Odd battery cable issue

[kencombs]

18YO great granddaughter came to live with us a few months back. Taught her to drive, got her license, then she wanted her own car. Her money, her choice and it was a '14 Cruze. Nice little car, she likes it and I couldn't talk her out of it and into a Toyota or Honda.

Then it began to die at random times. Sometimes it wouldn't restart right away. Others it would restart almost immediately. I never go to see it during an episode, so can only go by what she said. There were no lights on the dash at all, and no start of course. Then after a few minutes it was ok.

After doing a lot of research I found numerous cases of the ground cable causing this. But, in all cases, including hers, there was nothing visibly wrong with the cable. Since it only cost 20 something online and I couldn't find anything else, I ordered and installed one.

No further issues for several weeks now. I cut the insulation away from the battery terminal end and the crimped eye on the other. No outward indication of a problem. But the symptoms are gone.

Has anyone experienced similar things?

 

[DoubleO7]

Only with GM side terminal battery.
And when the cable was really old and you could feel the copper inside was crunchy when you bent the cable back and forth.

 

[used red MN]

18YO great granddaughter came to live with us a few months back. Taught her to drive, got her license, then she wanted her own car. Her money, her choice and it was a '14 Cruze. Nice little car, she likes it and I couldn't talk her out of it and into a Toyota or Honda.

Then it began to die at random times. Sometimes it wouldn't restart right away. Others it would restart almost immediately. I never go to see it during an episode, so can only go by what she said. There were no lights on the dash at all, and no start of course. Then after a few minutes it was ok.

After doing a lot of research I found numerous cases of the ground cable causing this. But, in all cases, including hers, there was nothing visibly wrong with the cable. Since it only cost 20 something online and I couldn't find anything else, I ordered and installed one.

No further issues for several weeks now. I cut the insulation away from the battery terminal end and the crimped eye on the other. No outward indication of a problem. But the symptoms are gone.

Has anyone experienced similar things?

Loading the cable with something like an auto headlight bulb, wiggling and twisting the cable around under load while monitoring the voltage going through it would tell you if the cable has a legitimate problem.
Edit: Adding.. If you didn’t remove and clean the connections on both ends of the cable before replacing it I would say a bad connection was the actual cause.

 

[Factotum]

Daughters car is a '12 Chevy Cruze. No electrical issues, besides a dead battery, but it's the most leaky car I've ever known. I think it puts old Harleys and English vehicles to shame. If it isn't leaking something it must be empty. I have repaired leaks on coolant and oil several times and at several different places. It will leak somewhere else within days of a repair. Otherwise it's been reliable, I guess, but if it wasn't for me, it would have died a long time ago.

 

[Mule Meat]

Can't say on a Cruze. I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I bought in 2009 to use as a work vehicle. When I first got it. The engine would just up and die at random. Sit a while, fire up and run good til the next time. Replace the battery cables, cleaned up the ground connections and even ran an extra ground from the battery to the engine and body. Still the same problem. Changed the crank and cam position sensors and it has not shut off since. That was when I learned that a sensor can be bad without completely stop working.

 

[kencombs]

Loading the cable with something like an auto headlight bulb, wiggling and twisting the cable around under load while monitoring the voltage going through it would tell you if the cable has a legitimate problem.
Edit: Adding.. If you didn’t remove and clean the connections on both ends of the cable before replacing it I would say a bad connection was the actual cause.

Connection cleaning was the first thing I tried. Didn't want to spend a lot of time with testing the cable once the symptoms were cured. But I suspect a problem with the crimped eye fitting as it was steel plated with something. Maybe an internal oxidation issue.

And there are a LOT of reports on the 'net about that specific cable. One thing I found was that it passes through a current detector loop. I couldn't find much info on the reason/use for that.

 

[RESLLS]

Saw it once. Undetectable to look at. Ford Taurus. Cut of the battery end of the cable. The insulation was never stripped of the cable before the lead was poured. So only the end made contact until 2 years later when it had corroded enough to not make contact. Same symptoms, start, shut off, start and sometimes no start. It was the + cable though.

 

[SkipperII]

On very rare occasions, on Chevrolets, I have found a similar problem. Ended up cutting the battery cable/terminal end open, and found black corrosion inside the crimp connection.

 

[JOCCO]

I think the others have covered it. I have seen a lot of it connection, terminal, wire getting bad, other corrosion.First thing I thought was bad ground. Last I have even seen the whole part where the ground connects too was not connected well due to rust or corrosion. So move cable or put a second one on. There is ways to test a cable Like one guy said but not worth the effort for you. Sometimes you will see smoke and feel heat onthe cable.

 

[moresmoke]

I had a ground cable on a tractor go bad. Started just fine, shut it off and a half hour later, nothing. Cut the ring terminal off the end, crimped on a new one, and it is still working 6-7 years later.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Yes both my wife’s 18 Cruze has had this problem and my Silverados both have had cabling issues in fact the older one now uses the top terminal on the ground side of a dual post battery to a short standard battery and then a master switch. Both on snowy days I had to go to town with the plow pickup to rescue both of the vehicles my wife was driving at the time. Both times that side terminal was the culprit. I didn’t trust the battery after that and actually that Cruze you can read battery voltage from the car and it started to stay at 15.6 which in old stuff would have been high but from time to time it ranged from 12 to that 15.6 since we owned it at 30000 miles. But it started to read 15.6 for whole chunks of time so I put a battery in as that was cheaper than an alternator. No idea how you would test that alternator that jumps around and I don’t think I care to know will cross that bridge when we get there but in our case that cable and battery solved the problem it had 90000 and it now has 166000. As long as you put spark plugs in every 40000 miles when it starts to miss you are good that little 4 cylinder will shake like you wouldn’t believe when it’s time. The auto start I could do without I think that’s why the electrical system is a little more advanced than it needs to be.