Battery Cable Amperage Chart

[Brett]

The battery in my car is located in the front which means I need to run a cable from the front from the battery to the rear to the starter.
More is involved but as a starter I found this chart that may help those wondering what size of cable thats needed to carry the needed amperage.

Battery Cable Amperage Chart.jpg

[islandman]

Duly saved so I can see what I purchased and fitted versus what I should have purchased! (hopefully not too far way from the chart)

[Brett]

The next question you need to ask is how many amps does the starter require.

I searched the web but couldn't find anyone that listed the amperage of their starters, what I did find is some sites listed the hp and kw of their starters which then you can calculate the amperage from. I also found that sites didn't list the size of cable they sell for the starters

A oem starter is rated at .5hp(.61kw). Using this you can calculate the amperage of the motor.
A .61kw motor @ 12 volts will = 51 amps.

A hi torque starter rated at 1.2hp(1kw) @ 12volts = 83amps

A hi torque starter rated at 2.7hp(2kw) @ 12 volts= 167 amps

Once you know how many amps the starter pulls then you can figure what size cable you need and length for the application.

Edit:
So you can see if you replace a stock starter with a hi torque starter and retain the stock battery cable that oem cable may not be able to carry the required amperage for the hi torque starter, also the specs for those starters listed didn't specify if that was with or without a load.

[Mikemrb]

A starter should draw around 70 to 160 not under load and up to around 260 cranking an engine