No crank no start

5vortec7 said:

Grounds from battery to block, to chassis, and body. Notorius for being problematic in GMT400’s. It also upgrades the alternator to battery charge cable, all to 1/0 gauge.

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5vortec7 said:

My kit will also upgrade starter wire to 2 gauge and accessory to 4 gauge. I will include a fuse and customize cables to locate it to your chosen mounting place.

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Schurkey said:

"Autozone" or most any other auto parts store does not genuinely load-test batteries. They have a cheap hand-held machine that plays Van Halen at the battery until it submits, then generates a print-out showing battery capacity based on capacitance, or resistance, or the phase of the moon.

A REAL load test will actually load the battery instead of simulating a load test.

IF there's an intermittent connection inside the battery, a single load-test may not catch the battery when the connection is poor.


New ones, genuine copper not crappy copper-coated aluminum, (CCA) with built-in terminals NOT TEMPORARY CLAMP-ON TERMINALS that everyone on Earth seems to think are permanent replacements.

At least 4-gauge, not cheap and thin 6-gauge which is what the parts stores around here want to sell. Not thicker than 2-gauge. You don't need heavier than 2-gauge cables, and gigantically thick cables will need to be supported so they don't pull too hard on whatever they're attached to.

It would be worth checking the service manual for your vehicle to determine the size of the original cables.

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Schurkey said:

1/0 cable is nuts in this application, doubly-so for the chassis and body ground, and the alternator-to-battery. Be sure it's properly supported so it doesn't pull on the cable ends.


...and yet the cable that carries the heaviest current--battery to starter--is smaller than the others (but perfectly satisfactory.)

2-gauge from battery to starter solenoid, and 2-gauge from engine block to battery is all that is needed. Maybe more than required; most of my vehicles use 4-gauge in preference to the parts-stores that seem to want to sell 6-gauge. All the other stuff--body and chassis grounds, alternator, accessories--carries a fraction of the load so even 4-gauge is overkill.

However, I do approve of the crimped/soldered cable ends sealed with heat-shrink tubing.

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Schurkey said:

Negative cable is easy...buy a suitable cable with the smaller-gauge wire included that goes to the fender.

Positive wire will be more difficult. I'm surprised there's a wire from alternator to battery. I'd have expected alternator to starter--pretty sure that's how my '88 is wired. The service manual wiring diagram for your vehicle will tell all.

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