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View Full Version : Upgrading cherokee battery cables



cpttuna
01-23-2010, 06:52 PM
after reading articles on several different jeep forums, i decided to upgrade my battery cables.(eric's xj and kelly's works in progress are two good sites loaded with info and pics. 5-90 is a great source of info on NAXJA. Ijust wanted to make a couple of comments after doing the upgrade on 3 of the cherokees in my family. 1. it does not hurt to make the cable length slightly longer than stock. this way you can route the cable any way you want. 2. if you have extra add ons(like winch , extra lights, or big stero) I suggest heavier cable. I just used 4AG. You can save time by cutting the old cable from B+ to starter at both ends and leaving the remainder in the loom.(same with B- going to engine. Ijust taped off the ends. I had a real mess on the first one taking the loom all apart. ON the B+ to starter, I did put the cable in a new loom by itself.3. for the ground strap(rear of engine to fireweall) i left the old one in place. I just put a new ground over top of it .For this one I used a 12" piece of 4AG that I cut the lug off one end replaced it with one that would fit over the 1/2" bolt at the rear of the valve cover. I have not done alt to PDC yet because Ihave not decided what fuse size and how I want to run my wires. the basic 5 wire replacement(B+ to starterB+ to PDC B- to groundB- to engine,and engine to firewall along with new marine terminals was about $35.00 AT OReillys.

rguignard
01-23-2010, 08:16 PM
i have lots of 4ga wire at my work so ive upgraded all my battery cables as well. i can make 6 ga, 4ga, and 2ga battery cables i know some people that went with 2ga and from my experience (im ase certified in auto electrics) you dont need to run 2ga on anything but maybe a winch. :thumbsup:btw i went with 4ga wire

Melissa
01-23-2010, 11:07 PM
Thanks cpttuna, I don't want to upgrade my battery cables, but I have no choice, they are in desperate need of being replaced, so why not upgrade :thumbsup:

BlueXJ
01-25-2010, 06:33 PM
Kits are available through Jon Kelley at this website. He is a great Jeeper with limitless XJ knowledge.
http://www.kelleyswip.com/

lil_red_wagon
01-25-2010, 08:17 PM
i upgraded mine as well. i replaced the batt pos to starter, batt to alt, batt pos to distribution block, neg to body, neg to block all with 1g welding lead. everything runs so much better the lights work better all acc seem to be workin better

YellowSub2000
01-25-2010, 08:34 PM
A thought to go along with upgrading the battery cables, especially with dual batteries given the limited room under the XJ hood. Move the batteries to the back of the vehicle. I did this today, and everything is running fine, if not better. Of course I am also using 4ga cable.

TheWeiss
01-28-2010, 01:42 PM
Do anyone have pictures? I'd liek to get an idea of what I'm getting into with this project but it seems like a why-not kind of upgrade. It can't do anything but good right?

cpttuna
01-28-2010, 03:11 PM
as I mentioned above,5-90 on NAXJA has photos and even sells cables individually or in sets. ERIC'S xj is another good site. 5-90 can also be found by going to Kelly's works in progress.

Mudderoy
01-28-2010, 03:20 PM
as I mentioned above,5-90 on NAXJA has photos and even sells cables individually or in sets. ERIC'S xj is another good site. 5-90 can also be found by going to Kelly's works in progress.

If you guys order anything from 5-90 please let him know you are from xjtalk. We might be able to get him to come over here with his goodies.

praetorian
08-21-2011, 02:07 AM
Ok, bringing up old post, I know, and I'm probably going to use the wrong terminology. I have a 98 with the 4.0 and I'd like to also upgrade the cable going to the starter. The thing is where it attaches to the starter there is a plastic box that also has a green wire going into it. How can I upgrade the starter wire with out destroying the box. Also where does the green wire go, can I just hook it up directly?

bluedragon436
08-21-2011, 07:10 AM
Ok, bringing up old post, I know, and I'm probably going to use the wrong terminology. I have a 98 with the 4.0 and I'd like to also upgrade the cable going to the starter. The thing is where it attaches to the starter there is a plastic box that also has a green wire going into it. How can I upgrade the starter wire with out destroying the box. Also where does the green wire go, can I just hook it up directly?

I'm guessing you are talking about a black box such as this:
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/attachments/f11/225083d1304407544-replacing-1997-jeep-cherokee-xj-battery-cables-photo.jpg

If so you might check out this thread (http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/replacing-1997-jeep-cherokee-xj-battery-cables-1208920/), as it explains a way around worrying about that green wire.. well not so much not worrying about it, but switching it over to your new wire setup..

4.3LXJ
08-21-2011, 09:33 AM
The green wire goes from the starter relay located just behind the battery to the starter solenoid. It is the one that makes the starter engage. If you hook it up directly the starter will run and never stop till the battery is dead

praetorian
08-22-2011, 06:38 PM
Cool, thanks for the info guys. Looks like if I cut the black box in half and use the green side I'll be fine.

bluedragon436
08-23-2011, 12:12 AM
Yeah it looks like you can either cut the black box apart so that you can still get that wire lug back onto the starter.. or you can replace the wire with a whole new one and put a new lug onto the end.. whichever you prefer..

praetorian
08-24-2011, 01:20 PM
Thanks for all the updates guy, I'll hopefully be diving into this soon.