Quote:
Originally Posted by gottarollwithit
Make a new zero gauge ground strap and make one to ground the alternator body
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Ya, I have been meaning to ad some sort of ground cable to the alternator frame but have never done that.
While using a thicker gauge of cable won't hurt it won't be an improvement over the stock cable size.
When I rebuilt my Starter I was considering replacing the Positive cable and found that it was the original and had Mercedes Part number on a sleeve that was on it. I was also surmised at the diameter of the copper cable.
Note there is a pic in my thread of assorted cable diameters and some text comparing the Mercedes cable size.
What you will see is the actual size of the Mercedes stock cable is slightly less then 2 gauge. The actual wire core on the stock Mercedes Positive Cable is 1/4th of an inch.
From the first post in my thread the thread: "For some reason a Battery Cable Gauge is measured with the insulation on; see attached picture. Mine measured .410 outside diameter which is slightly smaller then 2 gauge."
In post number 3 you can see how thin the stock cable looks without the insulation on it.
What Gauge is a Stock 84 300D Battery Cable
So a Mercedes coming from the factory with a nice tight new engine came with cables that have a copper core of 1/4th inch that handled the amperage it took to crank a tight new engine.
On down the road it takes less amperage to rotate a worn Engine.
When I checked the Cranking Amperage on my own Engine; even with the glow plugs being on during cranking it was the same as the amperage it takes to crank a large V-8 gasoline engine.