Battery cable

[acuboy]

Hi Everyone

Is it possible for a battery cable to go bad? I've been trying to figure out a no-start issue I'm having. The car won't start and acts like there's no power. If I jiggle then negative battery cable I can sometimes get it to turn over. The battery is less than 6 months old and seems to be holding charge. The terminals are clean and firmly attached. The connection from the negative cable seems well grounded and is not corroded. So, is it possible for the battery cable itself to go bad? Doesn't seem like something that would fail.

thanks
duncan

[datsunfreak]

Is it possible for a battery cable to go bad? I've been trying to figure out a no-start issue I'm having. The car won't start and acts like there's no power. If I jiggle then negative battery cable I can sometimes get it to turn over. The battery is less than 6 months old and seems to be holding charge. The terminals are clean and firmly attached. The connection from the negative cable seems well grounded and is not corroded. So, is it possible for the battery cable itself to go bad?

Only through corrosion would it go bad. If you are convinced it has no corrosion inside it, seems like a bad cell in the battery is your only other option?

Replaced the starter yet? Could be a bad connection in there?

[bakerjf]

Haha - I had a 240Z way back when that similarly drove me nuts. It would act like the battery was dead, I'd wiggle the battery cables and bingo!

99% sure your problem, like mine, was/is the starter.

[AidanDawn2000]

Had this problem resently. I used a pice of wood and hammer to whack the starter and now she starts every time:)

[TOYSUN]

Hi duncan,

if you have checked everything and everything was ok ....
I think, it's the magnetic switch from the starter.

I do not know the difference in price (magnetic switch to starter),
but some times its better to replace the complete starter.

Let me know if your problem than away.

Mario

[Linda]

I would cut open the cable at the terminal end to look for corrosion and/or get a new neg cable before I would buy a new starter. Your problem might be solved. Detachable terminal cables seem to get more corrosion in my experience, just need to check and clean.
Linda

[C.Costine]

As already pointed out it sounds like the starter, but also as pointed out cables and connectors are way cheaper than starters. I have an old diesel farm tractor that was cranking slowly, and I had checked/cleaned all of the connections. Then while cranking I noticed that the cable at the solenoid was hot. Previous inspection had revealed a nice clean terminal with no corrosion. Upon closer inspection I saw that the terminal actually had a gray coating that was not the shiny tin that it should have been. I cleaned it and tried again and the motor spun as it should. It is not clean unless shiny clean.

[steve_car]

Before replacing anything, measure voltage at the starter while starting it. That will tell you if it is your starter or a power problem.
You didn't say anything about hearing your solenoid clicking, so if it is not there are other things it could be.
Headlights work ok?

[acuboy]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have anyone around to read the voltmeter at the starter while I crank. But, the headlights will come on intermittently when I jiggle the negative cable and the starter only has about 5000 miles on it. That's why I'm eyeing this negative cable suspiciously. I'll head down to the auto parts store and get a new one and start there. Pretty straight forward on swapping the cable, right? Nothing I need to know?

thanks!

[acuboy]

Is there an advantage to going with a thicker grounding cable? Like a 2 gauge?

[Datsun.David]

Not complicated. Measure the length carefully and if you can get one with a crimped end it will offer a superior ground over one of the bolt on clamps. If your current clamp bolts on to the lead, take it apart and give it a thorough scrub/sand. I have had corrosion built up inside the clamp virtually invisibly. Larger gauge won't hurt anything but availability may be your determining factor on length...

[steve_car]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have anyone around to read the voltmeter at the starter while I crank. But, the headlights will come on intermittently when I jiggle the negative cable and the starter only has about 5000 miles on it. That's why I'm eyeing this negative cable suspiciously. I'll head down to the auto parts store and get a new one and start there. Pretty straight forward on swapping the cable, right? Nothing I need to know?

thanks!

The above information would have been helpful to have in your initial post.
I wouldn't just swap out the cable without performing some tests. Maybe it just needs to be cleaned good.
Turn your headlights on and when they are not working; measure the voltage on your battery post, battery clamp, ground lug, engine and chassis ground and see where you are dropping the voltage.

[Natenate4s]

Why not just buy a new one? They're cheap and it'll eliminate that as the possibility of your starting troubles for years.

[steve_car]

Why not just buy a new one? They're cheap and it'll eliminate that as the possibility of your starting troubles for years.

Sure, you can just replace what may be a perfectly good cable if you don't want to figure out what happened or why and correct it.
While you are at it, there are a lot of other parts you could just replace because they are cheap.

[acuboy]

Thanks for all the input! Turned out to be the battery cable. Weird. There was no obvious corrosion or cracks in the plastic sheath. Swapped out the cable and it fired right up. Once again, thank you to this community for helping me think this through!

take care
duncan