Wires and My Battery
 

So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
some stupid questions.

But I had some great help from this discussion group a few months ago,
and I occasionally check and just read the advice for other people's
Jeep problems, and I enjoy what I learn. I have an old Jeep ('97) and
I've never been taught about cars, but as my Jeep starts to have
problems, I'm really trying to learn about my car instead of just
taking it to a mechanic.

So here's the latest issue.

I live across the street from the projects. In Chicago. (It's a
bizarre gentrification situation). And my battery was stolen. (As a
side question, if anyone knows of a good way to lock the hood with a
bike lock or padlock or something, I'd love to hear about it.) So I
replaced it, but now I'm having some starter issues. I can jiggle the
positive wire and get it to start, but I'd like to learn how to clean
all my connections and make sure everything's connected properly by
myself. The best way to learn is by doing, right?

So, I think I should replace my ground wire. At the auto parts shop,
I bought a new ground wire. Is the ground the only function of the
wires that come from the negative terminal? (Stupid question #1) If
not, what else will I be looking at replacing?

In addition to that, I'm worried about the connection between by
positive wire and the starter (or starter relay). I know my positive
battery terminal connections are dodgy, because they were cut by the
thieves and I had to strip them and clamp them into a makeshift
terminal. So I'm planning on clearing that up. But I also want to
make sure my connections to the starter and the solenoid are clean and
tight. Can anyone tell me where that connection is? A picture would
be amazing, But if someone can just tell me what I'm looking for, I
can at least look at it and see if it's something I can fix.

I'd love some general direction regarding what to use to clean
connections and make sure they're good. And if it sounds from my
unsophisticated description of these things like I probably shouldn't
be trying to do this myself, I would appreciate brutal honesty in that
regard.

I realize that any response to this post will be like teaching
kindergarten, and I'm very appreciative of it, even though I can't
reciprocate by giving advice of my own in this group.

Having read these posts, it seems that the consensus with my type of
electrical problems is that clean and tight connections are the first
thing to look at (rather than replacing parts like the starter), so I
really want to try to do that on my own. If that doesn't work, I'll
probably take it to my mechanic.

Thank you. Viva google.

-- Egan

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:29:02 -0000, EganReich <j.eganreich@gmail.com>
wrote:

>So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
>some stupid questions.
>
>
Hey Egan. The first thing I would tell a rookie is when you do
anything with your battery, negative first off, last on. That will
help to prevent any accidental short by touching something with your
wrench.

The same goes when you work on anything electrical, disconnect the
ground from your battery.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if a cable is corroded, because the outer
appearance may look good, but the corrosion will be inside under the
insulation or under the cable end. Baking soda and water works good to
clean the cable ends (I always used an old toothbrush), but if you
have some old, hot, stale coffee around, dip the cable end in the
coffee and swish around for a few seconds. It will clean it right up.

To prevent corrosion, after you hook up the terminals, coat them down
with a little axle grease. Corrosion occurs when 2 metals touch
(oxidation), if air (oxygen) can't get to the metal, it can't oxidize.

As far as the parts, any good parts store will be able to tell you
exactly what you need and should be able to show you a diagram.

Good luck!
Darrell

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:29:02 -0000, EganReich <j.eganreich@gmail.com>
wrote:

>So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
>some stupid questions.
>
>
Hey Egan. The first thing I would tell a rookie is when you do
anything with your battery, negative first off, last on. That will
help to prevent any accidental short by touching something with your
wrench.

The same goes when you work on anything electrical, disconnect the
ground from your battery.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if a cable is corroded, because the outer
appearance may look good, but the corrosion will be inside under the
insulation or under the cable end. Baking soda and water works good to
clean the cable ends (I always used an old toothbrush), but if you
have some old, hot, stale coffee around, dip the cable end in the
coffee and swish around for a few seconds. It will clean it right up.

To prevent corrosion, after you hook up the terminals, coat them down
with a little axle grease. Corrosion occurs when 2 metals touch
(oxidation), if air (oxygen) can't get to the metal, it can't oxidize.

As far as the parts, any good parts store will be able to tell you
exactly what you need and should be able to show you a diagram.

Good luck!
Darrell

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:29:02 -0000, EganReich <j.eganreich@gmail.com>
wrote:

>So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
>some stupid questions.
>
>
Hey Egan. The first thing I would tell a rookie is when you do
anything with your battery, negative first off, last on. That will
help to prevent any accidental short by touching something with your
wrench.

The same goes when you work on anything electrical, disconnect the
ground from your battery.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if a cable is corroded, because the outer
appearance may look good, but the corrosion will be inside under the
insulation or under the cable end. Baking soda and water works good to
clean the cable ends (I always used an old toothbrush), but if you
have some old, hot, stale coffee around, dip the cable end in the
coffee and swish around for a few seconds. It will clean it right up.

To prevent corrosion, after you hook up the terminals, coat them down
with a little axle grease. Corrosion occurs when 2 metals touch
(oxidation), if air (oxygen) can't get to the metal, it can't oxidize.

As far as the parts, any good parts store will be able to tell you
exactly what you need and should be able to show you a diagram.

Good luck!
Darrell

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:29:02 -0000, EganReich <j.eganreich@gmail.com>
wrote:

>So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
>some stupid questions.
>
>
Hey Egan. The first thing I would tell a rookie is when you do
anything with your battery, negative first off, last on. That will
help to prevent any accidental short by touching something with your
wrench.

The same goes when you work on anything electrical, disconnect the
ground from your battery.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if a cable is corroded, because the outer
appearance may look good, but the corrosion will be inside under the
insulation or under the cable end. Baking soda and water works good to
clean the cable ends (I always used an old toothbrush), but if you
have some old, hot, stale coffee around, dip the cable end in the
coffee and swish around for a few seconds. It will clean it right up.

To prevent corrosion, after you hook up the terminals, coat them down
with a little axle grease. Corrosion occurs when 2 metals touch
(oxidation), if air (oxygen) can't get to the metal, it can't oxidize.

As far as the parts, any good parts store will be able to tell you
exactly what you need and should be able to show you a diagram.

Good luck!
Darrell

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

EganReich wrote:
> So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
> some stupid questions.

The only stupid question is the one not asked.

> So here's the latest issue.
>
> I live across the street from the projects. In Chicago.

Cabrini Green? I drove past those once, didn't know I went past
them till someone pointed them out to me.

> (It's a
> bizarre gentrification situation). And my battery was stolen. (As a
> side question, if anyone knows of a good way to lock the hood with a
> bike lock or padlock or something, I'd love to hear about it.)

Bolt cutters will remove most of those. You might look for a keyed
hood pins these.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000168416

Or
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000162955
Which is what I used on my old chevy truck. It just sits next to the hood
latch and also disables the ignition.

> So I
> replaced it, but now I'm having some starter issues. I can jiggle the
> positive wire and get it to start, but I'd like to learn how to clean
> all my connections and make sure everything's connected properly by
> myself. The best way to learn is by doing, right?

Basically it's using a wire brush and scrubbing off any rust or corrosion.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000331170
Followed by an application of no-ox (dilectric grease) like that used
for spark plug boots. The local auto parts store will have this.
There are also some felt donuts you can put on the battery posts to
reduce corrosion there. As for tools, the auto parts store (autozone
or pepboys) will have a whole selection.

> So, I think I should replace my ground wire. At the auto parts shop,
> I bought a new ground wire. Is the ground the only function of the
> wires that come from the negative terminal? (Stupid question #1) If
> not, what else will I be looking at replacing?

Yep.. usually battery to frame with a few other connections depending
on model.

When you start cleaning connections it is important that you remove the battery
ground. Especially when working around the starter and solinoid as it is easy
to short out a connection if the wrench hits the engine or frame.

--
DougW

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

EganReich wrote:
> So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
> some stupid questions.

The only stupid question is the one not asked.

> So here's the latest issue.
>
> I live across the street from the projects. In Chicago.

Cabrini Green? I drove past those once, didn't know I went past
them till someone pointed them out to me.

> (It's a
> bizarre gentrification situation). And my battery was stolen. (As a
> side question, if anyone knows of a good way to lock the hood with a
> bike lock or padlock or something, I'd love to hear about it.)

Bolt cutters will remove most of those. You might look for a keyed
hood pins these.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000168416

Or
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000162955
Which is what I used on my old chevy truck. It just sits next to the hood
latch and also disables the ignition.

> So I
> replaced it, but now I'm having some starter issues. I can jiggle the
> positive wire and get it to start, but I'd like to learn how to clean
> all my connections and make sure everything's connected properly by
> myself. The best way to learn is by doing, right?

Basically it's using a wire brush and scrubbing off any rust or corrosion.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000331170
Followed by an application of no-ox (dilectric grease) like that used
for spark plug boots. The local auto parts store will have this.
There are also some felt donuts you can put on the battery posts to
reduce corrosion there. As for tools, the auto parts store (autozone
or pepboys) will have a whole selection.

> So, I think I should replace my ground wire. At the auto parts shop,
> I bought a new ground wire. Is the ground the only function of the
> wires that come from the negative terminal? (Stupid question #1) If
> not, what else will I be looking at replacing?

Yep.. usually battery to frame with a few other connections depending
on model.

When you start cleaning connections it is important that you remove the battery
ground. Especially when working around the starter and solinoid as it is easy
to short out a connection if the wrench hits the engine or frame.

--
DougW

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

EganReich wrote:
> So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
> some stupid questions.

The only stupid question is the one not asked.

> So here's the latest issue.
>
> I live across the street from the projects. In Chicago.

Cabrini Green? I drove past those once, didn't know I went past
them till someone pointed them out to me.

> (It's a
> bizarre gentrification situation). And my battery was stolen. (As a
> side question, if anyone knows of a good way to lock the hood with a
> bike lock or padlock or something, I'd love to hear about it.)

Bolt cutters will remove most of those. You might look for a keyed
hood pins these.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000168416

Or
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000162955
Which is what I used on my old chevy truck. It just sits next to the hood
latch and also disables the ignition.

> So I
> replaced it, but now I'm having some starter issues. I can jiggle the
> positive wire and get it to start, but I'd like to learn how to clean
> all my connections and make sure everything's connected properly by
> myself. The best way to learn is by doing, right?

Basically it's using a wire brush and scrubbing off any rust or corrosion.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000331170
Followed by an application of no-ox (dilectric grease) like that used
for spark plug boots. The local auto parts store will have this.
There are also some felt donuts you can put on the battery posts to
reduce corrosion there. As for tools, the auto parts store (autozone
or pepboys) will have a whole selection.

> So, I think I should replace my ground wire. At the auto parts shop,
> I bought a new ground wire. Is the ground the only function of the
> wires that come from the negative terminal? (Stupid question #1) If
> not, what else will I be looking at replacing?

Yep.. usually battery to frame with a few other connections depending
on model.

When you start cleaning connections it is important that you remove the battery
ground. Especially when working around the starter and solinoid as it is easy
to short out a connection if the wrench hits the engine or frame.

--
DougW

Re: Wires and My Battery
 

EganReich wrote:
> So you're all hearing from an amateur right now. I'm going to ask
> some stupid questions.

The only stupid question is the one not asked.

> So here's the latest issue.
>
> I live across the street from the projects. In Chicago.

Cabrini Green? I drove past those once, didn't know I went past
them till someone pointed them out to me.

> (It's a
> bizarre gentrification situation). And my battery was stolen. (As a
> side question, if anyone knows of a good way to lock the hood with a
> bike lock or padlock or something, I'd love to hear about it.)

Bolt cutters will remove most of those. You might look for a keyed
hood pins these.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000168416

Or
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000162955
Which is what I used on my old chevy truck. It just sits next to the hood
latch and also disables the ignition.

> So I
> replaced it, but now I'm having some starter issues. I can jiggle the
> positive wire and get it to start, but I'd like to learn how to clean
> all my connections and make sure everything's connected properly by
> myself. The best way to learn is by doing, right?

Basically it's using a wire brush and scrubbing off any rust or corrosion.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...p-100000331170
Followed by an application of no-ox (dilectric grease) like that used
for spark plug boots. The local auto parts store will have this.
There are also some felt donuts you can put on the battery posts to
reduce corrosion there. As for tools, the auto parts store (autozone
or pepboys) will have a whole selection.

> So, I think I should replace my ground wire. At the auto parts shop,
> I bought a new ground wire. Is the ground the only function of the
> wires that come from the negative terminal? (Stupid question #1) If
> not, what else will I be looking at replacing?

Yep.. usually battery to frame with a few other connections depending
on model.

When you start cleaning connections it is important that you remove the battery
ground. Especially when working around the starter and solinoid as it is easy
to short out a connection if the wrench hits the engine or frame.

--
DougW