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how do you repair melted battery cables for you car, starter cause this?

my start on one of our mowers seems to start the mower but it cranks slowly...i didnt start at first today so i looked at the battery cables to see if somethings wrong and the wire is melted...the outside rubber coating is melted that is(dont think the actual wire inside is melted...how do i repair the protective covers? electrical tape? replacing the entire wire harness?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    the best thing to do is replace the cable. Otherwise you can use electrical tape or duct tape to re-wrap the cable.

    The cable got hot and melted the outside because too much current was running through it. Chances are your starter/solinoid/switch is shot and need to be fixed/replaced

    One thing to consider - if you don't address the problem that caused this to happen, when you go to start it again it will melt again.

  • 1 decade ago

    The only thing to do is to replace the cable. If you want get away as cheaply as you can, then I would say to just splice the cable. You will need the crimpers and the cable. If you have an electrician buddy then he should have the cable crimpers to do this. Then you can put heat shrink over the butt splice to protect it. You will also need to find out why it happened. Was it heat from the engine, or heat from the current starting the engine? That would mean that the mower is not starting quick enough and you have to keep cranking the engine for long periods. It may need a tune up. Good luck with it.

  • 1 decade ago

    You could probably use electrical tape, but if the damage is not limited to the coating it probably won't do any good. It sounds like there was some kind of short either in the starter or in the wire itself. This could be caused by many things, including just rust. If this is the case you'll probably end up having to replace them.

  • 1 decade ago

    Replace the battery cables. The heat was probably caused from a poor connection at the terminal. Poor connections cause over heating due to the amp draw being to great for the insufficient connection.

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  • 1 decade ago

    If I were you I would replace the whole cable because exposed cables are not a good thing to have on a lawnmower b/c the lawnmower is always vibrating. It could cause a short and ruin some important component or a fire if gas is spilled on it.

  • MR. T.
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Short term fix: electrical tape, use lots of layers

    Take the cable off and take it to a place like Walmart, Autozone, or Nappa and match it up for lenghth and style. Shouldn't be much more than $20.00 (easy to repair.)

  • 1 decade ago

    not repair

    Replace.....cheaper this way.....but electrical tape will work fine just wrap it several times and make sure it covers a little more than just the gap

  • 1 decade ago

    Replace it with the next larger guage of cable to prevent overheating the new cable! ;-)=

    Source(s): Fleet mech for 13 years.
  • 1 decade ago

    dude just replace it, you can repair it but will almost cost you the same

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