I'm looking at the black ground wire that is bolted to the bracket at the top of the firewall that the dog bone engine support connects to. It looks like there was a spade terminal at the other end of it, but the spade is snapped off and I have no idea what the wire is supposed to connect to.

As an aside, is it at all possible that this ground wire not being connected could be causing 13.3 mA of draw on my battery when the car and all accessories are turned off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim Kelsch

I'm looking at the black ground wire that is bolted to the bracket at the top of the firewall that the dog bone engine support connects to. It looks like there was a spade terminal at the other end of it, but the spade is snapped off and I have no idea what the wire is supposed to connect to.

As an aside, is it at all possible that this ground wire not being connected could be causing 13.3 mA of draw on my battery when the car and all accessories are turned off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim Kelsch


Tim...that wire goes down on the top of the tranny....about the first or second case bolt as it goes under the firewall....I'll see if I can get ya a pic/drawing....no idea on the current loss issue....I know my car runs a HELL of a lot better with it 'grounded' better.

Awesome!! Does it connect to one of the harnesses on the transmission, or does it somehow connect to the case of the trans itself?

I couldn't find any help in the damn Service Manuals for the life of me... :mad:

Thanks for the help,
TRK

The red boxed item is that wire.....it attaches under the nut for that bolt, and to nothing else AFAIK. Mine was not connected from the factory :rolleyes:, and it played hell with me until I figured it out.....that's how I know where it goes :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/unclescotty/transground.jpg

Pull the fuse for the clock to see if that changes your power issue ;)

Ahh, I missed that... damn.

Out of curiosity, what problems were you having as a result of this wire being disconnected.

I'll try the fuse for the clock and post the results. That POS is getting yanked in favor of a gauge pod soon, but I'm interested to see if it's the culprit.

Thanks again,
Tim Kelsch

Out of curiosity, what problems were you having as a result of this wire being disconnected.

Thanks again,
Tim Kelsch

I had a bad 'sag' in response ~3000-4500rpm....just general, overall poor drivability and throttle response...bucking/surging hard to modulate throttle issues.

I found that wire disconnected, and re-connected it and it helped....which lead me to do the 'grounding mod' which resolved all the issues I had.

Pulling the clock out and the fuse as well (it kills the dome lights, radio, alarm, and keyless entry) got my current draw down to about 12 mA but I couldn't get it any lower than that by pulling any of the fuses.

Can anybody measure the current draw of their WRX while the car and all accessories are off so that I can have a clue whether I am at a normal level?

I replaced my stock battery with a Hawker Odyssey PC925MJT and it's doing great, I just want to make sure I'm not "killing it slowly."

Thanks,
Tim Kelsch

Shoulda went for the PC680....in CA, if you never get cold....no worries. Mine has seen daily service since SEP03 down to ~25°F.

Also the Hawker batteries can be deep cycled without harm, and will charge as fast as you can reasonably throw current at them....IIRC, the 680 can be fully charged, from fully discharged, in ~20 minutes or so.

Read..........http://www.odysseyfactory.com/documents/odybr101.pdf
Page 21 of this doc addresses your paracitic load issue.
if you have any questions about the Hawker batteries. They really are a VERY good power storage solution, overall.

If I get this stupid current draw thing taken care of, and I have confidence in my electrical system I may sell the fat boy 925 and pick up a 680.

I couldn't find dick for information on the metal jacket that seems to be optional on all of the Odysseys. I'm mounting my battery underneath the passenger seat, so it's not a very harsh environment. My thought was that I wouldn't need the MJ, but I got it anyways just to be safe.

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks for the good info by the way Scotty, I thought you were going to be my eternal nemesis there for a while. ;) :D

Tim Kelsch

The MJ insures a wider operating temperature range, and makes the battery virtually indestructable in severe use. That doc I linked to has all the tech info in it....a very informative doc on the Odyssey batterys.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/unclescotty/102-0212_IMG.jpg