Hi George, I think that the risk exists on any car using the cast iron exhaust headers. Due to limited length the cable must be routed between the header and one of the heat pipes, and with about 1” to 2” of clearance (i.e. NOT resting against the header or heat pipe) the heat is still sufficiently intense to melt all of the insulation over time to expose bare copper; hence, the resulting short b/w the positive cable and the solenoid wire. That will engage the starter solenoid while the engine is running. A direct short against the header would be worse, as that would be a dead short to the battery, not cool! I have used these cables on non-header cars without incident, as the log-style exhaust manifold is not in close proximity to the cable. Carl Hi all...I've been following this thread and I am no longer selling battery cables through the Chrysler 300 Club, Inc. Club Store. I've been selling the battery cables for more than 10 years and Merle Wolfer was selling them through the Club Store for more years than I know. This is the first I've heard of the positive battery cable insulation and heat-shrink melting and shorting out on the exhaust header. Is this only "J/K" Ram problem? I have the club store battery cables on my 64 Newport and we drove it from San Diego to the Alamogordo meet 750 miles and 109 degrees for the trip. Also with my wife in her 64 and me in my "L" was "Van" Van Lennep in his "K" convertible which had the club store battery cables. Seven years later and 15,000 more miles on the Newport and no problems. After all is said, I no longer sell the battery cables and they are no longer listed in the "Brute Force" Club Store merchandise. If you have the Club Store battery cables on Ram cars I recommend applying heat shield tape/wrap on the cable where it is in close proximity to the header. Heat shield tape/wrap is available on Amazon and most auto-parts retailers. If there are any questions of why I'm not selling the battery cables please contact me personally (off the Chrysler 300 list) and I'll explain. Warm 300 regards...George Ver Berkmoes, Chrysler 300 Club, Inc. Store Manager On 08/28/2023 5:20 PM PDT Carl <cbilter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: John, yes, correct that factory cable for 413 had braided sleeve over cable, maybe had asbestos?? I don’t know. Always count blessings, could have been a catastrophic fire (fire extinguisher in trunk, but maybe too late, going 70 mph?). I have high-temp heat wrap, not stock looking, who cares – it is functional and not really visible from above. Also must use heat wrap or sleeves on most spark plug wires, especially near plugs , I did that, might add more now! Else, your plug wires will not last long! Good points on PS hoses. Ram pressure hose should go over rams, avoids headers, John Begian had them made up but out of stock currently (we need more!). Carl good save , Carl ! didn’t some ( or all) 300 have a loom like braided sleeve over the cable ? problem may not be the cable , any plastic cable will melt if hot enough . They sell fiberglas heat sleeve , like spark plug sleeves , but may be objectionable due to white color . maybe a short piece ok or paint with hi temp BBQ paint ? on another car with similar proximity issue , i I added a lined P clamp to sheet metal to hold it away , even with a sleeve . But may need “ more rope “ ( longer cable and wire ) , another I remember tying it to PS hose . PS hose has the problem too , depending on many things . If it actually burned through to copper on header all hell would have broken loose . Dead short on full battery . You re lucky in a way . Thanks for making us all wiser! On Aug 28, 2023, at 6:44 PM, Carl <cbilter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yesterday I drove the J up to Mopars on the Mississippi in Dubuque, IA, and it ran and drove great – until – about 2 minutes from my destination, when suddenly and without warning, a terrible noise began emanating from the engine compartment. Sounded like a really bad water pump, but temp. gauge good. Noticed the ammeter pegged on charge – electrical malfunction – with no place to pull over I briskly made a mad dash to the show, pulled in and pulled over, shut the ignition off, removed the key – starter motor kept running! Fortunately, I had a ½” wrench in the console (ALWAYS carry one), popped the hood, removed the negative cable, assessed damage. Nothing visible, but bad burned rubber smell. Quickly determined it must be a stuck solenoid or bad starter relay (that turned out to be wrong). Our buddy Noel came over with a spare starter relay, which I installed, no change. Fortunately, local buddy and long-time member Dave Schwandt was able to come out with his 3500 Dually and his son’s trailer, and we loaded up the J and took it back to Cedar Rapids. Diagnosis today – took all of 3 minutes – positive battery cable from the starter relay to the starter motor, insulation burned right through, battery cable and solenoid wire then shorted, starter engaged continuously. This was a reproduction cable from the Inc. 300 Club, with no heat shielding. When I installed the cable I purposely made sure it was a couple inches away from the header. It ran near the heat pipe, but that wasn’t the issue. Evidently, on a long run, the header gets so hot that it was enough to melt all the insulation. I had heat wrap on the shift cable, as that had been damaged long ago due to running over the header, but didn’t wrap the repop battery cable. Lesson: cable MUST be heat wrapped, or do NOT use the Inc. club repop cable Note: Quirey now reproduces the proper cable I believe; Jamie can confirm. The photo below shows the damage – see lower center of photo. This cable is NOT sitting against the header, but it still burned. Carl B. Older and now wiser <6571A9AEB23F43F0824A516B4596F498.jpg> --
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