Do battery cables go bad?

[Xfaxman]

This is the worst that I have seen.

Before:

After:

 

[Cougsfan]

After only 60 years the battery ground cable on my Ferguson went bad. It had the wires cast into the terminal ends. It still looked good. I needlessly replaced the starter first because I thought the cable looked good and that kind of cable never goes bad. I should have checked to see if it is covered under warranty

 

[k0ua]

This is the worst that I have seen.

Before:

View attachment 579338


After:

View attachment 579339

I am pretty sure that's a bad one. I think. Pretty sure...

 

[4570Man]

I’m now pretty sure this problem is a bad ignition switch. It’s throwing so many different symptoms that I really have no idea. So first off it doesn’t give much trouble in the cooler weather and I haven’t needed the truck very much so I haven’t looked much into the issue. Today I went to use the truck and it wouldn’t start, just clicking. The battery gauge was in the red at 9 volts and dropped lower when the glow plugs came on. I tried my usual up until this point fail proof plan of pushing the truck in 4th gear. Still just clicks. I went and got my jumper cables and hooked to the tractor and still clicks. I messed around with the cables some more and decided the connections were good. Still just clicks. At this point I decided to hook the cables to the starter and to the truck battery. I took every precaution on this. Truck ignition off, parking brake set, truck in neutral, and cables disconnected from battery. There isn’t much room to work at I must’ve accidentally shorted across the solenoid and the starter engaged the motor and turned it over. I crawled back out from under the truck and got in it with my jumper cables not hooked to anything and this time it fires right up and cranked fast. My batteries were obviously not dead and the gauge is wrong. Despite this long drawn out post the jumper cables weren’t hooked up for more than a couple minutes so they didn’t have a chance to charge my falsely assumed dead battery. Btw by battery I have 2 950 cca battery’s in the truck.

 

[Tractorable]

Bad battery cables can damage the flywheel teeth due to partial engagement of the starter motor gear/armature. This happened to my Toyota FJ40 because the previous owner made junky battery cables with those bolt on clamps. Replaced them with factory made cables and the truck cranks like it was brand new now.

 

[tjkubota93]

I had a 93 chevy truck that acted like that. The fuse link on the positive cable corroded in half.

 

[4570Man]

The flywheel was perfect when I changed the starter 6 months ago. The truck either clicks or engages and cranks hard. There’s no half way turning over or turning over slow crap. I really doubt it’s bad cables or the truck wouldn’t ever crank hard. Right? The batteries load test good and when the starter does hit it cranks hard so I think the battery’s are good.

 

[Fuddy1952]

In the long run, investing in a quality multimeter like Fluke is your best bet, but before spending a lot of money I would try this for less than $4, test leads and a free Harbor Freight meter.
I have a variety of meters and the HF ones are "close enough" (within a few %).
A good charged 12v battery should measure about 12.6 to 12.7V.
Meter still across battery while cranking up to about 15 seconds you should measure no less than 9.5V.
Verify this by making these tests on another vehicle that's okay.
Now...if "The battery gauge was in the red at 9 volts and dropped lower when the glow plugs came on." using the meter across battery agrees with dash voltmeter, less than 9 volts while cranking, you either have excessive current draw or bad battery. Easiest test here is simply swap in a known good battery.
Now...clip leads are useful in that you can clip from starter battery terminal to starter case ground, other end out to voltmeter where you can read it. (Two important points here 1. With wire you can make long leads several feet long, small gauge is fine...you're just measuring voltage and 2. Be 100% sure + lead cannot touch ground!).
Voltage across battery, voltage across starter should be close to equal...while cranking if over .5V less you have a bad cable.
All connections, battery, starter, engine ground,etc. has to be clean and tight. Any resistance here creates a voltage drop under load.

 

[RickB]

In the long run, investing in a quality multimeter like Fluke is your best bet, but before spending a lot of money I would try this for less than $4, test leads and a free Harbor Freight meter.
I have a variety of meters and the HF ones are "close enough" (within a few %).
A good charged 12v battery should measure about 12.6 to 12.7V.
Meter still across battery while cranking up to about 15 seconds you should measure no less than 9.5V.
Verify this by making these tests on another vehicle that's okay.
Now...if "The battery gauge was in the red at 9 volts and dropped lower when the glow plugs came on." using the meter across battery agrees with dash voltmeter, less than 9 volts while cranking, you either have excessive current draw or bad battery. Easiest test here is simply swap in a known good battery.
Now...clip leads are useful in that you can clip from starter battery terminal to starter case ground, other end out to voltmeter where you can read it. (Two important points here 1. With wire you can make long leads several feet long, small gauge is fine...you're just measuring voltage and 2. Be 100% sure + lead cannot touch ground!).
Voltage across battery, voltage across starter should be close to equal...while cranking if over .5V less you have a bad cable.
All connections, battery, starter, engine ground,etc. has to be clean and tight. Any resistance here creates a voltage drop under load.View attachment 581287

Cranking voltage at the battery of 9.5v isn’t enough to hold the majority of fuel shutoff solenoids open. Starter life will be short. 10+ volts would be MUCH more appropriate.

 

[Xfaxman]

How do you load test a cable without the battery drop ruining the test?

You start your diagnostic routine by placing the meter leads on the battery terminal posts to start with. NOT on the cable clamps on the post, but the post themselves. Have your assistant attempt to crank the starter. If you have a large voltage drop on the posts, then your battery has a high internal resistance and is likely defective. You could attempt charging the battery first before condemning it, if you think there is a reason for it to be discharged.

Then if the voltage does not drop excessively and the battery seems to be ok, put your leads on the terminal clamps themselves and test again. If you see an excessive voltage drop during the high current draw of the starter attempting to spin up, the connection between the clamps and the post are likely corroded and therefore high resistance leading to the voltage drop from the posts and clamps. Then if that is all good move on out to the other end of the cables. Testing each part of the chain, for excessive voltage drop. Of course if you find an excessive voltage drop right on the battery posts, there isn't much point in testing further down the chain until the battery is either charged, or replaced. Usually replacement.

4570Man, did you ever test the cables?

Or the starter solenoid contacts?

A voltage reading on the small wire on the solenoid will show if the ignition switch is bad.