Snapped starter cable

[Midge]

Golf wouldn't start yesterday, and on removing the battery cover, the starter cable had snapped clean off within the battery terminal clamp in which its crimped. My local dealer tells me a new cable is a back order job from Germany which is a pain.

Does anyone know what current rating the cable is likely to be? The top few inches have heat shrink on them and the cable that doesn't is O/D of 11mm - suggesting its around 200A.

I've done a temp fix which I thought I'd share since it only took me a few minutes to do. It involved drilling out the battery clamp with an M8 drill, sticking a bolt through it, and then clamping the stripped back cable to it with a couple of jubilee clips.

Battery.jpg

[Alan G H]

One of my old workmates used to say "there's nothing so permanent as a temporary repair". I would just tape that up & forget it if it was my car.

[Crasher]

Excellent bodge, love it

[Midge]

Why thank you Mr Crasher - nice to know my handywork is appreciated!

[Midge]

Just to close the loop on this, I decided to order the proper cable. Took two attempts by my local dealer to get it from Germany, but it's sorted now.

[Crasher]

The dealer should not have struggled, even though there are 10 different cables for a later 2001 your car will be FI Suggestion linked and even without the VIN I would guess the cable you needed was 1J0 971 228 BC at £48.35 retail, based on my assumption it is a later 2001 and has a 1.6 16v engine such as a BCB.

[Midge]

It's a 1.6 8V auto (0-60 time "leisurely" but enough for Mrs Midge!). They were given the VIN, but the first to arrive was an AG when they should have ordered/shipped a BG. I knew there were a few different types but not sure how they can justify making 10 variants of a simple cable. Anyway, sorted now. Cheers.