Installed "Earthing" or Grounding wire kit to your TB?

dach95 · 09-01-2005, 11:08 AM

Has anyone install a grounding wire kit to their TB electrical system? Based on what I've gather so far it suppose to increase better flow of power throughout your TB. As a result based on some product listings it...

- Strengthens the performance of the ignition system
- Stabilizes the engine at high RPM
- Smoother idle and improved starting
- Better gas mileage with improved combustion
- Prevents power loss and ensures performance of the ignition and other electrical components
- Gains around 5 horsepower on average

I'm a sucker for more power and better M P G . . . so I'm interested. Anyone has good result with this kind of project?

I checked my TB and the factory stock grounding wire seem "weak" IMO comparing to ones grounding kits offer.

dach95 · 09-01-2005, 11:10 AM

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babel...2fearthing.htm

(Translated link)

Here is how it looks like in a TB! Looks cool. This guy says he got some good result...

GMMerlin · 09-01-2005, 07:08 PM

Quote:

I checked my TB and the factory stock grounding wire seem "weak" IMO comparing to ones grounding kits offer.

Now I want to know how your ground wire was determined to be weak? What scientific proof do you have?
There are multible grounds connecting major componants togather to create a grounded field in your vehicle.
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Schurkey · 09-01-2005, 08:27 PM

This is SOOOO simple to investigate using a QUALITY voltmeter. Disconnect NOTHING on the car.

Pick an accessory that you suspect needs a "better" ground.

Install the + lead from the voltmeter on a grounded part of the accessory. Install the - lead on the - terminal of the battery.

Operate the accessory.

If the voltmeter shows more than 1/2 volt (0.5 V) for heavy-drain accessories like the starter, or more than one-tenth volt (0.1 V) for light-drain accessories, you may have some grounding issues.

First guess: "Grounding Kits" are a TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. If they provided a benefit, it's because you've bypassed a wiring harness or body integrity problem, you haven't fixed a design flaw. And you could have fixed the actual problem for less money.

dach95 · 09-01-2005, 09:49 PM

sorry if I misrepresent my self as a geek scientist...but I'm a layman TB owner and only am asking if this is worth my effort.

As per the link I posted... That guy may have nothing good to do with his TB and is putting wild claims up with some pretty convincing pics. I'm just the dumbest guy when I saw a nice pic of TB being wired up like that and trying investigate furthur.

Feel free to bash at that smart guy as well with his voltage meter showing some numbers.

As regard to what you are offering, it'll be nice if you have pics the finished product.

Oh, btw, my claim may not the most accurate, and feel free to correct me but doesn't the wider wire give better flow of juice. What I saw in my TB are grounding wires what probably the size of 8AWG comparing with 4AWG that is used bolted to the various body points.

GMMerlin · 09-02-2005, 05:50 AM

Like I said, with the price of gas going up, people are coming out of the woodwork with "fuel savers".

Schurkey's post was extremely intellegent and right on the money about doing a voltage drop on your grounds ( a concept most mechanics don't understand), if you have a bad ground, you could have some issues.
There are multible grounds on your vehicle bringing everything onto the same ground plane.

Yes a larger wire would be helpful (if you were pushing more amps) but the wire size of the negative battery cable is sufficent in the automotive application it is designed for.

balboasdelight · 09-02-2005, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dach95

doesn't the wider wire give better flow of juice.

No. It flows more juice. A little skinny wire and a big fat cable will both carry 20 milliamps just fine -- neither is a "better" conductor. Only the fat cable will carry 2 amps (the skinny wire will melt). Absent a short circuit somewhere, the cables designed into your TB engine are perfectly sufficient for the worst-case current load they will experience during normal engine operation, and then some.

Most likely, any gains experienced as a result of installing a ground harness have nothing to do with the quality of OEM wires; in the process of installing it, the person got nice, tight, good-connectivity connections. He probably could have gotten the same results by removing, cleaning, and re-installing the ground connection at each point. Trust me -- a LOT of what appear to be electrical problems turn out to be poor connections.

Reminds me of a tech I used to work with in an oilfiled service business. He would tell field operators experiencing a certain computer malfunction to open the computer, remove a certain PC card, and blow on a certain component until it was cool to the touch, then reinstall the card and power the computer back up. First time I heard it, I told him he was nuts -- the temperature of that component has nothing to do with the malfunction. He said, "I know that. But 90% of the time, that malfunction is caused by a bad connection, and getting the guys to reseat the card usually fixes it." "Why not just tell them to reseat the card?" "They won't do it, because they don't think that *does* anything."

You certainly can't hurt anything by replacing your ground harness (well, assuming you wire it up right), and if you think it looks cool, maybe that's enough reason. If you're going to do it, I'd suggest installing a spare ground connector somewhere well away from the battery. If you ever need a jump from another vehicle, hook up the other vehicle's battery first, then the positive pole of your battery, and finally your spare ground connection. This eliminates the hazard that a spark upon making that last connection will ignite fumes that may escape your battery. Then you can justify the whole mod as a safety enhancement.

.

dach95 · 09-02-2005, 08:25 PM

cool, thanks for the feedbacks.

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