Grounding mod FAQ the right way thread pics too!

Davenow · 11-30-2004, 04:43 PM

Ok so I typed this all out in another post and though it would be good to make this its own post, with pics and all.

Here is a cut and past of my directtions

OK go to autozone, buy the spool of black (or whatever color you want) 10ga wire, the ones that come on the yellow card, I think its 15 feet maybe?
Buy at least 5 eyes (the things that go on the end of the wire to put a bolt through, for some reason the name escapes me right now)
You will need some sort of soldering device, and preferably a mini torch or lighter.

Buy some heat shrink or a roll of elec tape.

OK
Starting at the battery, neg terminal, use eye to attatch the wire to the bolt on the neg cable
Pull the cable out about 5 feet or so and cut., lay it across the engine towards the passenger side. Leave it there for now.
Looking down at your motor from in front of the car, on the right side head, front, you will see a bolt. You are going to look up at the wire you have running across the car now, Cut a piece of wire long enough to eye to that bolt, and run up to the main wire.
Strip back about an inch of the covering on the main wire, solder the line off the head to the main wire, heatshrink or wrap with elec tape, do the same thing again on the bolt on the back of the alternator, And again on the passenger side head, there is an open, threaded bolt hole in the front, a 10mm(iirc, could be 8mm) bolt goes right in.

Basically you want both heads, and the alternator ground wires attatched to the main wire. For a clean install, for the passenger side head, cut the main line short enough and put an eyelet on it and use it to ground the head.
I think I am going to write up a killer post with pics for this

I had a grounding mod before this, it did NOTHING. I thought long and hard about it, came up with this, installed it and guess what, it WORKED. The car ran noticeably smoother.

I ran nothing to the body. If you look right next to the neg terminal, there is alreasy an 8 gauge line running right from the battery to the chassis about 6 inches away.
You basically run the line from teh neg terminal to the passenger head front.
You branch lines off of it to the back of the alternator and to the drivers side head.

I DID forget running another off the main line to the standard bolt we all use on the intake. Once will do, just the drivers side.

Your goal here is getting better grounds for the coilpacks, the important sensors, (manifold) and the main electrical system (back of alternator)
The body is already grounded from the battery with a VERY short 8 gauge line right at the battery. You arent going to make a better ground than that. You may want to unbolt it from the fender and clean any paint out from under it to make better contact though.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO MAKE YOU A KIT AND SELL IT TO YOU. I WILL NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUILD YOU A KIT FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY.

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

Davenow · 11-30-2004, 04:43 PM

Davenow · 11-30-2004, 04:45 PM

I should make a bunch of these up and sell them on ebay

Think anyone would buy them??? It would be a 5 min install if it was premade

MikeWRX-NJ · 11-30-2004, 04:48 PM

companies already do and charge $80+

nice write up

kbarb03 · 11-30-2004, 04:54 PM

You should use heat shrink that is adhesive lined, or use adhesive with the normal heat shrink. This is what makes the heat shrink actually be weather proof.

Davenow · 11-30-2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbarb03

You should use heat shrink that is adhesive lined, or use adhesive with the normal heat shrink. This is what makes the heat shrink actually be weather proof.

That would be better yes, but as this is just a ground line, it wont really hurt it to get wet. But better is better. If you can get your hands on it, use it

Rev1 · 11-30-2004, 05:04 PM

I have one additional grounding point: bolt by the throttle body and the intake manifold (given that our TB's are electrically operated, could use a better ground there)

SLIGHTLY · 11-30-2004, 05:17 PM

How come this is inportant? Seems like soemthing that should have been done at the factory..

WRXVT · 11-30-2004, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLIGHTLY_INSANE

How come this is inportant? Seems like soemthing that should have been done at the factory..

Yeah I’m curious as to why Subaru doesn’t do this already. It doesn’t seem like it would add much cost at all…

brianbot5000 · 11-30-2004, 05:39 PM

Some say it's questionable whether this does anything. Others will say it's worth it. Probably some where in between.

And if it came from the factory like this, then what we have to debate about??

Rev1 · 11-30-2004, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLIGHTLY_INSANE

How come this is inportant? Seems like soemthing that should have been done at the factory..

It effectively lowers the resistance of the grounding circuit.

Your butt dyno feels it as if the car is smoother, like Davenow says. I feel the same.

Some people say it doesn't do sheet, some people can feel the results. It's up to you.

I measured two grounding points with a voltmeter, and I saw 0.3 to 0.5 ohms lower resistance (average) with the grounding kit in place.

snvin · 11-30-2004, 06:04 PM

Quote:

I ran nothing to the body. If you look right next to the neg terminal, there is alreasy an 8 gauge line running right from the battery to the chassis about 6 inches away.

Nice writeup Davenow.

I know the car is already grounded to the body via a stock ground, but is there any harm in grounding it to the body yourself? I have mine running to the passenger strut top, but I've heard that this is the worst place to ground something to the car's body.

Mulder · 11-30-2004, 06:13 PM

Now, just ask a mod here to move this to the proper forum (Electrical) and we can link to it in the Threads of Note there.

Davenow · 11-30-2004, 06:31 PM

I know that some people say this doesnt work. I KNOW I said the same, yet I also know that with this setup, I FELT A DIFFERENCE.
Here is the thing. If you are looking at spending $80 for an HKS kit that just may do NOTHING, then dont.
My setup will cost you at or under $10 and 20 min time. Is $10 worth a shot to make your car run better/smoother? Duh.

Even if I make these and start selling them, They will be like 25 shipped. If that. Do it yourself. Itss IRT cheap, and works EXACTLY the same as a $200 kit. (yes some manu's charge $200 for it, and even if it makes a difference, its not $200 worth of a difference.)

mkalbarc · 11-30-2004, 08:41 PM

Davenow,
Great Post!!!
I now have a project for this weekend! Woo hoo! ... The only time I get 20 minutes to do anything.

Thanks!

Uncle Scotty · 11-30-2004, 08:46 PM

Thanks Dave....looks like ya finally got it all figured out, without any extra bullspit

Keep some n00bs from wasting a lot of $$$ on nothing.

My car runs better after I did this mod.

mno · 11-30-2004, 09:38 PM

Great write thanks for the info.

mgc9876 · 11-30-2004, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mno

Great write thanks for the info.

Gotta try this myself.

railguy · 11-30-2004, 10:05 PM

Great write up, does unabomber have competition?

5spdfrk · 11-30-2004, 10:10 PM

Sweet! Thanks Davenow for some real useful info. I will do this soon!

westphalia · 11-30-2004, 10:25 PM

What about the possibility of grounding loops? Was there any consensus on that?

Bishop · 12-01-2004, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davenow

I should make a bunch of these up and sell them on ebay

Think anyone would buy them??? It would be a 5 min install if it was premade

i'll buy one from ya!!

no really. i would.

rallyblues · 12-01-2004, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davenow

I know that some people say this doesnt work. I KNOW I said the same, yet I also know that with this setup, I FELT A DIFFERENCE.
Here is the thing. If you are looking at spending $80 for an HKS kit that just may do NOTHING, then dont.
My setup will cost you at or under $10 and 20 min time. Is $10 worth a shot to make your car run better/smoother? Duh.

Even if I make these and start selling them, They will be like 25 shipped. If that. Do it yourself. Itss IRT cheap, and works EXACTLY the same as a $200 kit. (yes some manu's charge $200 for it, and even if it makes a difference, its not $200 worth of a difference.)

"I FELT A DIFFERENCE." Ever heard of placebo effect? It's real, all the drug companies test their drugs against a placebo, b/c third or so of people improve on a sugar pill.

Is there any OBJECTIVE tests outhere that this actually makes difference in car perfromance - lowered resistance does not equate performance.

I'm not trying to be a dlck, it's that I've always wondered what this thing does. I always thought it was the bling... same as those red manifolds

MistaOctamopus · 12-01-2004, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rallyblues

"I FELT A DIFFERENCE." Ever heard of placebo effect? It's real, all the drug companies test their drugs against a placebo, b/c third or so of people improve on a sugar pill.

Is there any OBJECTIVE tests outhere that this actually makes difference in car perfromance - lowered resistance does not equate performance.

I'm not trying to be a dlck, it's that I've always wondered what this thing does. I always thought it was the bling... same as those red manifolds

Search Davenow's posts, and then decide if the $10 is worth it. The guy knows enough to make it worth your while to research, and $10 is a pretty cheap mod. He is very knowledgable about the car, and $10 isn't much even for the cheapest modder, so what's really to lose? However I applaud your method of researching and deciding for yourself. It's $10 just do it.

NWWagon · 12-01-2004, 07:24 AM

A good way to hide the pesky wires is to use a strut bar. I got a $20 eBay Sti clone bar so wasn't afraid to drill it out. Makes for a little cleaner of an install.

The pictures are a bit old I've since then added a wire to the back fire wall and to the bolt by the alternator as shown in the earlier pictures.
PLEASE NOTE that I disn't use the Passenger strut bolt as a grounding poit, only as a remote ground if I wanted to (and did) add wires to it. The strut bolts are not a ground and will not help.

11-30-2004, 04:43 PM	#1
Davenow Scooby Guru Member#: 23676 Join Date: Aug 2002 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: de_dust and Orgrimar Vehicle: .	Grounding mod FAQ the right way thread pics too! Ok so I typed this all out in another post and though it would be good to make this its own post, with pics and all. Here is a cut and past of my directtions OK go to autozone, buy the spool of black (or whatever color you want) 10ga wire, the ones that come on the yellow card, I think its 15 feet maybe? Buy at least 5 eyes (the things that go on the end of the wire to put a bolt through, for some reason the name escapes me right now) You will need some sort of soldering device, and preferably a mini torch or lighter. Buy some heat shrink or a roll of elec tape. OK Starting at the battery, neg terminal, use eye to attatch the wire to the bolt on the neg cable Pull the cable out about 5 feet or so and cut., lay it across the engine towards the passenger side. Leave it there for now. Looking down at your motor from in front of the car, on the right side head, front, you will see a bolt. You are going to look up at the wire you have running across the car now, Cut a piece of wire long enough to eye to that bolt, and run up to the main wire. Strip back about an inch of the covering on the main wire, solder the line off the head to the main wire, heatshrink or wrap with elec tape, do the same thing again on the bolt on the back of the alternator, And again on the passenger side head, there is an open, threaded bolt hole in the front, a 10mm(iirc, could be 8mm) bolt goes right in. Basically you want both heads, and the alternator ground wires attatched to the main wire. For a clean install, for the passenger side head, cut the main line short enough and put an eyelet on it and use it to ground the head. I think I am going to write up a killer post with pics for this I had a grounding mod before this, it did NOTHING. I thought long and hard about it, came up with this, installed it and guess what, it WORKED. The car ran noticeably smoother. I ran nothing to the body. If you look right next to the neg terminal, there is alreasy an 8 gauge line running right from the battery to the chassis about 6 inches away. You basically run the line from teh neg terminal to the passenger head front. You branch lines off of it to the back of the alternator and to the drivers side head. I DID forget running another off the main line to the standard bolt we all use on the intake. Once will do, just the drivers side. Your goal here is getting better grounds for the coilpacks, the important sensors, (manifold) and the main electrical system (back of alternator) The body is already grounded from the battery with a VERY short 8 gauge line right at the battery. You arent going to make a better ground than that. You may want to unbolt it from the fender and clean any paint out from under it to make better contact though. PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO MAKE YOU A KIT AND SELL IT TO YOU. I WILL NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUILD YOU A KIT FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads. Last edited by Davenow; 02-28-2009 at 11:19 AM.

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11-30-2004, 04:45 PM	#3
Davenow Scooby Guru Member#: 23676 Join Date: Aug 2002 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: de_dust and Orgrimar Vehicle: .	I should make a bunch of these up and sell them on ebay Think anyone would buy them??? It would be a 5 min install if it was premade

11-30-2004, 04:48 PM	#4
MikeWRX-NJ Scooby Specialist Member#: 33410 Join Date: Feb 2003 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: wishing i was somewhere else Vehicle: 08 wrx dgm	companies already do and charge $80+ nice write up

11-30-2004, 04:54 PM	#5
kbarb03 Scooby Newbie Member#: 62440 Join Date: May 2004 Location: GA tech Vehicle: 2003 WRX black	You should use heat shrink that is adhesive lined, or use adhesive with the normal heat shrink. This is what makes the heat shrink actually be weather proof.

11-30-2004, 05:04 PM	#7
Rev1 Scooby Specialist Member#: 51240 Join Date: Dec 2003 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: Chicago Vehicle: 08 Lexus IS350 Black	I have one additional grounding point: bolt by the throttle body and the intake manifold (given that our TB's are electrically operated, could use a better ground there)

11-30-2004, 05:17 PM	#8
SLIGHTLY Scooby Specialist Member#: 47909 Join Date: Nov 2003 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Vashon WA Vehicle: 2004 PSM WRX Wagon awd+corner, WEEEEEE!	How come this is inportant? Seems like soemthing that should have been done at the factory..

11-30-2004, 05:39 PM	#10
brianbot5000 Scooby Specialist Member#: 44000 Join Date: Sep 2003 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Seattle Vehicle: 2013 2013 WRX Hatch 1997 Toyota Tacoma	Some say it's questionable whether this does anything. Others will say it's worth it. Probably some where in between. And if it came from the factory like this, then what we have to debate about??

11-30-2004, 06:13 PM	#13
Mulder Trust no one Moderator Member#: 11170 Join Date: Oct 2001 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: NYC Vehicle: 02 RAV4 MT 15 WRX/11 CRZ	Now, just ask a mod here to move this to the proper forum (Electrical) and we can link to it in the Threads of Note there.

11-30-2004, 06:31 PM	#14
Davenow Scooby Guru Member#: 23676 Join Date: Aug 2002 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: de_dust and Orgrimar Vehicle: .	I know that some people say this doesnt work. I KNOW I said the same, yet I also know that with this setup, I FELT A DIFFERENCE. Here is the thing. If you are looking at spending $80 for an HKS kit that just may do NOTHING, then dont. My setup will cost you at or under $10 and 20 min time. Is $10 worth a shot to make your car run better/smoother? Duh. Even if I make these and start selling them, They will be like 25 shipped. If that. Do it yourself. Itss IRT cheap, and works EXACTLY the same as a $200 kit. (yes some manu's charge $200 for it, and even if it makes a difference, its not $200 worth of a difference.)

11-30-2004, 08:41 PM	#15
mkalbarc Scooby Newbie Member#: 59427 Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Michigan Vehicle: 2005 Legacy GT ltd Black as night	Davenow, Great Post!!! I now have a project for this weekend! Woo hoo! ... The only time I get 20 minutes to do anything. Thanks!

11-30-2004, 08:46 PM	#16
Uncle Scotty * Banned * Member#: 16200 Join Date: Mar 2002 Vehicle: OK buy Nates beans westcoastroasting.com	Thanks Dave....looks like ya finally got it all figured out, without any extra bullspit Keep some n00bs from wasting a lot of $$$ on nothing. My car runs better after I did this mod.

11-30-2004, 09:38 PM	#17
mno Scooby Specialist Member#: 59322 Join Date: Apr 2004 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: Michigan Born and Raised. Vehicle: 2004 STi WRB,09 G8GT 08 G6, 06 CTS, 2010 Prius	Great write thanks for the info.

11-30-2004, 10:05 PM	#19
railguy Scooby Specialist Member#: 53756 Join Date: Jan 2004 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: MAIC Vehicle: 2002 WRX WRB	Great write up, does unabomber have competition?

11-30-2004, 10:10 PM	#20
5spdfrk Scooby Specialist Member#: 46407 Join Date: Oct 2003 Chapter/Region: South East Location: Way souf of ATL Vehicle: 2002 WRX blew	Sweet! Thanks Davenow for some real useful info. I will do this soon!

11-30-2004, 10:25 PM	#21
westphalia Scooby Specialist Member#: 28008 Join Date: Oct 2002 Chapter/Region: South East Location: Raleigh, NC Vehicle: 04 Silver WRX My kids are now 4 & 2	What about the possibility of grounding loops? Was there any consensus on that?

12-01-2004, 07:24 AM	#25
NWWagon Scooby Specialist Member#: 66769 Join Date: Jul 2004 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: Kansas City Vehicle: 05 Focus "ST" '80 Honda CM400T	A good way to hide the pesky wires is to use a strut bar. I got a $20 eBay Sti clone bar so wasn't afraid to drill it out. Makes for a little cleaner of an install. The pictures are a bit old I've since then added a wire to the back fire wall and to the bolt by the alternator as shown in the earlier pictures. PLEASE NOTE that I disn't use the Passenger strut bolt as a grounding poit, only as a remote ground if I wanted to (and did) add wires to it. The strut bolts are not a ground and will not help.