Re: everstart deep cycle battery??
If you cranked for five minutes, your starter motor may have overheated, which could have caused it to try to draw more current than it should, which might have caused the cables to heat up. I think you have to give the starter a chance to cool a little after 30 or 45 seconds of cranking. I'd go ahead and replace those wires now.<br /><br />If the battery is less than a year old, you might as well take it back to wallyworld & get a new one for free. They never do any kind of test on those batts, just say, "when did you buy it? Well, okay then, go ahead and get another one."