Battery ground unstable
#1
Battery ground unstable
I'm having a weird grounding issue. My CAS signal becomes unreadable very easily (could be a RusEFI thing, I know aftermarket ECUs are less tolerant of bad CAS signals).
After adding ground cables between the TB and the chassis, from the harness to the chassis, I came across a solution: mess with the battery ground cable.
I've got an autozone battery terminal, which clamps the cable, and then clamps around the battery.
If I remove the battery side clamp, redo everything, then the car starts up fine - but eventually the car will backfire once or twice, and then it all comes to a backfiring halt.
I'm tired of using the autozone clamps, the Miata's ground cable seems to be on the small side for the clamp anyways. Anyone find anything better?
I also have not yet tried just wire brushing the clamping area yet. I sprayed some old battery terminal protectant on the terminals a while ago, that could be messing with things as well.
After adding ground cables between the TB and the chassis, from the harness to the chassis, I came across a solution: mess with the battery ground cable.
I've got an autozone battery terminal, which clamps the cable, and then clamps around the battery.
If I remove the battery side clamp, redo everything, then the car starts up fine - but eventually the car will backfire once or twice, and then it all comes to a backfiring halt.
I'm tired of using the autozone clamps, the Miata's ground cable seems to be on the small side for the clamp anyways. Anyone find anything better?
I also have not yet tried just wire brushing the clamping area yet. I sprayed some old battery terminal protectant on the terminals a while ago, that could be messing with things as well.
#2
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Buy one of those terminal brushes. Wire brush the battery and the terminal until you see clean, unoxidized metal. Coat liberally with Vaseline. Assemble, and tighten down to very snug, but not so tight you are distorting the clamp. Smear Vaseline over the whole clamp to prevent any further oxidation.
This assumes cable and clamp are in good shape to begin with. If not, discard and replace. Don't fiddle fart around with half assed generic solutions. Get OEM.
This assumes cable and clamp are in good shape to begin with. If not, discard and replace. Don't fiddle fart around with half assed generic solutions. Get OEM.
#3
Buy one of those terminal brushes. Wire brush the battery and the terminal until you see clean, unoxidized metal. Coat liberally with Vaseline. Assemble, and tighten down to very snug, but not so tight you are distorting the clamp. Smear Vaseline over the whole clamp to prevent any further oxidation.
This assumes cable and clamp are in good shape to begin with. If not, discard and replace. Don't fiddle fart around with half assed generic solutions. Get OEM.
This assumes cable and clamp are in good shape to begin with. If not, discard and replace. Don't fiddle fart around with half assed generic solutions. Get OEM.
Cleaning the terminal and everything else was my next step. I was more looking for recommendations for aftermarket battery terminals that were more solid than the autozone type.