Positive battery terminal contacted body, Jeep wont start

[chili_pepper]

so a few years ago i looked into the "Big 5" or "Big 7" upgrade i think its called? Pretty much replacing all the major battery wires with a bigger gauge. Worth looking into?

If yours are looking a bit ratty, I would, for the money. Juice is only as good as the cables that carry it. I reworked my electrics when I purchased my LJ last year, went with this kit but others are available.

https://www.ksuspensionfab.com/store/p105/TJ_Ultimate_Power__/-_Cable_Upgrade.html#/

 

[sab]

this is what my PDC looks like in my TJ

{EDITED}
You mean your 1997 TJ uses MAXI fuses? If that's the case, then the copy-paste error occurred during the TJ run there's no error in the manual page I posted earlier mentioning MAXI fuses in the PDC. Also, I just looked through the parts manuals, and the PDC from 1997 to 1999 was the same, and it changed in 2000. The 2000 PDC is shown in the parts manual with JCASE fuses, so if the 1997 PDC had MAXI fuses, the change to JCASE fuses was made between1999 to 2000.

 

[lBasket]

{EDITED}
You mean your 1997 TJ uses MAXI fuses? If that's the case, then the copy-paste error occurred during the TJ run there's no error in the manual page I posted earlier mentioning MAXI fuses in the PDC. Also, I just looked through the parts manuals, and the PDC from 1997 to 1999 was the same, and it changed in 2000. The 2000 PDC is shown in the parts manual with JCASE fuses, so if the 1997 PDC had MAXI fuses, the change to JCASE fuses was made between1999 to 2000.

Yep here she is in all her glory:

 

[Marklar1983]

Yep here she is in all her glory:
View attachment 527501

Can confirm, my ‘97 had Maxi fuses

 

[Stoney938]

Good news, I fixed the problem! I ended up buying the big seven upgrade from jeepcables.com and I noticed that when I took off the starter wire it was fried on the end connected to the starter. I figured that was the culprit as soon as I saw it and once I was done replacing all the wires I hooked up the battery and it started right up. I appreciate everyone's help and I hope this can help someone else.

P.S. i secured the battery down so i wont have a repeat of this crap.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

so a few years ago i looked into the "Big 5" or "Big 7" upgrade i think its called? Pretty much replacing all the major battery wires with a bigger gauge. Worth looking into?

This is on my list. Does anyone know how many feet of cable is required for a DIY kit?

 

[jjvw]

This is on my list. Does anyone know how many feet of cable is required for a DIY kit?

I used two 10ft rolls of red/black 2awg on mine to replace all the main power and grounds. Anything bigger in wire gauge serves no purpose. And I already can't justify going up only one wire size over factory.

I also used an 8awg fusible link.

 

[lBasket]

I used two 10ft rolls of red/black 2awg on mine to replace all the main power and grounds. Anything bigger in wire gauge serves no purpose. And I already can't justify going up only one wire size over factory.

I also used an 8awg fusible link.

Is there a reason to use a fusible link over, say, a breaker?

 

[jjvw]

Is there a reason to use a fusible link over, say, a breaker?

My intention was to copy factory at one wire size larger. That is why I kept a fusible link.

 

[macleanflood]

Fusible links don't wiggle loose on trails like the lugs on a breaker or fuse and leave you thinking you lost your alternator when in fact...

Of course the flip side is you just reconnect both lugs to the same side of the cooked fuse holder and keep driving whereas a burned up fuseable link would need to be field spliced.

Point being whatever you decide add something to your spares kit to save your ass when shit goes sideways.

-Mac

 

[jjvw]

Fusible links don't wiggle loose on trails like the lugs on a breaker or fuse and leave you thinking you lost your alternator when in fact...

View attachment 595992

Of course the flip side is you just reconnect both lugs to the same side of the cooked fuse holder and keep driving whereas a burned up fuseable link would need to be field spliced.

Point being whatever you decide add something to your spares kit to save your ass when shit goes sideways.

-Mac

Every one of my electrical terminations is a screw or bolted connection. Tighten stuff and they won't come loose. This is no different than track bars and control arms.

 

[macleanflood]

Every one of my electrical terminations is a screw or bolted connection. Tighten stuff and they won't come loose. This is no different than track bars and control arms.

Agreed. My big 7 kit came with a fuse and holder. The bolt was held in by plastic. I tightened it as much as I dared. Apparently that was an insufficient amount.

That's somewhat my big disappointment of the big 7 kit...the fuse holder could have included a bracket or some instructions or anything that might have differentiated it from me ordering the same stuff off Amazon for less than half the price.

-Mac

 

[DeltaNu1142]

….the same stuff off Amazon for less than half the price.

I’m not finding a massive difference in price between going the DIY route and buying the kit so far, at least sourcing through Amazon. Good OFC welding cable isn’t cheap.

I was thinking I could get better battery terminals and a fuse holder by buying all the parts and crimping my own lugs, but the kit is looking like a decent deal if you factor in the labor.

Have a look at this table… if you go up to a 160A alternator, it’s pertinent to go up in gauge.

 

[jjvw]

I’m not finding a massive difference in price between going the DIY route and buying the kit so far, at least sourcing through Amazon. Good OFC welding cable isn’t cheap.

I was thinking I could get better battery terminals and a fuse holder by buying all the parts and crimping my own lugs, but the kit is looking like a decent deal if you factor in the labor.

Have a look at this table… if you go up to a 160A alternator, it’s pertinent to go up in gauge.

The premade kits use an absurdly large wire gauge.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

The premade kits use an absurdly large wire gauge.

Some of them, yeah. I haven't dug very deep, but this kit, for instance, allows you to choose anything from 4 AWG to 2/0 AWG. And if I grab a larger alternator, I'm going with larger cabling. Gauge-for-gauge, you can save some money DIY-ing, but not by much if you consider your labor cost.

 

[jjvw]

Some of them, yeah. I haven't dug very deep, but this kit, for instance, allows you to choose anything from 4 AWG to 2/0 AWG. And if I grab a larger alternator, I'm going with larger cabling. Gauge-for-gauge, you can save some money DIY-ing, but not by much if you consider your labor cost.

2/0 is absurdly large for any alternator one might put in a TJ

 

[DeltaNu1142]

2/0 is absurdly large

It is, yep. But now we've come full-circle on the cable sizing, ampacity, duty cycles... Technically, if you're running a 160A alternator, you should at least be running 1/0 battery cables.

...but I'll bet the majority aren't. And they're just fine. The alternator isn't cranking out 160A 100% of the time. Maybe, never. I don't know. I'm interested to see if anyone's charted the output of their alternator through normal driving, running compressors and winches, lights on, etc. But I doubt that's been done.

It comes down to what safety margin you're comfortable with. And without a whole bunch of data, the real size of that margin is anyone's wild guess.

EDIT: Sorry, I'm thinking about this other thread that I posted about winch cable ampacity, etc.

 

[jjvw]

It is, yep. But now we've come full-circle on the cable sizing, ampacity, duty cycles... Technically, if you're running a 160A alternator, you should at least be running 1/0 battery cables.

...but I'll bet the majority aren't. And they're just fine. The alternator isn't cranking out 160A 100% of the time. Maybe, never. I don't know. I'm interested to see if anyone's charted the output of their alternator through normal driving, running compressors and winches, lights on, etc. But I doubt that's been done.

It comes down to what safety margin you're comfortable with. And without a whole bunch of data, the real size of that margin is anyone's wild guess.

For fun, look up the wire gauge Dodge used on the Durango with the factory 160a alternator.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

For fun, look up the wire gauge Dodge used on the Durango with the factory 160a alternator.

Yeah, good point. Do you think that's readily available? Even with the p/n, I doubt you could find it without putting calipers on it.

I bet anything it's way less that 2 AWG. And if Durangos were catching fire all over the place, we'd have heard about it.

 

[jjvw]

Yeah, good point. Do you think that's readily available? Even with the p/n, I doubt you could find it without putting calipers on it.

I bet anything it's way less that 2 AWG. And if Durangos were catching fire all over the place, we'd have heard about it.

I went through most of this a year ago. Memory says the Durango was the same wire gauge as the TJ.