ok... so now what. battery to trunk question

[Guest Anonymous]

i got a battery cable from an e30. now im just looking at it not know what to connect it to. i have the cable on the battery that goes to the starter and the 12v for everything electric. what do i connect to that cable that i just bought, and what goes to the "earth" (ground).?

[zane]

See the faq http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/42/32/

If you don't have the battery distribution block I've seen people run the cable right to the starter and have everything connect there for +.

[geust]

so i connected the ground to the battery - and i connected the 12v to the + then smoke started coming out of some relay when i turned the key. the white mark on the wire in the relay picture is what started smoking. and when i turn the key the engine turns over very very slowly

[Contraband]

See the faq http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/42/32/

If you don't have the battery distribution block I've seen people run the cable right to the starter and have everything connect there for +.

Sorry, this is offtopic, but I never thought I'd see somebody else from Mill Valley on these boards!

[Paul7002]

seriously heavy wire. I recommend getting Welding cable

[zane]

NorCal baby!

[geust]

seriusly heavy wire costs like 60 bucks. i got mine for 3 dollers at a junkyard

[Zenon]

so i connected the ground to the battery - and i connected the 12v to the + then smoke started coming out of some relay when i turned the key. the white mark on the wire in the relay picture is what started smoking. and when i turn the key the engine turns over very very slowly

"The Frying Dutch-man" strikes again.

[geust]

so what, i have a problem. are you gonna help me or just me an ass

[Zenon]

so what, i have a problem. are you gonna help me or just me an ass

You said it, man!

And I'm gonna tell you something else right now. I don't take any shit from you kids. This place is for working stiffs gotta keep their cars running so they can keep bread on the table, it's not for rich-assed, snot-nose kids who wanna go dragging around on the Orange Belt. I don't allow no smoking in here, neither! You wanna' butt, you go out in the junkyard!

[geust]

thats where i got my battery cable(the junkyard). and im not rich at all im just sick of assholes.

[Zenon]

and im not rich at all im just sick of assholes.

I guess that makes two of us.

[z]

That old ground (neg.) cable connection looks suspect - might be better to run all the way to the block. Where does the bar connect? You are getting way too much voltage drop. You need better connections. About the short - I don't know, the wiring is fairly straight forward - for the starting and, charging system. See if you can put everything back to the way it was - replace the fried wires/stuff and then, start over after everything is working.

C&H Surplus in Pasadena, CA has some great quality soft aircraft cable in various lengths 15mm dia. - with connectors already attached.

The insulation is white. Bet you could start car a mile away with it.

20yr old Junk yard cable might be suspect as well... test it with a volt meter and compare with the volts across the battery terminals. Any drop is unacceptable - try kinking the cable while watching the meter. Any oxidation caused by cracked insulation may show up.

Good luck,

John McA

[BarryA]

1. Hopefully, when you got your E30 cable, you also got the junction block that bolts to the firewall in the upper corner of the passenger side of the engine compartment (above the flat spot that's the battery box location on 4 cylinder cars). The block is designed to hold the engine compartment end of the cable in place, and also protects the cable junction- it should have a black plastic cover attached with a "+" mark in the middle. You'll need to find a spot in the engine compartment to mount the junction block, then attach the cables to it (if you got your cable from a regular yard and DIDN'T get the j-block, go back to the yard and tell them that you need the block - it's an important part of the cable system).

2. The clamp on the junction block end of the cable that runs down to the starter should have a terminal extension on it where a smaller diameter cable attaches with a 4 mm bolt - the cable that connects here should be a solid red wire about 4mm in diameter, and is the hot feed that carries power to the fuse box (and the rest of the main harness that recieves direct battery power - your '02 should have a similar sized solid red wire attached at the existing positive battery cable). Depending on where you mount the junction block, you're likely to need to splice some additional wire onto the '02 cable to make it long enough to reach to the junction block. It's critical that you use the same size (4 mm) wire for the extension, and highly recommended that the joint be soldered and covered with two layers of heat shrink tubing. Remember, this wire is carrying full battery voltage - a short to ground from this wire can have disastrous consequences.

3. As somebody else commented, you really should run the battery ground lead in the trunk directly to a chassis ground point, preferably as far away from the gas tank vent lines as practical - you want as few connections as possible between the battery and ground to minimize resistance and voltage drop in the circuit.

4. One other little bit of info that may help as you tidy up and locate your cabling in its permanent location - E30's have a rubber insulated "P" shaped clamp just below the hood line on the passenger side of the engine compartment that holds an a/c line in place - it's the perfect size to use as a cable hold down. I scrouged a dozen or so at Pick & Pull for the cable install on my E21.

Hope all this is of some help..................

[geust]

i got the car running good. but, i have no low beam i can only get high beam