• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

A Sunday Spent Getting a Battery Cable

Bruzilla

Well-Known Member
Local time
1:18 AM
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
7,644
Reaction score
7,837
Location
Orange Park, FL
I was once again working on getting the 440 in the Roadrunner working, and I suspected one problem I might be having was the starter was turning awfully slow and the battery cables were getting really hot. I cut the end off the positive cable, which was pretty corroded, and when I cut off the insulation along the cable I saw the corrosion continued on down the cable. Yep, it's shot.

So I head off to the closest store, Autozone, and go to get a cable. My target is a 2-gauge, red, about 53" long. I look at their selection and I see they sell nothing but black cables. They sell red caps/covers to put over the clamp, but no red cables. I asked the counter guy if they have any red cables and he said nope, all they carry is black. WTF? They do have a 2-gauge cable that's 72" for $19.99, but it's black so I pass.

Next store is O'Reilly's, which does sell red cables but they only carry 4-gauge. I ask the counter guy if they have any 2-gauge and he says nope, just 4-gauge. I find a 4-gauge 54" cable for $13.99, and take it to the counter. While I'm looking for the cable, some guy comes in and has one of the two guys working on a Sunday morning helping him troubleshoot some mysterious air conditioning problem, and another guy has the second counter dude playing Guess My Ignition Problem. I look at my watch and it's 9:35, then 9:40, then 9:45, and all I keep hearing is "we'll be right with you sir."

At 9:46 I say "I'm sorry, but is this a parts store or an automotive diagnostics shop? I'm a paying customer and I've been standing here for ten minutes.", which gets me a "what the hell is his problem?" look from one of the counter guys and he says "we have to take care of these customers and we'll be right with you sir." At this point I've really had it and I look at the A/C guy and say "Sir, you really need to take your car to an AC shop and have them check it. They'll do it for free. This guy can't possibly tell you what's wrong based on what you've been telling him and he can't even see your car!" Then I looked at the other guy and told him he needed to take the car to the shop because the code he's getting, misfire on cylinder #3, could be caused by a host of issues and he'll be buying parts for a week trying to chase it down himself. Then I left the cable on the counter and walked out.

Now totally pissed off, I head to Advance Auto Parts, and I can't even find their cables. Finally a young hippie-looking guy named Chris comes up to me and asks if I need some help. I told him I'm looking for a battery cable and he asks me what kind. He told me they are in the back, and invites me to go back to where they are. They have 4-gauge red ones, but no two gauge. Then he says if I want two gauge he can sell it to me by the foot, but it won't have the stud for attaching to the starter. Then he looks around some more and he finds this old 2-gauge 60" cable that's in a clear plastic package that's so old the clear on the front has turned yellow/brown. He asks me if that would work, and I said I was going to cut the clamp off anyway so I could mount the cable to my existing heavy-duty one, so this cable would work just fine.

We go to the register, and apparently this cable's never been updated in their system since it came in God knows how long ago. The price comes up as $3.29! Then Chris asks me if I'm retired military, and I said no. I'm just a vet. He says "Just a vet works for me" and gives me a discount. Out the door price is $2.89! I think I'll start going to Advance more often. :)

As a prologue, when I pulled the old cable off, it was a mess. Frayed wires sticking out here and there, insulation missing, and corrosion out the wazoo. No wonder why things weren't' working right.
 
Last edited:
40 years ago I spent 2 years as a counterman in a real auto parts store that had a machine shop. We had catalogs instead of computers and were customer service oriented. I learned to think outside the box and if someone wanted wiper blades for a 68 Coronet I didn't ask what engine size or what transmission. Oh wait.......now I'm starting to sound like that old guy that walked uphill to school 5 miles in the snow everyday. I feel your pain.
 
The closest auto parts store to me is AutoZonedOut and then O'Really but both are less than a mile away. Advance is maybe 2 miles or so. I usually pick O'Really first then go to Advance next if O'Really can't help but man, Advance is twice the distance or more. Me thinks it's worth the long drive and the time it takes to go there first :grin:
 
I'm fortunate insomuch as I have a "real" auto supply shop that I've been dealing with since the late 70s. Even though we have three big box store chains, I'll always go to Allied Auto Parts.
 
yes, small independent store, I try them first, then go to the only other parts store out here in the sticks, which is O Really.....

don't they just make a pill to take before going to some parts stores?? puts ya in mellow la la land mood!????? LOL
 
Not all that long ago a local privately owned parts store i always went to had some of the same guys working there for years. They weren't kids either. Now a career working the auto parts counter might not be the best but it was a job and the better faster more knowledgeable the counter guy was the more he made and the top guys had very basic benefits.
Now we have internet auto parts,chain stores that in many cases sell cheap parts and minimum wage dead end jobs as counter people who know next to nothing about anything automotive.
Whose fault is it.
 
See Bru, Good things come to those who wait! I was going to say, go to the hardware store and get the components and make your own, you got a steal instead.
 
I do alot of online shopping before ever leaving for the store. You do not have to deal with idiots if you have the part number. Also can reserve on-line at NAPA parts are ready for me when I get there.
 
Man, Bruzilla, this sounds just like me this weekend! While tuning my '68 this weekend, I looked around and couldn't find my cheapo timing light for the life of me. Not in the garage, not in the trunk, under the seat? Nope. Bedroom? Kitchen table? Nope, nada, nowhere. I think I may have left it at a repair shop for my trans cooler a few weeks back. So, I think to myself -what the hell - I've been wanting a dial back timing light anyway! So off I head to the parts store. Ok, normally I go to Winchester Auto on the way home. Those guys know what's up! Usually 6 or 7 guys working and all car guys - and aged 25-50, but all super knowledgeable. If they don't have it, they'll order it from the warehouse and have it within a few hours. It's 7 miles from the house, but on my way home from work. It's sunday. Hmmm, O'reilley's? 2nd Closest one and I should have went there - sometimes they have what I need, sometimes not. Off I go to Autozone - closest one. It's only a timing light, right?

Me: "Hi, good morning, I can't seem to find your timing lights, do you have any behind the counter in stock?"
Autozone guy: "a light?"
Me: "A timing light"
Autozone guy: "what make and year vehicle sir?"
Me: "Excuse me??"
Autozone guy: "sir, what car is this for?"
Me: "ANY and every car can use a timing light"
Autozone guy: "let me ask my supervisor, sorry I don't know what a timing light is"
Me (in kind, helpful voice, hiding my surprise and frustration): "OK, well it's one of the most basic test devices there is for working on cars. Excuse me, I need to go. See ya!"

Off to Pep Boys, right across the street:
Me: "Hi, where are your timing lights?"
Pep boys dude: "Sir, make and model of your vehicle please?"
Me: "oh no, don't do this to me. You sound like the guy at Autozone."
Pep boys dude: "sorry sir, what are you looking for?"
Me: "a timing light"
Pep boys dude: "sir, I think our lights are over on aisle 1"
Me: "you know it's not a light for inside the car or a head lamp don't you? It's a tool to use on the engine. It looks like a gun."
Pep boys dude: "I'm sorry sir, I've never seen one and don't know what you're talking about"
Pep boys supervisor: "hi sir, come with me, our timing lights are right over here.?
Me in my head : success! Good Lord, what just happened? Twilight Zone...can't believe these places just put a warm body on the floor behind the counter and 2 separate stores by different names both had people completely unfamiliar with the basics of what you might use on a car. Not the employee's faults - it's the fault of these corporations and the people who hire them.

Thank God there are a few good parts stores around here. Remember! There is no short cut. It took me twice as long and double the frustration. Lesson learned.
 
:thebirdman: to the first two stores, :headbang: to you and Chris
 
To be fair - I just told this story yesterday to one of my supplier contacts at a specialty machine shop. He's into cars and he explained to me that these days none of the newer cars require a timing light to make timing adjustments (maybe no timing adjustments at all?) He said one of his long time mechanics gave him a few timing lights he had because he said he had no use for them anymore. Doesn't excuse the lack of knowledge from the counter help at these stores who offer parts for cars older than 10 yrs old as well, but I just wanted to share what he told me...
 
Why would anyone under 25 years old known what an timing light is. My 93 has no use of one or even a few years before that.
Most of those kids have never had the opportunity to work on anything older than themselves.
I am not making an excuse for the lozy training employees receive in big box auto part stores but that is the way it unfortunately is.
 
Why would anyone under 25 years old known what an timing light is. My 93 has no use of one or even a few years before that.
Most of those kids have never had the opportunity to work on anything older than themselves.
I am not making an excuse for the lozy training employees receive in big box auto part stores but that is the way it unfortunately is.

I have to agree with mopar 3 b. These kids can't really be expected to know a lot about cars that are twice their age. That's a tough one even from a training standpoint. What I would think is the store would train the employees on what they have on the floor. Unfortunately because so many companies want cheap labor a lot of our knowledge base is being flushed down the toilet. I too like going to stores and talking to people with some gray hair that have confidence in what they're talking about. It's just getting to be less and less the case. Moral of the story - don't lose your timing light......
 
Do not throw that OBD 1 can out either. Non of them know OBD 2 will not plug to it and have no idea the port is not under the dash.
 
Why would anyone under 25 years old known what an timing light is. My 93 has no use of one or even a few years before that.
Most of those kids have never had the opportunity to work on anything older than themselves.
I am not making an excuse for the lozy training employees receive in big box auto part stores but that is the way it unfortunately is.

Maybe you've never been to Wyoming. My 73 Charger is 2.5 times my age, and I've rebuilt nearly every mechanical thing on it. My high school has an advanced auto shop class where several of my friends and I work on all kinds of vehicles ranging from the 40's to modern cars. Many of my friends have classic cars and trucks and enjoy them more than new garbage. Some of my friends' cars include a 66 'stang, a 68 F-100, 73 Charger, 81 Ram, 73 Satellite, '15 Challenger, etc.

Aside from that rant (sorry guys), the two main places I get parts from are the local NAPA and Summit racing website. The counterworkers at the local NAPA are outstanding and know everything about cars and much more. I have never had a problem with them. However, I have been to a AutoZone and O'Reilly's in cody - and I was absolutely disgusted at the trashy folks that worked there. Autozone was filled with guys older than me, and they're dumber than sacks of rocks. They just stand around and joke as they smoke weed. O'reilly wasn't much different next door. NAPA has earned my trust as well as the world known speed shop, Summit.
 
Maybe you've never been to Wyoming. My 73 Charger is 2.5 times my age, and I've rebuilt nearly every mechanical thing on it. My high school has an advanced auto shop class where several of my friends and I work on all kinds of vehicles ranging from the 40's to modern cars. Many of my friends have classic cars and trucks and enjoy them more than new garbage. Some of my friends' cars include a 66 'stang, a 68 F-100, 73 Charger, 81 Ram, 73 Satellite, '15 Challenger, etc.

Aside from that rant (sorry guys), the two main places I get parts from are the local NAPA and Summit racing website. The counterworkers at the local NAPA are outstanding and know everything about cars and much more. I have never had a problem with them. However, I have been to a AutoZone and O'Reilly's in cody - and I was absolutely disgusted at the trashy folks that worked there. Autozone was filled with guys older than me, and they're dumber than sacks of rocks. They just stand around and joke as they smoke weed. O'reilly wasn't much different next door. NAPA has earned my trust as well as the world known speed shop, Summit.
I have been to Wyoming from East to West and north to south.
There are exceptions to any age group.
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top