Beware of Advance Auto Parts Battery cables

[jrichker]

I have had two of the short cables that run between the battery and the starter solenoid fail within the last 4 months. The problems symptoms are the same as a dead battery, except one minute the engine runs OK and the next it doesn't. Try to crank the engine and it doesn't crank. Try the lights and radio and they don't work either. Test the battery and it is good.

The cables have no external evidence of failure. There are no swelled places due to corrosion inside the wire and no burned placed from overheating. The failure point is where the cable is connected to the battery terminal. It evidently isn't crimped or soldered properly. Push the cable back towards the battery terminal and you have power. Let go of it and you don't have power. Spooky...

 

[302RollinHard]

I would think that not having a very good crimp/solder connection could eventually lead to excess heat an possibly a fried cable??? Either way it is a bad deal.

 

[Mikie]

Yep,
Same thing happened to my Sons 87 Jeep Wrangler. He bought it from someone local and they told him that it had been having starting issues. As any dumb backyard mechanic would do...I immediately replaced the battery, followed by the starter and solenoid. After those attempts failed I had the alternator tested and it was good. Finally I took it to an electrical specialist in town and it took him all of 5 seconds to see that I had aftermarket cables on it. I found out later that the guy my son bought the jeep from put those cables on and purchased them from guess where....lol

He said the best place to buy cables is from the dealer only.

Later

 

[wythors]

Ford OE cables are so inexpensive, why would you bother with aftermarket? I think I paid less than $30 for both of them.

 

[GT_Rich]

Great - that's where I got mine from. Ford cables were not an option for me b/c after hiding wires and relocating the starter solenoid, I needed different lengths. Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[Modular2v]

advance is $hithole anyway

 

[HISSIN50]

Good tip (I fear the issue is not relegated to that one chain).

I'm surprised JRichker's car is not powered with 2 fiberoptic cables and nothing else.

 

[iwashmycar]

thanks for the heads up....first thing ill check when my car mysteriously doesnt start someday

 

[jrichker]

Good tip (I fear the issue is not relegated to that one chain).

I'm surprised JRichker's car is not powered with 2 fiberoptic cables and nothing else.

I thougt about doing it that way, but the photon emitter lasers took up so much power that there was none left to make the car move... :

 

[vristang]

I have been getting all of my cables from a car stereo shop. I just buy long chunks of the biggest stuff they have and a couple of their terminals.

In the last 6yrs, I have not seen any evidence of corrosion.

It is pricey though....


jason

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

The best way to go IMO is to pick up some welding cable and ring terminals like these to make your own cables:
View attachment 392647

Heat the terminal with a torch, fill it with solder, and shove the wire in while the solder is still hot. Put some heat-shrink tubing over the connection, and you end up with something better than new, without having to crimp on a connector and risk a bad connection that has a lot of resistance.

 

[SRT]

Just changed both of my cables yesterday, used ford parts and they look great.

 

[Shakerhood]

I got new Ford OEMs from PPI.

 

[vristang]

Heat the terminal with a torch, fill it with solder, and shove the wire in while the solder is still hot. Put some heat-shrink tubing over the connection,

I like it...
Simple
Effective

 

[Aryan15]

Yes, much better than crimp.

 

[HISSIN50]

For Matt, there was not a whole lot of other options. New resto cables (from a popular resto house) for 5N95's are over 200 dollars. I'll be doing the same thing he did when the time comes.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

This is true JT, however I wanted to go with a larger gauge cables as it was, since there was a necessity replacing cables it in my case. The biggest pain was opening up the harness that contains the ground and O2 sensor wiring, but I think that was all of 15 minutes worth of work, tops. The fact that the engine was out of the bay at the time helped immensely.