Charging connection to battery from alternator

KAYLAR42

MEMBER
2001 KIA OPTIMA
184,547 MILES

I own a 2001 Kia Optima with a 2003 motor. I have a problem with my alternator. The wire in my car is broken; I recently went to a junk yard and found my same car and pulled the same wire out. Now I would like to know how to put the new wire into my car without damaging my engine or connection to the alternator and the battery. How do I replace the positive battery cable that connects to the alternator and the battery?

Monday, April 29th, 2013 AT 9:02 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,163 POSTS

If you removed the wire at the salvage yard you know the procedure, just reverse it. You will want to disconnect the negative battery cable to prevent causing big sparks.

You also have to look at what caused the failure. If the old wire broke from vibration or corrosion, just repair it or replace it. Typically we would solder a new terminal to the end of the wire or we would splice a break and seal it with heat-shrink tubing. If the connection burned up, that was caused by a bad connection that had some resistance in it. Current flowing through that resistance causes heat to be generated which further degrades the connection and leads to more overheating. That will damage the stud and insulator on the back of the generator and it should be replaced too to prevent a repeat failure.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Monday, April 29th, 2013 AT 9:44 PM