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Starter question?

My thought was to use that because I still have 10ft or so. Its super flexible. Plus with the adhesive heat shrink it should be water proof.
 
The way I understand it is you need the bigger wires for positive: pos to pos, pos to starter, pos to alt (the original have fusible link).
You can use #4 for negative, not a problem.
But some people have been using the big wires for positive too.
 
The way I understand it is you need the bigger wires for positive: pos to pos, pos to starter, pos to alt (the original have fusible link).
You can use #4 for negative, not a problem.
But some people have been using the big wires for positive too.
I don't get that. It seems to me you'd want the same size for both cables.
 
My electrical knowledge is limited. I would guess the starting process or any other electrical function uses most of the electrons sent, and only part of them return to the batteries. The reason for an alt. or a generator.
 
The general reason is most chassis/body grounded loads have multiple paths thru chassis, engine block, etc., back to batteries. Multiple ground straps, some wiring harness grounds, etc.

Electrical loads most always get their power thru one power supply wire - so it must be adequate to carry the load. If that same load is grounded to chassis, it has multiple paths (multiple ground wires body to chassis, chassis to engine block, etc., back to battery.

As this thread started about starter, it's worth noting the starter motor's path back to battery is it's ground thru engine block. That connection is typically OK, but I have seen a couple examples of a motor built & painted to look nice, have starter performance limited by that ground - which was easily corrected by tapping/cleaning the block threads & the mating surface.
 
Yes, the battery ground cables running from batteries to engine/chassis ground need to be same size as positive battery cables. The battery ground cables are the one/only path to batteries. Guess I got off track seeing the stranded ground straps & was thinking of the multiple, smaller ground straps.

I should get a set of cleaning taps for applications like the starter bolt holes. Have always used regular taps & imagine I'm removing a slight amount of thread material using a more common, cutting tap instead of cleaning tap.

I check starter bolt torque about every other oil change b/c I've had them work loose (about 40k miles after starter install) to the point of breaking one. Powermaster starter using end brace to block. Broken bolt stub was easy to remove because the block threads were clean :)

What do you guys think about trying some low or med strength thread locker on the starter bolts?
 
No on thread locker. Be never seen starter bolts come out when tightened down properly. Adding it where not needed doesn't always make it better. Thread locker is exact opposite of broken piece coming out easy from clean threads.
 
That's why I didn't reinstall new bolts with it - just wondering other's experiences. Many OEM exhaust studs are thread locked into the head & need controlled heat application to remove w/o breaking.

If you haven't seen bolts come out when properly torqued & with bracket, that makes me think more that using a common thread cutting tap instead of cleaning tap may be the contributing factor.
 
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