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Battery Cable (to Starter Solenoid and to Ground) costs.

1771 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  negativl, 
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I want (well, need really) to replace these cables.
The cable from the positive (+) terminal to the starter solenoid is $65 canadian from the dealer.
The cable from the negative (-) terminal to the body and transmission grounds is $95 canadian from the dealer.
I do not really want to pay this much for some strands of wire.. Anyone know of an alternate source for these wires? I would go to a junkyard, but the newest ones i can get there are 10 years old, and probably pretty bad.. Do any of the a3s use the same wires (id imagine that the positive cable would be pretty much the same, but the negative?)
Thanks for any ideas.
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Re: Battery Cable (to Starter Solenoid and to Ground) costs. (ottawanker)

Don't know about the +, but I replaced my ground with a new one from Pep Boys. If you have a decent FLAPS around with a reasonable selection, you should be able to find one there.
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Re: Battery Cable (to Starter Solenoid and to Ground) costs. (ottawanker)

yuo can make them all very easily with a couple feet of red 4ga wire, a couple feet of black 4ga wire, maybe four feet of black 10ga wire, some copper 4ga connector loop end thingers, regular 10ga loop end connectors, and two 99cent battery posts. there is no reason to buy the oem stuff. and if you are feeling frisky, replace the red wire running from the alternator to the starter with a few feet of 10ga red wire (length depending on how you route it), you will notice the difference. just connect all the wires to the stock ground locations.
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Re: Battery Cable (EbraketurnGTI)

I already did the alternator to starter, but heres another question - the leads on the actual alternator harness are only like 12 or 14 guage little crappy wire.. how do I resolve that bottleneck?
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Re: Battery Cable (to Starter Solenoid and to Ground) costs. (ottawanker)

I REALLY hate to say this, but I went to Canadian tire.
The dealer even told me to!
The first Canadian Tire wire that I bought busted at the connector piece, so I went and switched it the same day
.... and it has worked ever since (4 months). Although I'll still be crossing my fingers as long as ANY Crappy Tire product is on my car!!
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Re: Battery Cable (VWsuperhero)

I went to a car audio store and got some nice big wire to rewire with. Looks pretty cool and has lasted 2 years with no sign of corrosion or wear.
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Re: Battery Cable (ottawanker)

Ottawanker, Autotech.com have overkill alternator wiring harnesses at a reasonable price.
SPORTTUNED HEAVY DUTY ALTERNATOR WIRES
Autotech now carries a heavy duty upgrade to replace or supplement the thin, corrosion-prone stock alternator wire on your VW. These new high current wire harnesses are easy to install and will benefit any VW's charging system. High current loads from Euro headlights, stereo power amps, radiator fans, etc. gradually corrode the stock alternator wire, reducing its ability to flow current to your battery. We have seen failing alternator wires reduce the output of a perfectly good 90 amp alternator to a mere 40 amps!
Autotech SportTuned alternator wires are built to last. Harnesses for cars with post-type alternators are constructed using a 4 gauge, fine-strand (1672 strands) cable with thick, high temperature insulation. Harnesses for cars with blade-type alternators feature OEM connectors and two 8 gauge, fine-stranded cables (1330 strands), also with thick, high temperature insulation.
Both harness styles are terminated with gold plated HD terminals. The exciter wires are VW color coded and use OEM connectors.
All Harnesses come complete with assembled alternator wire, exciter wires (where applicable), high temperature nylon loom, and instructions.

Description Part Number Price
Rabbit, Jetta 1, Scirocco to 1/'84, Cabriolet through 1/'84 10.903.200 $29.95
Golf 2 models, both 8V and 16V, '85-'92 10.903.201 $19.95
Jetta 2 8V and 16V '85-'92, Scirocco 1/'84-'88,
Cabriolet 1/'84-'93 10.903.202 $19.95
Corrado G60 10.903.203 $19.95
Golf 3/Jetta 3, Passat B4 '95-'97 10.903.201 $19.95
Fox 10.903.204
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Re: Battery Cable (satchmo)

well, the upgrade sounds cool. Also, don't count out the junkyards. Some of those cars are in really nice shape. I found a replacement ground cable that looked brand new, and the best part is the guy let me have if free, since I had just bought a set of 14" alloy wheels (which were only $100 for a set of 4) not too long before that. The best thing is prolly to make your own. Not only is good wire cheap, but you can even get nice brass terminals for a few bucks.
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