Club 80-90 Forums

"11 amps after the solenoid engages, 22 amps before it engages" - thats the nub of the thing regardless of what it does. In terms of draw, it isn't much and like I say, the cable designated for that is more than enough. I still maintain that cables and connections in good condition will do the job just fine - providing they are in good condition.

However, after 30 years I would not expect them to be as good as they were when new and mine certainly were not even if they 'appeared' to be. They were brittle and corroded inside. Even if you do fit a relay, you'll still need good sound cables coming from the battery and although a relay might reduce load on the ignition switch, the underlying problem is still there. If they aren't good it builds up resistance and its that, more than anything that can put an ignition switch through its paces. It also creates a reduced path to the starter when starting.

The relay is a bit like having a leaky garden hose and rather than fixing the leak, just moving it further away so you can't see it. Its a fairly good idea in principle but on its own, a bit pointless if the supply cables are poor.

If I was going through a lot of ignition switches, I'd definately be looking at the state of the supply (both) before I did anything else.

ref the main cable, any reason i cant use some earth cable from a 300 amp mig im breaking??
mm

Oh man.....I teach up to level 3 IMI (Institute of motoring industries) qualification in a large college. Do I know everything, of course not, I'm learning new things all the time. I only re-quoted your OWN article back at you, the article you chose in defence of your own argument.

And as for that quote by MidLifeCrisis.....do a Google on T25's and you will probably get one of your own quotes popping up..does that make the information 100% correct? no of course it doesn't. The FORD article is going to be more accurate than most though and it does seem to be very clear on this particular point.

If I'm honest with you, when I first posted I was happy to be proven wrong but as of yet, there hasn't been any conclusive evidence (trusted/authenticated) which would change my thinking on this....but as I say....

Martin

metalmick8y wrote:ref the main cable, any reason i cant use some earth cable from a 300 amp mig im breaking??
mm

I would say that's ideal......the multi-strand nature of this type of wire making it particularly suitable as it's nice and flexible.

Martin

Yes indeed. Perfect stuff even if a bit overkill on the amps.

I found the beat way to solder the ring connectors on (and mine were sealed at the top with a small hole presumably to run the solder in) was to cut back the cable slightly less than you might think, as the sheath melts slightly with heat.

Then rub some flux over the exposed copper cable, slide the ring connector on, warm up with a small blowtorch that jewellers use these days, and run the solder in. Its important not to do this vertically though or you run the risk of running too much solder in which can work its way too far down the cable and make it inflexible - 45 degree angle worked for me.

Once cool, just use some shrink tubing to keep out air and water. The difference to starting afterwards was astonishing. Before it was a bit sluggish at times. I'm getting half a volt or so more from the alternator too now as the cable for that was in a hell of a state. They can deteriorate quite badly.

You could crimp, if you have access to heavyweight crimps but I prefer a soldered one and its all sealed then. Try to find capped rather than open end ring connectors as theres less chance of salt and muck eating away at the copper although you could always seal any exposed copper with the solder really.

I'd planned to replace the solenoid cable too but it was in excellent condition so didn't bother. May do it anyway at a later date. Its not subject to anywhere near the corrosion associated with the main cable as it doesn't carry as much.

Theres nothing I hate more than a slow or unreliable starter circuit. Drives you nuts and its bound to be when its peeing it down in the pitch black. A flat battery can be charged but some 'problem' underneath is a right pain.

I should point out though, this heavy copper cable isn't cheap these days.

CovKid wrote:Once cool, just use some shrink tubing to keep out air and water

And don't forget to put your bits of heat shrink onto the cable before soldering the ends on (put that into your wiki article !)

How many times have I made the mistake of not putting the cover on a jack or phono plug before soldering the plug onto the wire

I once spent over an hour soldering a 12 wire plug (in three "rings" of "dressed" connectors ) on an old fashioned video camera, then to realise I had left the locking collar off

I would suggest using adhesive lined shrink tubing if possible - that really is waterproof compared to the standard stuff.

Hey - where'd my post go????
Was I 'moderated'??

Did you swear?

I'll try this post again ... looks like the first time it fell off the forum ?!?!

California Dreamin wrote:And as for that quote by MidLifeCrisis.....do a Google on T25's and you will probably get one of your own quotes popping up..does that make the information 100% correct? no of course it doesn't. The F0RD article is going to be more accurate than most though and it does seem to be very clear on this particular point.

I got the quote from an online doc of this ....


Here's a link to it ...
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JBpg ... or&f=false

There have been a couple of forum glitches this morning.

ghost123uk wrote:There have been a couple of forum glitches this morning.

Yeah - I thought I saw that it had 'fallen down' just after I posted.

Yep, my avatar's head fell off first thing. Had fallen on to my taskbar and I had to glue it back on to the page. Mind, you, its giving me severe neckache now anyway.

Hopefully this will help someone: https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/VW ... ain_cables" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;