Solenoid to Starter Cable Routing

[milhouse]

Last night, day two of trying to get the Rover started for the first time in years (day one was pretty short when we found out the battery I thought was good was actually dead) involved trying to get the starter to turn over fast enough with the new battery. After hearing all the stories about bad grounds and poor wiring, I went around and replaced the grounding strap to the starter, and used a replacement cable (temporarily) from the battery to the solenoid, and another replacement cable (temporarily... they were random spare battery cables I had around) from the solenoid to the starter. The starter turned over better, but I think some of the connections are dirty. Either way, I was shocked to see that the cable that was the Rover for the solenoid/starter connection was close to 6' long and ran all the way around the front of the block and back to the starter. Is this the stock location and length of the wire? If not, where should it run? The solenoid on our Rover is mounted to one of the supports for the air cleaner, in case that is not the stock location as well.

[mongoswede]

Not sure of the correct routing....but I recommend 2 gage welding cable for the cables...you will see a big improvement.

[antichrist]

That's the stock location and wiring for a 2.25L.

[milhouse]

Great, thanks for the information! I remember seeing somewhere about replacing the cables with larger wires, but I couldn't find the information. You wouldn't happen to know the approximate length of the cables, or the size cable ends that I will need? I didn't bring the wires with me to work today, but I can swing by the weld shop on my way home.

[SafeAirOne]

You wouldn't happen to know the approximate length of the cables, or the size cable ends that I will need? I didn't bring the wires with me to work today, but I can swing by the weld shop on my way home.

At the prices they charge for weling cable, you'll definitely want to measure before you head over to the welding shop.

[milhouse]

At the prices they charge for weling cable, you'll definitely want to measure before you head over to the welding shop.

Yeah, I was just noticing that... I also found out that the West Marine close to me has 2 Gauge wire in stock, as well as the correct size terminals and terminal covers. I'll just grab the old wires from the Rover tonight and head over there to get the exact lengths I need.