior840.jpg (http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh98/135SoHc/?action=view&current=shadowinterior_exterior840.jpg)

[rich tideswell]

Due to the phasing out of lead products completely, i wouldn't be the least bit shocked to see the metal ring style terminals in all replacement cables these days.