Yay! More Grounding Q's

[MikeW]

Ok..

Im pretty sure we can all agree that grounding works. Some ppl are using/have used Grounding Kits, other have made/done their own.

Question #1:
Is more expensive always better when it comes to Kits? Ive seen some from as cheap as $50 to some as much $150+.

Question #2:
Once you start, is it a good idea to ground everything, or can you ground just a few things?

I know "this is what wire tucks are for", but im kind of a fan of my bay looking semi-decent and grounding wires all over the place isnt exactly pretty.

Question #3:
Whats this about the Negative Battery Terminal? I thought grounding was just running a wire from the selected device to the frame/grounded metal part of the car?

Question #4:
I know there about 8-10 Ground Points, but what are the points for each device, and where are they located? i.e; Alt-to-where? VC-to-where? etc.

This is not only for me, but also for others/newbs who wanna ask the same questions.

I did a little search and couldnt really find one or two threads that answered everything, it was more or less a bunch of threads, all asking different questions.

Help, answers, appreciated.

[Leung]

actually i was wondering what happens if i upgrade the "grounding" wire that's currently on the car now.. i mean it looks old and brittle.

[MikeW]

I dont even know which ones are grounding wires. I know of 2 for sure. I imagine it wouldnt hurt to upgrade them...

Thats why i asked if its possible to just ground certain things and not everything. Granted, everything would probably be better in the long run, but...

[Leung]

the grounds wires tend to have a black casing.

theres one on the valve cover on the right, theres one on the Tstat housing, one on the negative battery cable. those are the only three that come to mind right now and i'm sure there are way more.

when i said upgrade before, i meant to maybe something a little thicker.

[Camurai]

Ok..

Im pretty sure we can all agree that grounding works. Some ppl are using/have used Grounding Kits, other have made/done their own.

Question #1:
Is more expensive always better when it comes to Kits? Ive seen some from as cheap as $50 to some as much $150+. It depends more on the quality of the cabling. Higher strand count equals better electrical efficiency, which translates into better performance.

Question #2:
Once you start, is it a good idea to ground everything, or can you ground just a few things? It's up to you how much you ground, but items you don't include won't benefit from the increased efficiency. Lights will be brighter, they won't dim as much when accessories are turned on, the car will idle better, start easier, most vehicles see a 2-6hp gain on average, etc.

I know "this is what wire tucks are for", but im kind of a fan of my bay looking semi-decent and grounding wires all over the place isnt exactly pretty.

Question #3:
Whats this about the Negative Battery Terminal? I thought grounding was just running a wire from the selected device to the frame/grounded metal part of the car? The negative battery terminal is a ground. In fact, if you really get down to it, it's THE ground. Most aftermarket kits will come with a battery terminal attachment. This is because when Sun Automotive came out with their "Hyper-Ground" wire kit which consist of 5 wires connected in a "daisy chain" setup, they patented this form of connecting ground wires which no other company can mimic.

Question #4:
I know there about 8-10 Ground Points, but what are the points for each device, and where are they located? i.e; Alt-to-where? VC-to-where? etc. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are: right chassis ground, left chassis ground, intake manifold, cylinder head, transmission and negative battery terminal. There are probably more points, but those are all I can think of at the moment.

This is not only for me, but also for others/newbs who wanna ask the same questions.

I did a little search and couldnt really find one or two threads that answered everything, it was more or less a bunch of threads, all asking different questions.

Help, answers, appreciated.

Hope this helps, others can feel free to chime in as well.

[C91BLX7]

Sorry but 2-6HP from ground cables alone seems highly unlikely

[MikeW]

Thanks alot Cam.

Ive seen the one from the batt-fender, and the VC/PS ones as well. ill have to get out and really look for the rest.

Also, 4G is a good wire size, correct?

Is it as simple as attaching one end of the cable to the device, then attaching the other end to the frame/neg. batt. term ?

All-in-all, i would think doing this on your own would be cheaper.

Or are kits an overall better idea? I mean SportCompactOnly.com has them for $35...dunno what grade the wire is, but thats pretty cheap.

I know the more you ground, the better and smoother everything will run, but id think grounding the VC, IM, Alt and headlights would be the only things you'd wanna ground. Guess if ya buy the kit, might as well do em all.

[C91BLX7]

I just took some 8Ga I had from when I put in my amp.


I did:

Bat to frame
Engine to frame (from the PS bracket)

[3tcRob]

Sorry but 2-6HP from ground cables alone seems highly unlikely

It has been proven many times Import Tuner puts one on every car they dyno and it makes power everytime of course older cars see more cause of the age of the wires and the strand count on older wires plus the dirt oil and everything else that happens
Everyone just thinks about the lights being brighter and smoother idle and the "cool looks" but it will also keep your cooling system in beter condition and helps prevent electrolysis, ever pull the rad hose off and see all the corrosion that is from bad grounds you can check your own system with a volt meter put the neg probe on the neg terminal and put the pos side in your rad and check your voltage the min amount allowed escapes me at this time

[Leung]

so what gauge wire would be suggested?

[JohnD1079]

The thicker the better with fine strands.

I made some of my own grounds with my old battery cables. stock battery cables are 4 gauge