Hi All- There is a red "quick disconnect" type connector located in the battery cable at the rear subframe connection on my '85 Mondial Qv, left side. Mine was brittle with age and shattered when I got near it when replacing my clutch slave seal. Replacing the seal was a piece of cake compared to trying to find the replacement for this connector. Internet searches proved futile... ...until now. www.andersonpower.com/files.php?file=DS-PP120(4).pdf Look familiar? Anderson Power Pole 120 amp genderless connector. Part number 1321G3 looks like the "correct" red housing, available separately. If the metal connector on the wire is OK, the housing simply slides over the terminal end and clicks into place. Price? The first place I found (Connex Electronics) prices them at $3.65 each (for the housing only, but in bags of 5). Still a huge bargain considering Ferrari only sells the entire cable and connector as an assembly at over $149+. I've also read a thread that said this red connector is used in the negative battery cable in Ferrari 3x8's. Same one, maybe? I just wish I found this before I resorted to a rather expensive "plan B". Anyone want to buy a new Ferrari battery cable minus the red connector housing?
Anderson Power Pole connectors are great. They come in a huge range of sizes. You see a version of them on UPS batteries and mounted on the front of tow trucks for jumper cables. Ham radio and RC car guys are all over them. You can probably buy what you'd need from a ham radio place or good RC car hobby shop next time.
They are sold on Ebay. The metal ends that can be soldered on the cable are there too. I think the one you want is the 180 amp for the "0" gauge cable but no guarantee. Haven't bought one recently but Ferrari did sell just the red plastic ends for not a lot of money. I have never had to buy an entire cable.
Believe me, I tried to find this thing for quite some time. I ran out of search terms to try. My "plan B" was a last resort. All my usual parts sources said that it wasn't available seperately. Oh well. Didn't try eBay though. My mistake. And as we all know: "Electrical items are non-returnable". Maybe someone can make an exception just this once? I measured my broken one and the dimensions match the housing diagram in the link I posted. I also noticed that the terminals are interchangable between housings so I would definitely double check with the vendor before possibly ordering the wrong one. We use these at work on our UPS systems also - for the battery harnesses. Ours are a tad too small for the Ferrari size I needed. I made trips to truck parts stores, auto parts stores, heavy equipment parts stores. All had the molded duplex type but not the single modular type like the Anderson Power Pole. Just wanted to throw this out there so someone in the future doesn't have to use a "plan B". And as a wise man once said: "It's good to learn from your mistakes but it's better to learn from someone else's".
I get a lot of the special Ferrari electrical pieces from Ebay vendors. With the merging of AMP/Tyco et al and their user unfriendly web sites and their sales policy of buying 15,000 pieces minimum I find Ebay an increasingly important source.
I couldn't find the conclusion of this thread. Did anybody ever order these connectors? Is it the PP120, housing part number 1321G3? The PP180 seems too big. http://andersonpower.com/products/standard-powerpole.html I just noticed that mine were cracked when I replaced my starter and they tore to pieces when I tried to remove them. This is quite a fire hazard! Maybe from the chemicals from cleaning the engine made them so brittle???? Thanks in advance Richard 1984 Mondial US model
Yes, PP120 is correct if I recall accurately. I bought a couple for my QV and they work fine. Only difference from the originals was that they were a slightly different shade of red.
Richard - Ham Radio Outlet is likely to sell these if you want one today. They are over near the Sunnyvale Fry's. Call them and see if they sell the connectors. Their web page lists other Anderson Power Pole accessories.
This thread may need to be posted in the parts cross reference for future use or as a sticky. The quick disconnect is an Anderson PowerPole, PP120. The housing alone is 1321G3. Two are needed. The pictures below show how the connectors desintegrated when I tried to unplug them while replacing the starter. I suspect the age and heat. Below are the new connectors. Notice the color is the same, comparing the interior of the old connectors. They snap in very easily when assembling. I got the connectors on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/170671114385?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 If the link does not remain valid, the seller is gammg. Great service, he solved a shipping issue. Added to my favorite sellers list. I would recommend replacing the housing as a prevention. When the housing broke, the spring that holds the connectors in place wedged against the U shape holder. This was a fire hazard waiting to happen. Right under the gas intake. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I finally had enough with my starter cranking whenever it felt like it...Troubleshot the damn thing till I discovered what you all discovered. As soon as I looked at Red once but now "cooked orange" connector, it fell apart... I ordered the connectors and 4 extras for anyone interested. This is a pretty old thread so not sure if anyone wants one but I got both the 120A and the 180A... While the 120 was the correct one for a replacement I noticed that the reason for them being brittle and breaking apart are two fold, 1) of course engine heat, cooks the plastic 2) but, at least in mine, the main culprit was the metal connector inside the plastic. While its the proper size for the cable, The actual contact points are not enough, there just isn't enough surface area touching on the connector to connector alignment to withstand the Amperage the starter requires, REMEMBER the battery is capable of 700-1000 cold crankng Amps, then add vibration and constant moving/wearing of said mating surfaces and you have HEAT! It was painfully obvious on mine as it had major discoloration and a significant burn mark on both where, its my guess, the amperage jumped from one connector to the next.... So, I decided that I never want to deal with this again so I orderedcthe bigger 180A, the cable was smaller but soldered just fine. I put the connector on my vise, heated it with my torch, filled it 3/4 of the way up with melted solder then shoved the wire in ( remember flux) immediately clean it with a wet rag and it looks factory. The only drawback was that now I had to bend a new piece of thread all into a U shape larger thanthe original to hold the engine side connector. Anyway, I've had no problems since... So if you want to stay stock go with the 120A, if you want to upgrade go with the 180A, I have 4 sets of each for anyone interested, brand new never used. Email me if interested. PS this is a good maintenance upgrade when you change your belts just in case
My red plastic housings are disintegrating but not looking burned. Contacts & cablings are good. Can I just replace the red plastic housing without redoing the electrical connection(s)? I'm hoping I can just insert the contacts into the new housings, yes? Thanks, Bob R.
YES! The plastic housings are pretty straight forward. You should be able to slide them on and off, just make sure you get the orientation and amperage rating right. The 180A are too big for the OEM 120A connectors. Unfortunately its not any cheaper since the plastic comes with the internal connector anyway. Just slide a new one back in, make sure you sand the old connectors clean before you put new plastic on.
