Two positive battery terminals? (V10)

[Cliffordthe6Stick]

Hey y'all, not sure if this is a dumb question or not, but, does anyone know why there's a positive battery cable with an extra terminal connector? It runs directly from the starter. There's a slightly smaller cable that connects it to the fuse box. Where that cable connects in the fuse box is also where the currently-hooked-up terminal cable connects to.
Sorry if that doesn't make sense. But pictures paint a thousand words... hopefully!
I'm wondering if this could be contributing to a random nonstarting issue the truck has had lately.
If anyone could let me know why they think it's like that, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Cliffordthe6Stick]

If anyone was curious what the outcome of this was, I took it to my mechanic (who I'm working for now!) and he agreed the extra terminal cable connector from the PDC was probably part of the slow/no start issue I've had. I was going to come back later so he could work on it, but as it turns out the truck didn't want to start when I went to leave. He went ahead and changed it to the original terminal cable connector and it's started better ever since.

 

[Htsderek]

Hey buddy,

Sorry you didn't get feedback on your original post but glad you got it sorted, and thanks for reporting back. Closing the loop like this helps out those that are having similar issues.

I'm assuming you aren't the first owner of this truck? The cable that was taped off to the side looks like the original so I'd guess the previous owner thought it'd be a good idea (I don't agree with his thinking) to add a thicker lead between the battery and the truck. While there are places that the OEM wire is thin enough to restrict and going thicker produces positive/noticeable results, the way it was gone about here creates two issues.

1. He left an unprotected (no fuse) connection direct from the battery flopping around under the hood. I've created a few direct shorts in my time and lit up 8ft of wire like a light bulb, and I've heard stories of people getting a ring or wrench caught between a positive source and the frame or engine and it's pretty exciting. I'd want to stand back a ways to watch if that original battery clamp ever hit the frame or body.
2. The way it was hooked up before your mechanic put the original clamp back on the battery, all the current to the starter was passing through the smaller gauge wire. Without doing any math I'd expect that was restricting the current to the starter and slowing it down. Depending on how long the key was held in the start position that length of wire could get warm.

I do hope the included removing the extra lead between that ran from the battery to the PDC?

Congrats on the new gig!

 

[Cliffordthe6Stick]

Thanks for your reply! It slipped by me, obviously! Thankfully, the truck is still starting up great.

Yes, the extra lead is gone now, with the original one hooked up. I'm not the first owner. It had a similar mileage engine put in it about 5,000 miles ago. I'm hoping that whoever put the engine in didn't do this.

Thanks for your explanation. Knowing that now makes me glad nothing bad happened in the meantime before switching the leads!