Dead battery: A dead battery isn’t always a bad battery.

Reduced interior power: A certified technician from a Rainbow Muffler location near you can help determine if you’ve got lower-than-normal voltage flowing through your vehicle.

Dimming headlights: A worn or damaged negative battery cable will be unable to deliver full power to your headlights, so your headlights could flicker or dim as a result.

Some signs of a bad negative battery cable include: Buildup of this common byproduct of battery operation can reduce conduction efficiency and damage your cables. Corrosion can look like soft white or green powder and is usually seen at the points where the cable connects to the battery or terminals. Do you notice any brittleness, burns, corrosion, cracks or holes? If so, your battery cables could be an issue. But even if your car works some of the time, bad battery cables can damage other electrical components of your vehicle. If you have bad battery cables, a jumpstart or push-start may not work because faulty cables will prevent power from flowing to your vehicle’s computer.

Your engine stalls if you don’t get your car moving.

You hear a clicking noise when you turn the key, but the engine won’t start.

You might first mistake a battery cable issue for a dead battery. Your car battery or electrical system might seem to be dead, even if your battery is fully charged.

If one of your battery cables isn’t functioning, the continuous flow of electricity will stop, so other components no longer receive power.

Without good working battery cables, your vehicle cannot be operated. They are essential parts of your car’s operation because they transport power to key points in your vehicle. The battery cables connect your car’s battery to its computer, ignition, lights and other electrical components. Together, they create a closed loop to allow power to flow continuously. The negative battery cable (also known as the ground strap or ground cable) is a wire wrapped in black casing that connects the battery to your vehicle’s chassis for grounding. The positive battery cable is a wire wrapped in red casing that connects the battery to your car’s computer. The battery cable setup consists of two heavy-gauge wires. Let’s take a look at how they work, how to check them and how often to replace them. If you try and fail to jumpstart your car, only to find out that your battery is in good condition, the battery cables might be to blame. Dead car batteries are a common problem during cold Cleveland winters, but the issue might not be your battery.

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