Battery cables...

[Julio Bro!]

Hi, I need new battery cables and I was checking for OEM, these cost about $130 including shipping from Courtessy Nissan.

What do you think? Should I buy replacements from any local shops at a lower price?

[180fan]

for 130 you can do alot more than just get new oem cables. You can get new positive and negative terminals by monster cable, and run 4 gauge wire from monster as well. Cost probably 40-50 bucks. You'll need 2 to 3 feet of negative, try 5 or so feet of positive, new terminals which should also come with 4ga. ring terminals, and also some extra ring terminals, since I know the negative wire also has a break in the middle where it grounds to the battery plate but you might want to ground elsewhere if the tray/plate thing is totally rusted out like mine was. It is afterall just wire. Do run though, 4 gauge minimum for your battery cables.

[Julio Bro!]

Thanks Mr. 180fan, I didn't know that Monster Cable offered those, I'll check that out. So, I suppose it's a better quality and performance hardware?

[NISTECH]

the reason the positive cable is so expensive is its actually a sub harness oil sender alt probably and some other wires. buy the factory neg wire due to the body lug. 15 to 20 bucks right? on the positive side cut the cable at the starter and near the battery discard the ends, cut off the fuse link plugs and keep those to attach to the new cable end. pull the old cable from the harness and throw it away. get a new cable from the parts store that matches the length of the old cable and put it along the harness you pulled the old one out of tie wrap it to the harness and your good to go.

[180fan]

Nistech, what's the body lug for the negative cable? I just saw a break in the first 1/3 or 1/2 of the cable where it screws into the battery tray. The positive one, yeah it's like a little jumble of wires near the starter and the alternator, but wouldn't it run just fine if you use some ring terminals and just basic modifications to make the rest of the wires fit the same way they did before?

oh Julio Bro, I got those 4 gauge wires from a local electronics store that has a car audio department. They are used pertty commonly on high power amps and what not, but I figure they're just wire and have many thin copper strands which is better than having few thick strands so you'd get better current transfer. Which is basically the only reason I went with those. Also the battery terminals because mine were corroded to hell and I'd have to fiddle with them almost every time I started because it got so bad and put them in their "sweet spot" to start up the car. Very irritating.

[NISTECH]

its where the cable has the ring that bolts to your battery tray. that is the neg. feed to the body of the car the end of the cable bolts to the engine. on the postitive side I am saying dont screw with the harness portion of the cable just pull the positive cable out of it. and install an aftermarket one from kragens or auto zone.

[180fan]

oh ok so yeah that was the part of the cable I was saying had a break in it and which I substituted out with the extra ring terminals and the extra length of wire.

[Julio Bro!]

oh ok so yeah that was the part of the cable I was saying had a break in it and which I substituted out with the extra ring terminals and the extra length of wire.

And what about all the harness connections? They are like 6 or 8, all with different type of connectors.

[NISTECH]

you dont do anything with the harness connectors. leave them on the car untouched. you are only removing the 2 thick cables. the large connectors on the positive battery cable are left pluged in. once you remove the bolt from the cable end you bent the crimp that is holding that piece to the cable end and slide it out it will bolt up to the new cable end.

[Julio Bro!]

Alright Nistech and 180fan, I did some checking on the nature of the OEM cable and you're right, it includes the sub-harness. I also checked the Monster Cable stuff and it's pretty good, particularly the battery terminals, and I think it's priced OK.

I just installed the highest amperage Interstate battery I could get (any opinions on this brand?); strange fact is that it is smaller than the regular models, because of this the unit comes with an adapter for the OEM bracket. Cost me $80 with a 14 month full warranty and up to 5 years, $1.55/month differential.

Because my old battery was leaking, the replacement terminals began to corrode (some of this travels farther inside the cable), right now is working fine but I suppose it could be better. I'm thinking checking out the sub-harness, if it's truly independent from the thicker cable, I'll probably get the hardware from Monster and prepare a new one. Regarding the negative cable, it does have this crimped "tap" to the battery tray and Monster doesn't have this "side ring" so I don't know how I could make for that. That would go for approx. $120 without the new sub-harness.

On the other hand for $130 I would be getting a brand new set including the sub-harness. I know it won't be the same power transfer as with Monster, but hey it's new cable and connectors, the old ones have been there for 10 years.

Or, I could just leave all the cables there and just replace the battery side terminals for $60 Monster connections.

What do you think?