It’s been a long time coming but I have finally resolved my slow starter issue. Back in 2018 I upsized the positive cable; I also replaced the starter but none of those were really the problem. The real problem was a poor ground.
To address the poor ground I
purchased:
- 25 ft of 1/0 AWG Pure Copper Power Ground Wire Cable
- a handful of 1/0 AWG 3/8" Stud Copper Wire Lugs
- a set of crimping tools
- and some dielectric grease
Then I ran one cable from the battery to the transmission:
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| Grounding point at transmission |
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| Grounding point at trailing arm |
I also ran an additional cable from the same point on the transmission (left cable in the pic below)...:
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| Added ground cable running to the front (left cable) |
... to the common grounding point for all accessories in the front, including the headlights:
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| Front grounding point |
A word of caution, getting the trailing arm bolt back in took a ton of McGuyverism as the alignment of the plate and bushing etc. had shifted ever so slightly and it was a bear to avoid cross-threading the bolt as I was trying to getting it back in. The solution was to get a 5 mm longer bolt than the original (same spec) and grind the first 5 mm to a point so it would align itself. (An even longer bolt with a more pointed tip would have helped but that would have caused it not to screw all the way in as it would interfere with the frame on the backside.) So, the pointed bolt and all kinds of clamps and jacks to help lining things up got the job done. Oh yeah, add the minimal ground clearance with everything just a couple of inches from your face just added to the challenge. In hindsight, I do not see this point as a good grounding point anyway. A better option would have been to modify the ring terminal into a spade terminal and that way only having to loosen the bolt a bit – not pull it out completely.
And the voltage gauge is showing a healthy 13+ V!
Looking forward to enjoying the (hopefully) brighter head lights at my next evening drive!
