ACK! Battery Cable replacement help!

[lilmobile]

So I need to replace my battery cable, and it's currently grounded to the starter. How in the heck do I get that bolt off?!?! Is there somewhere else I can ground it instead? This is my daily driver so I really need to grt this sorted. Thanks guys!

[Zed Head]

Use a wrench.  Or a socket,  Not clear what your problem is, that is one of the easiest large bolts to remove on the whole engine.  Right hand accessible, big open space to work in, push down to loosen.  Explain your situation.

[lilmobile]

There's a coolant hose in the way- I can move the ratchet about an inch back & forth. I'll post a picture when I get back home. I'm just going to try to cut the old terminal off & clamp a new one on there instead of replacing the whole cable. From where it's at & with all the stuff in the way, it looks like it'd be easier to get to from underneath the car

[siteunseen]

The starter won't fall off if you remove that one bolt.  Clean that area with a wire brush or sandpaper to get a good ground.

 

Do you really need to replace the whole cable or just put a new terminal on it, the part that goes around the battery post?  They crack and break pretty easy and are replaceable.

[lilmobile]

It's a pretty grubby cable and it's already tight but imma try to just lop off thr old terminal and bolt a new one on.

The problem with the bolt that it's grounded to is that I just can't get to it! I'll post a pic when I get home. There's an aluminum coolant tube (looks like it goes to the heater core) and a metal fuel line (maybe?) in the way. I didn't look around to see what it went to. By the time I wiggle a wrench down on it there's hardly any room to move it, & I'm so contorted I can't really get enough torque on it to crack it loose

[Zed Head]

It would help if you told what year and type of car you're working on.

 

You can use a transmission mount bolt.  The starter bolts to the transmission, so that's a decent ground path.  Starter body > starter bolt >  transmission case > negative cable.  

 

There's also a second mounting bolt, underneath.

[lilmobile]

Oh gosh yeah sorry, this happened right before work so I was a bit scatter brained when I posted this. It's a 1983 280zx 2+2 5spd.

[Zed Head]

They're a little more crowded in the engine bay.  The bolls are the same though.