what length is the battery cable for the positive cable to the starter a d what gauge?Thanks
g body not cranking????'s
- Thread starter dickeymoore
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Sponge Bob mentioning that clutch neutral switch kicked waaay back into the past 1975 to be exact. The V-8n Monza that I owned back then had exactly that feature. To prevent inadvertently starting the car in gear you had to bottom the clutch pedal all the way to full stop to actuate a switch that would allow the key to spin the starter. Major nuisance. Supposed to be a safety feature but more a memory check for newbies who only had ever driven automatics.
As for wire resistance and voltage drop over distance versus wire gauge, that particular topic ought to be in the library as it was a subject of a whole series of threads some years ago. Not sure which side of Covid it falls on, pre or post, in terms of how far back but it has been a repeat topic of interest from time to time. The audio geeks on board are the best references as they are OCD for heavy gauge for their amps and woofers.
Nick
Nick
As for wire resistance and voltage drop over distance versus wire gauge, that particular topic ought to be in the library as it was a subject of a whole series of threads some years ago. Not sure which side of Covid it falls on, pre or post, in terms of how far back but it has been a repeat topic of interest from time to time. The audio geeks on board are the best references as they are OCD for heavy gauge for their amps and woofers.
Nick
Nick
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Yeah, it's one of those things where (at least on older/project cars) everything get's replaced in starting and charging systems because there's not much involved right? Battery, cables, starter and alternator and that usually fixes any problem cuz everything's been replaced. It's those ones where all that's been done, or none of it's been done (yet) and you just want to replace/repair what's actually wrong.
One of the things I've been seeing more and more with so much reliance, and convenience of AMAZON (which I love as much as anyone, for sure) is that you have to be real careful about the specs/brand and quality of wiring, cables and terminals, etc.. you pick up online that seem to cheap to be true. Too much of it is not OEM quality, and may not be 100% copper conductors or some variation tinned/mixed metals thereof. I try to stick with the brand names I know and trust for at least some amount of quality control, (Bussman, Eaton, ACDelco, etc) yet even then you don't know what you're getting until it's in your hands, and you see the MADE IN (fill in the blank) sticker on it, or the package.
Neutral safety, I even mis-remembered that on the later year G Bodies, and others GM's they didn't actually interrupt the starter solenoid wire anymore, and instead just had the reverse light, column mounted switch lock out the ability to turn the IGN key unless in P/N. Mine has that mechanical IGN lockout and I completely forgot...LOL! One less electrical component and wire connection to have an issue with, manuals with the clutch pedal mounted I don't think ever changed from electrical to mechanical?
Neighbor had a 70 GTO 4-spd and the first time he shut the key off and tried to pull it out, It would not move!!. Come to find out that GM had installed a sneaky safety feature that really was sneaky. To get the key to come out of the ignition on the 4spds, you had to shift the transmission into reverse!! Down on the reverse lever there was a back rod that was attached to a bell crank and linkage that ran up into the column. In reverse, that linkage pushed a rod inside the column that let the ignition move from off to lock and allowed the key to be removed. Corporate thinking was along the lines of anti-theft prevention plus safety in the event of being on a slope or hill; being in gear to keep the car from rolling while parked.
As I said, Sneaky.
Nick
As I said, Sneaky.
Nick
Standard Motor Parts (SMP) calls out a 4ga, 35" positive cable for 1980 Monte with 305 SBC...I would have guessed about 2-3 ft. max. so that sounds about right. Any longer and I'd personally want at lease 2ga.
If in the trunk then definitely at least a gauge or two heavier but always remember that the heavy gauge comes with its own limitations on voltage simply due to increased resistance as a function of increased diameter/heavier wire.
Nick
Nick
This is for +12v systems to help you guage your wire for different required lengths.
i had something like that and turned out to be battery cables coming loose at the battery terminals causing the battery to leak all its power.
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