I was wondering if anyone has tried replacing our Big 3 (altenator to positive battery, negative batter to chassis, engine block to chassis) cables yet. I kinda glanced over them today just to try and see what I'd be working with. The negative battery terminal cable didn't seem hard to do. The altenator power cable seemed fairly accessible, but may cause a few problems. I couldn't find the cable that goes from the chassis to the engine. But honestly I didn't really look all that hard. So I was just wondering if anyone has tried this yet and how difficult it was.

 

Grounding kit pretty much takes care of two on that list. The engine to chassis is on the passenger side of the engine, near the mount. Even without a grounding kit, though, it should be really easy to do.

 

I think what I'll probably do then is just upgrade the cables on the grounding kit I've got right now. I have the cheap ebay kit and the gauge of the wire is only like 8 I think. I like the Ralliart terminal post that came with the kit and I want to keep it (though the Knukonceptz terminal is pretty sweet looking), plus it seems to be good quality too. I'll just replace the wires with 4 guage probably and leave the ground from the engine to the chassis how it is. I've already got 1/0 power and ground cable so I figured I'd use that to replace the other two cables.

 

I didn't do the alternator-to-positive, but I did the other two. I left the original block-to-chassis ground in place, but ran another wire from the negative post to the head, and another to the intake manifold. I also removed the neg-to-chassis ground wire and replaced it with something a little beefier. I didn't really notice any difference, but I have the peace of mind that having more than one little wire grounding my engine gives.

 

What guage did you use?

 

Nothing too huge. 12ga. I had a bunch of it laying around.

 

Well you aren't going to see much of any kind of difference with any size you upgrade to as long as you are running everything stock in your car. It's only needed when you start adding things that will pull larger amounts of power. I am curious if it fixes the dimming headlights caused by the lightened underdrive pulley. Do you have that on your car Myszkewicz?

Using the stock wires if you install a large stereo system will cause the stereo to not work to full potential. It's the equivilant of trying to suck a gallon of water through a coffee stirrer straw. On the other hand if you upgrade the wires to accommodate your stereo and your stereo is huge enough you could burn up your alternator since it's too small for what you want. In which case it would be time to upgrade the alternator and battery. Last resort is a capacitor. AS capacitor isn't there to supply the constant power to large systems. It's just there to help when the system has large spikes in power.

So with that being said here is the order you should upgrade your car's power:

1) Big 3 (battery ground to chassis, battery positive to alternator, engine block to chassis)

2) Alternator & Battery

3) Capacitor

 

i just did the capacitor and it keeps my lights from dimming...and i was running a MASSIVE system...

 

I'm sure it does, but you are only putting a bandaide on a bigger problem. If you system is that big I'd really look into getting a better alternator. It maybe working now, but eventually it's gonna go. And you might as well add bigger gauge wires under your hood too. Let your system breath to it's full potential. But then again that maybe what is helping keep your alternator going this long. Open up those cables and the alternator will probably have an even shorter life.

Either way, just remember that the capacitor may seem like it's working but it's only a temp fix.

 

Yes, I have the UD pulley on my car. I also have an Optima red top. My headlights still dim at idle. I put the stock pulley back on once to see what the difference is, and they dim with the stock pulley, too. In my case, they only dim at idle, and brighten back up when I tap the gas. I'm OK with that.

 

Well... my question is, where can i get an aftermarket alternator that'll fit my car? (I'm new to modding the car's electric side)...

 

Hey i came across this, I am putting a nice system in, i havnt gotten to the big 3 so if any one has pics on where the items are located, let me know so i can get it done,
anywayz, here is a little somethign on alternators, if that doesnt work, find a shop that can rewind ur alternator.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=143336
Cheers

 

i replaced all my ground with lagers gauge welding ground works asome cuz my old one caught on fire

 

Whenever I get around to replacing mine I'll be sure to take pictures. For now though if you want to know where the cables are start at the battery. Follow the negative and you will see where it is grounded to the chassis. Follow the positive lead and it will take you to the alternator. I forget where the engine block to chassis ground is. That will at least give you a good idea of the amount of cable you will need.

 

Damn dude, you hit 70K already?!?!? Boy how times flies. Seems like just yesterday your car was just a young pup. Was it yesterday? lol