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One of my ground cables, which links the battery to the gearbox has snapped. I used a caliper to measure the diameter of the wire, and it is approximately 6mm in diameter (so i calculated this to be approx 28mm² surface area).

I can only source 16mm² wire from automotive supplier that comes with lugs pre-attached (my preferred option than buying lugs and wire and crimping myself)

My question is, is 16mm² enough? It is supposedly rated at 110A. My battery is 53A so is that enough? My starter motor (which is defective due to the ground cable on the gearbox being snapped) is rated at 1Kw

the cable runs from battery, to chassis (attached via lug), to gearbox. The chassis to gearbox part has snapped (circled in picture) so i want to replace it with a short cable with a lug on either end

the snapped cable

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  • Use 2 of them to put your mind at rest.
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 12:42
  • @HandyHowie I hadn't considered that. I wonder if 2x16mm² would be equivalent to 1x32mm²
    – james246
    Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 13:06
  • Not sure how you will get two of them on the battery terminal...
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 13:12
  • @SolarMike The OP said - "The chassis to gearbox part has snapped (circled in picture)", so the new cable(s) won't need to go near the battery terminal.
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 14:58
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    @james246 The other thing I would check would be that the new cables had similar thickness strands of copper, so that they have similar flexibility.
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 15:06

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If all you can get is 16mm² cable, then put two of them in parallel.

2x16mm² would have a lot higher current carrying capacity than 1x28mm² cable.

The other thing I would check would be that the new cables had similar thickness strands of copper, so that they have similar flexibility

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