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A friend of mine makes various electrical wiring products that I've used over the years without issue and noticed the he didn't make a battery cable set for an MK4 TDI (1/0 gauge), although did make them for MK4 2.0, 1.8T and VR6. Naturally, I asked him if he could make me a set. He did and was shocked the set was only $75 ($85 as of 9/17/2012)... and not only did it include the positive and negative cable, it included an additional alternator cable and fuse box cable. For comparison, an OEM set of just the positive and negative cables runs $120+!!!
So this is what you get:
Here are the differences on the cables. Notice how much thicker the new cables are.
Take note that when you install the fuse box cable, you have to separate the fuse box (shown in the instructions) and the fuses will fall out. I didn't write it down and had to refer to my Bentley for the order. In case someone needs it in the future, the order from top to bottom from the pic above is: 150a, 110a, 40a, 50a, 50a. Oh, and wires going to the fuse box only go in one way. You can't screw it up. The wires for the 2 50a fuses are interchangeable - they will fit in both slots.
There are instructions included and they are pretty good but I'm not going to go through it step by step here. I took additional pictures for those that want more detail, more like supplemental info.
After removing the battery and battery tray, you can remove the negative cable by removing 2 nuts, 1 at the engine and leftmost arrow in the pic below.
Install the upgraded negative cable in 3 spots, 1 at the engine and the 2 arrows shown above.
As for the positive, the OEM one goes straight to the starter. The upgraded cable also goes to the starter but there's an additional cable going to the alternator.
At the alternator, you install the cable on top of the OEM cable. It does NOT replace the OEM cable.
After some simple routing and zip ties (included), here's what it looks like with the battery back in it.
And here it is all finished up
It took me about an hour or so to install everything and it was pretty easy. I could probably do it half the time now. All you need is a 10mm and 13mm sockets, extension and a ratchet, wire cutters (for zip ties) and a phillips screwdriver.
You can purchase these cables at Innovative Wiring. Just scroll down to the MK4 cables. He also makes cables for MK1, 2, 3, 5 as well as other wiring solutions (headlight harnesses, grounding kits, etc...).
FYI... I don't have a vested interest in these products. I'm just sharing these options for the benefit of the TDI community.
A friend of mine makes various electrical wiring products that I've used over the years without issue and noticed the he didn't make a battery cable set for an MK4 TDI (1/0 gauge), although did make them for MK4 2.0, 1.8T and VR6. Naturally, I asked him if he could make me a set. He did and was shocked the set was only $75 ($85 as of 9/17/2012)... and not only did it include the positive and negative cable, it included an additional alternator cable and fuse box cable. For comparison, an OEM set of just the positive and negative cables runs $120+!!!
So this is what you get:
Here are the differences on the cables. Notice how much thicker the new cables are.
Take note that when you install the fuse box cable, you have to separate the fuse box (shown in the instructions) and the fuses will fall out. I didn't write it down and had to refer to my Bentley for the order. In case someone needs it in the future, the order from top to bottom from the pic above is: 150a, 110a, 40a, 50a, 50a. Oh, and wires going to the fuse box only go in one way. You can't screw it up. The wires for the 2 50a fuses are interchangeable - they will fit in both slots.
There are instructions included and they are pretty good but I'm not going to go through it step by step here. I took additional pictures for those that want more detail, more like supplemental info.
After removing the battery and battery tray, you can remove the negative cable by removing 2 nuts, 1 at the engine and leftmost arrow in the pic below.
Install the upgraded negative cable in 3 spots, 1 at the engine and the 2 arrows shown above.
As for the positive, the OEM one goes straight to the starter. The upgraded cable also goes to the starter but there's an additional cable going to the alternator.
At the alternator, you install the cable on top of the OEM cable. It does NOT replace the OEM cable.
After some simple routing and zip ties (included), here's what it looks like with the battery back in it.
And here it is all finished up
It took me about an hour or so to install everything and it was pretty easy. I could probably do it half the time now. All you need is a 10mm and 13mm sockets, extension and a ratchet, wire cutters (for zip ties) and a phillips screwdriver.
You can purchase these cables at Innovative Wiring. Just scroll down to the MK4 cables. He also makes cables for MK1, 2, 3, 5 as well as other wiring solutions (headlight harnesses, grounding kits, etc...).
FYI... I don't have a vested interest in these products. I'm just sharing these options for the benefit of the TDI community.
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