Resolved: Battery cable (+) - what is the "coil" for?

[gschober]

All,

I just picked up my 250SL from winter storage; when I tried to start her up, I realized some smoke coming from the battery area.
I found out that there is some kind of coil about 4 inches into the cable that was too close to the frame; this apparently caused some neat spark action with the result that the insulation around this coil is now gone.
I could temporarily reroute the cable and finally start her up but now I am wondering how to fix it? What is this coil for and can I just replace the whole cable with a generic one like some folks posted here?

Thanks in advance!
GS

Ps. I am new to this forum; Chicago area, '67 250SL, 53,000 miles

[J. Huber]

Hey GS. Something in this sounds strange to me. The positive cable should run directly from the battery terminal, under the radiator and to the starter. Nothing should be in line of it. As for coils, there is of course "the coil" which talks to the distributor upon start-up. So not quite sure what you mean. Have a picture?

[gschober]

Thanks James,

Sorry for the confusion...
This thing that I called "coil" is not a separate unit but part of the cable.
I attached a pic that will hopefully explain better what I meant.

Again thanks for your help!
Guenther

[thelews]

I'm guessing it's a splice, and not a very good one, from a while back.

[bpossel]

Guenther,

Both battery cables should be solid, no splices!  The negative is the shorter cable and runs direct from the battery to the car frame, close to the battery.  The positive cable connects the battery directly to the starter.  No other wires, no other connections.
Bob

[gschober]

Thanks everybody!

The weird thing is that there is no other cable coming out of this potential splice. Anyway, I will do some more investigation and check whether I can find out why this was done.

Guenther

[ejboyd5]

Perhaps at some time in the car's history another battery was used with the location of its positive terminal causing the cable insulation to wear through and what you are seeing is an attempted repair.  Replace the cable and all should be well.

[gschober]

Yeah, I guess you might be right.
I found out that the cable below the splice is thicker than the top part.
I will probably replace the whole cable.

Looks like here are my options:

1. Buy 2m and cut and solder my own
2. Get an OEM cable, if possible (probably expensive)
3. Try to find a used one

I am leaning towards #1 but I couldn't find any post that describes what gauge to use. Did anybody do this and has a parts/source list?

Thanks
Guenther

[thelews]

Thanks everybody!

The weird thing is that there is no other cable coming out of this potential splice. Anyway, I will do some more investigation and check whether I can find out why this was done.

Guenther

The splice IS the top and bottom that you see as different size cables, not another extra wire.  Looks like someone tried to avoid replacing an entire cable that had been damaged.

[gschober]

John,

Yep, agreed... That's what I meant by "below" and "top part".
Replacing the whole cable is now on my To Do list.

Guenther

[gschober]

Alright, just turned my wife's 330i in for service at our independent German car guy; he happened to own a 280SL years back.
He said that it was fairly common to only replace the top part of the battery cable in case of a battery/polarity switch etc. to avoid replacing the whole cable.
I am pretty sure that's what happened to my car too.

Again, does anyone know what gauge to use if I want to make my own?

Thanks
Guenther

[glenn]

'Just picked up from winter storage' - What was the status when it went INTO winter storage?  Did 'storage' do sometning?

[gschober]

Hi,

If you are asking in regards to my battery cable problem: before I stored the car, I took the battery out to charge it while the car was stored; I assume when I put it back in the positive (plus) cable was routed a little different and came too close to the body frame what triggered the issue.

GS