Quote:
Originally Posted by hatzie
Tiny ain't gonna cut it.
The original Battery ground cable is around 4AWG and it ran directly from the negative post to the alternator bracket. This solidly grounded the engine. The stock ground straps from the block to the cab and maybe the frame are to provide power to the lighting and other relatively low current circuits in the cab. Those other circuits draw a heckuva lot less current than the starter so the straps are small gauge.
Without a good solid engine ground, the starter will not crank. The battery will not charge well either.
Whomever "cleaned up" the engine bay didn't finish the job properly.
Since the main battery ground cable is run to the frame now you need at least 4AWG equivalent ground strap from the frame rail to the block. Mine are run from the frame near the motor mounts to the block on both sides...
These will do the job.
https://www.delcity.net/store/Ground...id=38094426869 |
That’s what I did, I took an old negative battery terminal wire that pulled off my Harley when I chopped it. So the new ground strap is the same gauge as the negative terminal on the truck battery. The small wire was definitely overloaded. I attached a pic of it. I don’t know how well you can see it but the wire casing is melted and the wires themselves were cooked. If you think I should go bigger yet I will. This was what I had and my son has wanted to take the truck out for quite a while now.. pleased I got it figured out!