clash_city_rocker

well i've been reading all the posts on ground wire kits for a while, so i finally decided to try one out. i got some 4 gauge wire and gold terminals from an online car audio store and put em in over the weekend.

i honestly didn't think it would do anything, but i figured it can't do anything bad, so worst case i lose $15 bucks and 2 hours of time. big deal.

anyway, at first i didn't think it made a difference except maybe make the radio slightly louder at the same volumes, but after a couple days i'm noticing the engine is running smoother like most people say it does. the throttle lag is still there, it'll always be there, but it is cut down a little bit.

for instance if you're driving in like 3rd gear and you let off the gas and let your engine settle to like 2k rpms and then slam the gas, the delay is still there, just not as big. but i really noticed the difference during shifting... what bugged me the most with my TC after i got my short shifter was that i could throw the stick into the next gear real quick, but then had to wait and slowly let up the clutch. unlike other cars i've driven where you can really slam down the gas and pop the clutch, it seems like when you slam down the gas on this car, it doesn't kick in fast enough and you end up making the car buck like crazy. that is a 100 times better now with the ground wires. i don't know how it affects an automatic, but if you have a manual with a short shifter, this really helps.

also it feels like the engine is smoother at low rpms. like when you're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic with a manual, and you stay in first gear by accident when you really should shift to neutral... my car used to buck all over like it's about to stall... it doesn't do that anymore, it's much more stable.

anyway, i'm not trying to start another arguement about whether they work or not, just giving my opinion. i was skeptical, and now i say if you can get the parts cheap, then try it. you really got nothing to lose. will it give you more power? of course not. or at least nothing you can notice. will it make your electrical system run more efficiently (and in turn your engine, which is controlled by your electrical system)? it's debatable, and it might just be in my head, but i think it did make a different for me.

Whocares05050

" .... , but i think it did make a difference for me "

Thats what counts!
Good job ill have to try that on my next day off, maybe you can post some pics on were you grounded everything off to?
Ill think thats why i didnt get the grounding kits because #1 there too much money and # 2 i could have probably done the same thing you did

clash_city_rocker

yeah, i definately wouldn't spend a lot on a kit when you can just get some wire straight from an audio store for like 10-15 bucks. and it's probably better quality than those ebay kits too.

i can take some pics after work tonight but it's nothing too impressive. i did left body to head, to last coilpack, to first coilpack, to firewall, to battery neg, to chassis. then ran another from alt to chassis... i didn't do alt to battery yet though because i'm not sure where the alt pos exactly is and i don't want to break anything.

NoLimitzBuilt

I built my own also. I went over board on mine but oh well. I made sure all the wires are basically hidden as I think it looks ugly when you have wire hanging all over the motor. Mine goes from right strut to the block, them from the block to the coil packs, jumped every coil pack out of the coil packs down to the block under the starter, then to the battery with 4 guage. A little over kill but oh well.

Whocares05050

pics?

clash_city_rocker

sorry about the wait, here's some pics with the valve cover off.

and yes, i know my car is dirty.


body to head, head to last coil, last coil to first coil -


alt to chassis, i'm a little weary of attaching wires to the pos terminal on the battery so i'll wait until i find out exactly where the alt to battery wire needs to attach to before i make that connection-

clash_city_rocker

NCBIGGJ, i'll probably redo mine at some point to make them more hidden too... i don't like the look of them much either, at least the valve cover covers some it of up... plus i need to wrap up the wire to terminal connections, they look like a$$.

WeDriveScions

Be Careful on that wire going from the alternator to the front body... it's dangerously close to the header heat shield. If you ever plan on removing that to install aftermarket headers, or run for long periods of time fast, you really should think about moving that wire away from that HOT area.

STAT

NCBIGJ do you have pics of the coils? I was thinking about doing them but I couldn't find where to put them, and it was damn hot out side didn't feal like looking that long, I want to add a few more points and those were them.

clash_city_rocker

WeDriveScions, good point, thanks... maybe I'll just move that to the left side instead.

and STAT, the 2nd picture shows where i grounded one of the coil packs... there's only 1 screw holding each casing down, so there's not much of an option of where to do it.

Whocares05050

looks good, but is that were all the wires go on the actual grounding kits? why would you connect the 1st and last coil?

clash_city_rocker

some people do all 4, some just do 1... all you're really doing is shortening the distance the ground current has to travel, and i figure the distance between each coil isn't too big, so just adding 2 points is probably good enough.

also once i started working with the 4 gauge wire, i realized how much of a pain it is, so it was easier to just do the 2 points and call it a day.

clash_city_rocker

and every grounding kit i've seen is different, so i don't really know what to compare it too..... but battery neg, head, coil packs, firewall, alt, and the strut towers seem to be common to most of them

STAT

clash city, thanks, about that wire near the heat sheald, there is a point I put on the pasanger side fire wall that you could run that to, unforchanily it's behind the washer fluid so little hard to get to, but then it's more out of the way. just an idea. it's already got a bolt with two about 16 guage wires on it already. it's the point shown on clubscion walk threw.

Oznium_com

Why is 4 gauge wire a pain to work with ???

STAT

it's huge and the conectors are meaty so trying to crimp them w/o the right tools your going to need some major forarm strenght. :insert bad joke hear:

clash_city_rocker

yeah, i ended up just taking a hammer to the terminals to crimp them on... not the prettiest of connections, but i figure i'll just wrap some electrical tape around them to cover it up

Celt

thanks i was always doubtful but ill give it a go

riccochetrabbit

Good way to crimp the terminals are in a vise. I, however, prefer the terminals with a set screw.