Battery cables

[wco56]

Does anyone happen to know the stock battery cables lengths and gauge for a 1986 FJ1200? I am looking to upgrade them due to that hot start issue. I tried the search but no luck. Thanks.

[Old Rider]

Does anyone happen to know the stock battery cables lengths and gauge for a 1986 FJ1200? I am looking to upgrade them due to that hot start issue. I tried the search but no luck. Thanks.

Hello i don't know what sort of hot start issue you have ,but if it is like the starter will not turn over engine after a stop lets say 5 minutes when engine is hot i bet you have the
old type startermotor with 2 brushes.I had same problem and it disappeared after installed the later style starter with 4 brushes.
You can se the differense on this pictures.

[wco56]

I do have the two brush unit. Pulled it out and cleaned everything up (including the grounds and positive connections) and it seems to work better at this point. I am thinking that when the cold weather hits here in New York I will change it out for the four brush starter. I thought I would probably change to a heavier set of battery leads while I was at it. Cheap insurance that everything is working at optimism level. Thanks.

[red]

Does anyone happen to know the stock battery cables lengths and gauge for a 1986 FJ1200? I am looking to upgrade them due to that hot start issue. I tried the search but no luck. Thanks.

WCO56,

I do not know the "correct" wire gauge for FJ1200 starter cables, but for any DC power connection, bigger copper is better.  Any cable which is at least the size of the present cables, should be adequate for the job.  Even slightly larger cables will give you a much greater power transfer.  Insulation thickness does not count here; we are talking about the center metal core of the cable. Use the heaviest terminal lugs (ring terminals, not forks) that fit, and you can get there.  Make all connections having bright shiny metal.

Need you to describe the "hot start" symptoms that you are seeing there.

+1 on the four-brush starter, too.

[wco56]

Normally starts great from cold. After running for a period of time with the engine hot, the starter sounds like the battery is going bad. Slow, slingshot like cranking of the engine. Let it cool and it starts up fine again. Battery is a new AGM unit with 210 CCA. I pulled the 2 brush starter and cleaned it up inside. Cleaned up all the battery cables and ground point on the engine block and it works better now, but I suspect the issue will return at some point.  I have read that the 4 brush starter is a better setup so I plan to install one over the winter. I thought as long as I am going that far new heavier cables would be on the list as well. Also, when running it is charging as it should so it's not running off the battery. Thank for the input on it.