Wire upgrade Q's.

[tkoforpresident]

I've done the zzp rewire kit that puts a 4 gauge wire from the rear of the alternator to the positive red box on the fenderwell. I was told that after this mod, upgrading the battery negative to chassis ground wire would be useless, can anyone explain why this is?

second, I am planning on upgrading the engine to chassis ground. to do this i have learned instead of replacing the existing ground wire I can simply get a large wire like 4gauge and bolt it on the alternator mounting bracket which is connected to the engine and then simply choose a spot to ground it on the chassis. Because it chooses the path of least resistence it will use this ground wire instead of the wimpy stock one. Does this make sense? and is there a good ground spot close to the alternator on the 3.4 that i can run that wire to?

thanx

max

[GinsuGuy585]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

Upgrading the battery negative to chassis ground is a good idea, whoever told you only to upgrade the +12v lines is misinformed.

I would suggest cleaning the alternator, bracket, and engine where the components contact each other, and a wire from the alt case (where ever you feel it will be safe) to the chassis.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

the person told me that if i run the zzp rewire kit to the red box than it takes the battery "out of the circuit" so it would not help to upgrade the neg battery to chassis wire.

and the spot where the neg battery to chassis is, would that be a good spot to also ground the engine to chassis?

[GinsuGuy585]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

Your friend is 1/2 right (or 1/2 wrong).

While the engine is turning you can actually remove the battery and it will keep running. However when you are starting your car, running high power amps, or running accessories while the engine is off, you are drawing power from the battery. Some people have reported their engines start better (questionable) and their lights dim less (probably true) with better battery ground connections.

Yes you can use the stock ground point on the chassis for engine and battery.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

either way, it cant HURT to upgrade that wire i mean right? it can only help. So what your saying tho is that it may not help while the engine is running, but it will help for when the engine is off but the batt is in use/ and starting the car up?

[GinsuGuy585]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

Exactly.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

bad ***, one more Q.....

instead of replacing the stock wire going from batt neg to chassis ground i want to simply add a better one (i don't want to mess with the battery terminal) so can i simply get a ring terminal for the new wire, crimp it on the end of it, unhook the neg battery terminal and simply "slip it" onto the screw that goes into the battery, then screw it back in real tight. Basically would that work? cuz i'd rather not pull apart the neg batt terminal.


also, does anyone know where the stock battery grounding point on the 3.4 is?

[CoasterKev06]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

I replied to the thread in the electrical section, then had to delete it cause I saw this one... dang...

What I wrote in the other post which pretty much re-answers what has been answered...

"The spot doesn't matter... as long as it's a good contact (bare metal against bare metal)

As far as the battery ground upgrade being pointless, not sure why you would do it in the first place if you don't upgrade the battery's positive wire.

As far as the "path of least resistance" making sense...

Electric current only exists due to the movement of electrons. In a closed system, you can think of electric current as being flowing water. If you give water two paths to take, it will take the one of least resistance. For example, water does not flow up... "

Now to answer your last two questions...

"Yes..."

-and-

"There should be a black box, just like the red one, that's the ground. If not, follow the battery ground wire until you see it bolted to the frame/body/anything metal that isn't another wire. Shouldn't be farther than 18 inches away from the battery. The one's on the 3.8 are bolted to the wheel well."

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

thanx there is a spot on the wheel well just above the positive red box. The battery neg goes to this so this is obviously the ground. Thanks for the help, now i will run 4 gauge ground wire from the alternator bracket and the neg battery terminal to this one point and call it aday... big 3 done!

i think what i'll end up doing is buy another zzp rewire kit, cut it in half (cuz its 4 feet!!!) buy two more ring terminals and then use those two wires for the 2 grounds i need to finish the big 3.

[Ballee]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

did you see any difference? in the performance of ur electric system?

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

ballee.... hahah my car is currently in an auto cocoon on my back patio for the winter. Besides i've only changed the one wire so far and i haven't even had a chance to start it up yet cuz my throttle body is currently disconnected =)

[FirebirdGT]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

i think what i'll end up doing is buy another zzp rewire kit, cut it in half (cuz its 4 feet!!!) buy two more ring terminals and then use those two wires for the 2 grounds i need to finish the big 3.

Then they either sent you the wrong one, or you mis-ordered it. The 93-97 is only 30", the 98+ is 4 feet. BOTH are on their site.

[auto666]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

Your friend is 1/2 right (or 1/2 wrong).

While the engine is turning you can actually remove the battery and it will keep running. However when you are starting your car, running high power amps, or running accessories while the engine is off, you are drawing power from the battery.

DO NOT DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY WHILE THE CAR IS RUNNING!!!!
the battery acts like a cusion absorbing voltage and amperage spikes, disconnecting it while the car is running puts you in real danger of frying electronic components

[Blizzard242]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

What I did was add, not replace, larger grounds where the previous grounds were. Nothing dims or acts funny while using many things. Including a pretty decent amp and sub. The only thing that ever dims or lowers my voltage is while I'm comming to a stop and I have the rear defroster on. I turn that off and everything jumps back up pretty quickly. If you never plan on running your car in the winter then you'll have no problems with just upgrading the chassis to block + the negative batt terminal to the chassis.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Wire upgrade Q's.

Then they either sent you the wrong one, or you mis-ordered it. The 93-97 is only 30", the 98+ is 4 feet. BOTH are on their site.

thats stupid cuz on the zzp website i specifically chose "pre 98 firebird or camaro" but they sent me the wrong one anyhow. Regardless here's what i'm doing.... I'm gonn cut the one they gave me in half cuz thats all i really need for the alt rewire part of it, then the other half of it is gonna be for my engine to chassis ground. I also found 2 feet of stinger wire which i will cut down to about a foot for the batt to chasis ground. I already purchased some gold plated ring terminals for the 4 gauge wire... i got some 3/8 opening and 1/4 so i can be specific. Once everything gets here i'll install it all and be done with the big 3. I will have used only one zzp kit and some of my spare wire to do this. The whole upgrade will be shorter than stock and twice as large (4 ga as compared to 8) so hopefully this will all add up in the end. The ONLY time my car ever drops voltage is when i have my headlights on and i hit the brake pedal, i've actually got in the habit of puting my car in park at long lights or else the volts creep down around 8. This mod is much easier that i anticipated, just takes knowing where everything goes and having the resources to do it.