I added ground wires to my car.. It will help if your factory grounds are getting corroded or making less than perfect contact. Make sure the factory connections are clean and shiney. The did run "alittle" better, smoother after the addition of a few wired directly to the - battery terminal

 

i have the grounding mod. DIY, used 4Guage audio power wire and ran 4 new grounds to seperate points, forget exact ones, then ran all to the neg. battery terminal. made car run noticably smoother, less hesitation. seriosly, when i put it on, i was like, "this cant possibly do shat to the performance of my car, this will be pointless" but i did it and it is noticable. i am glad i did it, a lot smoother than stock

 

Not circle earth but similar:

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...&threadid=1197

 

Mysub:
What were your mounting points?

Anyone else, what mounting points have you used, Turbo insinuated the mounting points used could be tuned.

k2

 

Here is someones DIY one on our site:

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...ight=grounding

 

I'm about to do a DIY 5 point, all points to batt neg -- but to my MY02 RS. I probably won't get it in for a few days, but I'll post my impression in case anyone wants to read yet more on this somewhat controversial mod. I almost have enough wire for 6 points and have been checking that.

Before running out and spending all that cash on a prefrabricated kit, check out the scoobymod thread. Great parts can be had for a lot less. In that same thread check out sonicwrx's installation. I'm using those parts on the points in Peaty's installation.

Here's a few things, and I'll appreciate any comments on the first and the last:

It occurred to me ground points that are painted might be better with the paint sanded off. However I am reluctant to sand around the strut tower bolt. That seems like the last place I want rust to show up. But then there's this stuff called, I think, dialectic grease. Would a prudent amount of that, kept away from the tower bolt, prevent rust and make a clean connection?

Strut tower top nut torque value situation:
I've read (these are all foot pounds): 12, 13, "about 15," 14.5 "straight from the manual." 14.1 "straight from the manual." (I know, 14.1?) One of those situations where I'd be happy reading it myself.

On my DIY stuff, I have to crimp the wire and ring terminals together. 4 and 8 ga crimpers are not found in the normal hardware store. When I finally found the tool it was $70. Some guys just hammer the connection. I experimented with this: I drilled a hole the diameter of the ring terminal tube into a chunk of wood, close to the top of the chunk. I cut off the top, midway through the length of hole, so a trough ran along the surface of the wood. Setting the terminal in the trough holds the terminal and, I think, might help keep the tube from flattening out. I placed the blade of a screwdriver at the top of the tube, vertically, and hammered it till it compressed into the wire. Then I placed the blade horizontally at the base of the terminal tube and hammered that. Then I turned the terminal over, did the same thing but in opposite positions. I had made sure to buy enough parts to make mistakes/experiment with. The connections seemed really tight.

Finally -- this is small, but if anyone would care to comment: there is a factory ground from batt neg to the wall right next to the battery. Since the wheel well has a plastic liner, I can't feel the end of that ground bolt to see if there is a nut on the end. Am I correct in assuming it is a sheet metal screw and does not have a nut on the other end that I will hear clunk when I unbolt it?

Thanks for any comments, and I hope that helps.

 

I wouldn't mess w/ the strut tower bolts just use one of the ones that the OEM uses:



There is one on the other side in the same place too, you just need a bolt to go in there, just pop out the back plug they have in there:

 

My MY02 RS doen't have the factory grounds near the strut towers as in Peaty's photos. There is an unused and plugged hole of the front, passenger side wall of the tower I was considering, but nothing on the driver side...except the bracket the windshield washer resevoir is bolted to. I'll go snoop around. I don't want take serious stuff apart if I don't have to.

 

I said after doing it I would report back here re: the grounding mod. This is kind of long, but I figured some non pro like me might appreciate the detail. If I were able to furnish pics I would have.

The car is a mechanically stock MY02 RS.

Because he reported a difference after installing the grounding mod, I used Peaty’s Hot Earth installation on scoobymods.com as a guide. http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...ight=hot+earth

I used sonicwrx’s installation on scoobymods.com as a guide for components. http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...h&pagenumber=2

Prior to installing the…system, the motor was dead cold and I disconnected the battery so I could reset the ECU after finishing.

This was six points to battery negative: four points to a ground distribution block which connects to batt neg; two points directly to the batt neg terminal.

Specifically:
One 4 ga wire from batt neg to distribution block.

Four 8 ga wires from the distribution block to:

Driver side strut tower side wall.
Driver side engine block (unused threaded hole just about under throttle cable wheels. See Peaty’s install for the 2.5). The bolt that fit that spot was an M8 x 1.25. The shortest I could find was 12mm, and that was too long. I cut it to fit.

Passenger side strut tower front wall.
Passenger side manifold factory ground near coil (See Peaty’s install for the 2.5)

One each 8 ga wire from batt neg to the factory grounds at d/s and p/s front fenders. These were threaded holes, by the way.

My car does not have the factory grounds on the strut tower tops as in the Hot Earth installation pics. Common practice seems to use the strut tower bolts as grounding points. After searching, I found an unused threaded hole on the driver side strut tower wall, under the brake fluid reservoir. Not a great spot to work in, but free. On the front wall of the passenger side strut tower were two plugged threaded holes. From pics I’ve seen these two appear to be used on the rex. I used the one on the right. I couldn’t see what the difference could be using the tower top or wall. In keeping with something of a leave-well-enough-alone attitude I chose to leave the tower nuts alone and use the available holes on the tower walls. Both holes took M6 x1.00, 10mm bolts, with washers. (A few chassis/frame spots looked like good ground points but were also low and closer to water splash.)

I cleaned but did not sand all points.
I cleaned the inside of the 4ga ring terminal tube with fine grit paper – and had intended to do something similar with the 8 ga, but it slipped my mind.
I was able to get solid crimps by first using a screwdriver blade to pinch the wire inside the terminal tube, then placing the curved handle of an old wrench on the tube and whacking that with a hammer. That way the hammer didn’t tear up the tube surface.
In routing the wire I used the shortest lengths possible, trying to stay out of the way of maintenance/service work, and avoiding sharp bends and contact with hot surfaces.

I bought the same distribution block sonicwrx did -- and same grades of wire, but less of the 8 ga. If you use these parts you will see why sonicwrx positioned everything as he did. I had intended to do a five point installation. After receiving the parts I decided there might be enough 8 ga to add the passenger side fender for a sixth point. Sonic looped the 4 ga toward the rear of the car. I wound up curving a shorter length of 4 ga toward the front of the car by bending the 4 ga ring terminal so I could attach it going opposite the direction it automatically fits. Bending it was only difficult because I have no vise. I had to invent a way to clamp it to something sturdy. The terminal was brass and bent very nicely otherwise.
There's more if you think you can stand it...

 

Curving the short length of 4 ga toward the front of the car allowed me to position the distribution block so I didn’t have to loop the 8 ga connecting to it. The way I did it, the four 8 ga holes of the d. block angle toward the center of the motor; the four 8 ga wires just curve into it rather than looping around before connecting. (In other words, the 8 ga wires are shorter than they otherwise would have been.) See Sonic’s pics. It will be clear should you choose these components to work with. The one unexpected problem was fitting the 8 ga into the d. block holes. The stripped ends kept hanging up. This is pretty stupid, but they just didn’t want to go in no matter how much I tried to twist them thinner. When the aggravation subsides, I will probably wind up reinserting them.

The cost including shipping was about $48, including a bolt here and there since I have no inventory; an extra set of 8 ga ring terminals purchased locally because they had more contact area than some of what I bought online; and smaller zip ties than I had on hand.

I fired it up and reset the ECU, no happy task when you live in suburban gridlock.

After living with it for two days:

The radio station I usually listen to did not come in at all clearly in my apartment complex carport parking space. After doing the mod it does.

I don’t know if the motor is smoother or if I’m just paying more attention.

There are two areas I’m wondering about and will have to make a specific effort to see if the mod resulted in a change there.
…
What concerned me was getting the best connection between all the points. I think I could have done better if I were willing to spend more $. When doing this mod DIY you might want to first pay attention to the amount of actual contact area on the ring terminals, battery terminal clamp, whatever, and see what you think. Companies like Lightning Audio and Stinger sell replacement battery terminal clamps with 4 and 8 ga connections that may offer more contact area. And they look pro. They require snipping off the OEM terminal clamp. One thing I like about the Hot Earth and Lineage systems is their large terminals. I had considered using 4 ga terminals on 8 ga wire but was leery of the crimp I’d wind up with.

A car stereo guy suggested that soldering the ends of the wires before inserting and crimping them would help prevent corrosion. If I owned a soldering iron I would have done it. However, I now assume soldering the ends of the 8 ga that go to the distribution block would have made inserting them more difficult. …um, unless they would be stiffer, and therefore slide in easier. ?

Sanding painted contact area seems like it would enhance connectivity. I was worried about starting rust.

A fancy, gold or platinum plated battery terminal, a soldering iron, and the better solder could have doubled what I spent. I guess I wasn’t sure enough I would feel results to spend more money. There seems to be truth in doing the mod will at least be beneficial as your car ages. Look at the stock grounding points. Upgrading them could be a day project.

Should I have entitled this More Than You Wanted To Read About The Grounding Mod?

 

What length wires are you guys using? and how many of them? I'm thinking of trying a DIY setup, I have access to all the wires and lugs, but don't know what lenghts.

 

Cut 'em to fit a bit longer than the lengths they have to cover.

 

i just got 10 feet of 4guage and went from there