<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body ><div><br></div><div>Thing is my positive cable is badly worn with shredding and corosion. Pretty narly looking. Ground is rusty, maybe a good cleaning will save it. Shall see. Thanks for your input.</div><div><br></div><div><div style="font-size:9px;color:#575757">Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone</div></div><br><br><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Jim Adney <jadney@VWType3.org> </div><div>Date:12/02/2015 5:31 PM (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: type3@vwtype3.org </div><div>Subject: Re: [T3] Battery cables </div><div><br></div>On 2 Dec 2015 at 15:34, liverbeat71 wrote:<br><br>> Has anyone ever had hard starts or non starts due to a bad battery<br>> ground strap or pos. battery cable? I've been unable to start my 69<br>> Fastback for two weeks. Yesterday I hop in, turn the key, runs like a<br>> a new car.Will swap out the o.g. worn strap/ cables. What the??? <br><br>Nothing you can buy today even comes close to the quality of the <br>original battery cables. Unless there's something obviously wrong <br>with one of them, don't replace it. Or at least hang on to the OG <br>ones until, a year from now, the new ones fail. OG battery cables are <br>one thing I'm always careful to salvage from a junk Type 3.<br><br>Instead of replacing cables, check the connections: loosen, wiggle, <br>and retighten. Get a battery post and connector cleaner and figure <br>out how to use it. I've seen cases where there was enough corrosion <br>between the cable and the starter solenoid to prevent good contact. <br>Just loosen, wiggle, and retighten. For a longer lasting connection, <br>loosen, wiggle, grease, and retighten.<br><br>Finally, learn how to attach your battery cables to the posts. The <br>posts are tapered, so it's common for the clamps to not get installed <br>all the way down on the posts. DO NOT HAMMER them down. This will <br>permanently damage the battery. Clean the post and clamp, then use a <br>couple of screwdrivers to spread the clamp so that it will go all the <br>way down on the post. When correctly installed, the post will stick <br>up slightly above the top of the clamp. <br><br>-- <br>*******************************<br>Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org<br>Madison, Wisconsin, USA<br>*******************************<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>VWType3.Org mailing list - type3@vwtype3.org<br>To unsubscribe or change subscription options, visit:<br>http://lists.vwtype3.org/listinfo.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org<br>If you need more help, contact: gregm@vwtype3.org<br></body>