DIY Ground wire installation guide.

[Jay_]

Great write up taken from iVTECDaily.com.
Much props to Bryan AKA StarMax for taking the time and doing a great step by step write up, Thanks Bryan!!http://www.ivtecdaily.com/rsx/mods/groundWires.html

Introduction
One of the most recent tuning trends to come out of Japan is the use of additional ground wires. These are add-on wires that are supposed to provide a cleaner ground for various engine components, and therefore allow them to work more efficiently. It seems like every time I read an article about a Japanese manufacture's car, there's always a pic of the engine bay, and one thing they all seem to have in common is additional ground wires.

Personally I couldn't believe that a couple of extra grounds could make any kind of performance difference, but then a couple months ago a very well respected member of the Clubrsx community installed a ground wire kit, and promptly posted a dyno chart to prove the results. There is was, a couple of hp staring me in the face, proving my assumption wrong. So now the only question was which kit to get.


Shopping
Several companies currently sell ground wiring kits for the RSX, all of which have slightly different styles and layouts. A very popular kit is the Hyper Ground System from XS-Engineering. This kit has three wires that attach to the battery, and an additional two wires that link up two more points to the other wires. It runs about $100 at most tuner shops.

Another kit is the Circle Earth System from HKS. This kit has 8 wires that all hook up to the batter terminal via a very cool circular distribution block. The design is to connect various points of the engine bay to one central location, the battery. The Circle Earth kit runs about $125.

Another kit is the Earth Code kit from Spoon Sports. The kit has three wires, and only two wires that connect to the battery and one additional wire that connects another point to one of the wires. It runs about $130.

I was basically sold on the HKS kit, when a couple guys started making their own kits from car stereo wire and getting similar results. For a fraction of the cost, and a couple extra hours of labor, I could make my own ground wires kit and design it any way I wanted..

I really liked the design of the HKS Circle Earth system, so my DIY ground wire kit is based on that design. I wanted most if not all of my wires to go back to the battery. But I wanted to have different grounding points in the engine bay. I ended up combining some of the Circle Earth connection points with some of the Hyper points along with some of the points some of the other DIY and no-name Japanese kits have. My connections are:

Battery to Cylinder Head
Battery to Intake Manifold
Battery to Alternator
Battery to Left Engine Mount
Battery to Front Frame
Battery to Stock Ground
Battery to Shift Linkage
Battery to Strut Brace
Left Engine Mount to Left Fender

To connect this slew of wires to the battery I needed to buy some sort of terminal. I looked at just about every battery terminal for high-end stereo equipment, but all of them would require me to disconnect the stock ground cable which I wanted to avoid. I then got the idea to solider 4 wires together into a single 2 gauge terminal, then stack two terminals back to back and bolt them onto the existing negative battery connector.

For wire, I decided to use 8 gauge wire since I had so many wires to connect, using anything bigger would be crazy. I figured the HKS kit uses 8 gauge, so it must be good enough. I shopped around for wire, and while for the most part wire is wire, the higher the strand count the more flexible and cleaner the wire generally is.

I found that Lightning Audio sells some good 8 gauge wire in various colors with a 735 strand count, which I found at Car Domain for $.50/ft. I also picked up the necessary terminals from Car Domain, since they were a good price there too.


Installation
Before ordering my wire I measured out approximate lengths for all the ground wires with some string. I figured I'd need about 22 feet, so I ordered 25 just in case. To install the ground wires I first strung the wire from the battery to the desired connection points and cut it to length. I then held them in place with some tie-wraps to make sure the wires were laid out properly and cut to the right length. I then removed the wires and installed their terminals with a combination of crimping and soldering. I then connected the terminals to the various points of the engine bay, connected the two big terminals to the negative battery post and tie-wrapped the wire in place so they wouldn't move around.

Here are the wires I connected and their lengths:

Ground Wire Connection Wire Length in Inches
Battery to Cylinder Head 29
Battery to Intake Manifold 30
Battery to Alternator 39
Battery to Left Engine Mount 39
Battery to Front Frame 21
Battery to Stock Ground 33
Battery to Shift Linkage 33
Battery to Strut Brace 40
Left Engine Mount to Left Fender 16
Total 280 (~24 feet)

Review
Total Price: $24 (including shipping)
Total Time: 2-3 hours
Level of Difficulty (1-10): 4
Purchase Location: Car Domain


Comments: This is a very cheap mod if you do-it-yourself, and the results were good but not dramatic. I didn't expect to actually feel the 2-3 hp (if they are actually there), I was able to feel the engine running more smoothly then previously. The installation was actually more work then I expected, but nothing complicated. It was a nice project for a sunny Saturday afternoon.

[Jay_]

more pics of Install.

[Jay_]

More.

[OneLetter]

OK..1 thing from me about this, since i followed the same procedure....As I went to install, and put the one on the alternator, I noticed the alternator screw was larger than the others..and therefore my connector head didn't fit. I still haven't gone to get a bigger one and/or make the small one bigger, but make sure that you check before you get all the wires together like I did...oh well..lesson learned...test fit first...

>> http://forums.clubrsx.com/attachment...hmentid=110501 << part in question.

[rsx-s driver]

what did you use to connect all the wires to the battery? or did you do it one by one?

[WhiZ]

I believe the one to the shift linkage is a 12mm instead of 10mm like the rest. The alternator is 13mm. Just a heads up for anybody doing this that you'll need a slightly larger 'ring' on the end for those two (I think I used 5/16" for those, and 1/4" for the rest.) I also couldn't get an end to fit over my battery terminal. I did it a bit different than the ivtec write-up, but very close, and nowhere near as many wires. I had 5 wires all together. I put 2 into one 2 gauge end and the other 3 into another 2 gauge end (VERY tight fit using 8 gauge wire) back-to-back and then clamped them using the neg battery term screw.

I just did shift linkage, alternator, cynlinder head, intake manifold, and passenger side mount.

Peace

WhiZ

Pic:

[bruha]

I think the alternator bolt still has a 10mm head, but the entire length of the bolt isn't threaded and has a fatter part at the top that won't allow the ring terminal to fit like the others. I just clipped off the top half of the ring terminal (maybe a little more) and then loosened the bolt, stuck the connector in, then tightened everything up.

I've seen multiple ways people connected their ground wires to the battery, heres a picture of mine just to throw it out there.

[ericlala]

very nice and neat, awesome guide

[Jay_]

Looks good guys, nice to see people using this forum!!

[WhiZ]

Originally Posted by bruha

I think the alternator bolt still has a 10mm head, but the entire length of the bolt isn't threaded and has a fatter part at the top that won't allow the ring terminal to fit like the others.

I know the alternator head is a 13mm for sure, cuz I lost my socket while putting the damned thing back on. Fortunately, all the others were 10mm, except the shift linkage, which was 12mm, and that one was a pain to get off, even with a long extension. Thankfully with my V2, I had lots of clearance to get it off.

Just to be sure we're talking about the same bolts, I attached a picture. It's very long, and barely has enough clearance when you take it off to slip the ring on. Here's some pics:

Peace

WhiZ

Pic of the alternator and passenger mount:

[WhiZ]

Pic of intake and alternator:

[WhiZ]

Pic of shift linkage:

[WhiZ]

And a pic from the side showing them all:

[WhiZ]

Just as an aside, I found the car a bit smoother after the ground wires were installed. I didn;t have the time or money for before and after dynos, but I figure for a few bucks it can't hurt, it looks pretty good and if it helps smooth out the engine...?

Peace

WhiZ

[RSX-S-Black]

where u guys get the ground wires??? anyone can tell me?

[WhiZ]

Most people (like myself) use high-end power line wires available from stereo shops. These cables have a high strand count which is what you want. Plus, they usually have a good assortment of colours.

I've also heard of people going to Marine shops and buying cable there. Cheaper, but the wire may not be the same quality. Marine shops will also usually carry the ends you need as well.

Or you can buy them online like the above ivtec writeup suggests.

Peace

WhiZ

[SiFuSpEc]

Originally Posted by TypeS Jay

Great write up taken from iVTECDaily.com Much props to who ever wrote it.

Yea, the actual creator of the DIY is on this board, Starmax is his name.. perhaps you should give it more thought before posting someone else's work.

Edit: Thanks for getting his name and everything No hard feelings.

[Jay_]

I gave credit, how am i supposed to know he is a member? Its not like i said it was my write up, oh hell never mind. no need to explaine myself to you.

[OneLetter]

I bought my wire and heads from knukonceptz.com Large variety of colors, but lookin through the pages is weird...I missed that they have more than 1 page of items the first time around, its a really tiny link in the upper right...for those of you heading there...I think 25 feet + 10 heads was like $30 with shipping...not bad.

[ericlala]

anyone know if home depot has the correct wires?

[I-MOD]

For those who want to save a few bucks and not have your engine bay look like a bowl of spaghetti, it has been proven that having one 4 guage wire to the body and one to the block works just as well as running wires all over the place. Food for thought.


D.

[Johnny Navs]

Where should you attach it on the block, or doesn't it really matter?

[I-MOD]

Doesn't really matter. Just make sure you tighten whatever bolt you use back to the proper ft lbs when done. The engine is a big block of metal, it's going to conduct better then a lot of wires all over it. A good ground to it and a better ground to the body, in a more solid place like a frame bolt is what you need. The small ground to the sheet metal that comes stock isn't as good as going to part of the frame.

Originally Posted by Johnny Navs

Where should you attach it on the block, or doesn't it really matter?

[ericlala]

Originally Posted by I-MOD

For those who want to save a few bucks and not have your engine bay look like a bowl of spaghetti, it has been proven that having one 4 guage wire to the body and one to the block works just as well as running wires all over the place. Food for thought.


D.

can anyone back this up? it looks so much easier to do if it works

[I-MOD]

It's well backed up. It's been dyno proven. I work with a lot of very modded cars and know several experienced dyno engineers who agree that there is no benifit to having wires run all over the engine bay over just doing a larger single cable to the body and block. Some people like the look of a lot of wires and that is up to them. For those that just want the extra flow and don't care about looks...get yourself about 3 ft of 4 gauge wire, 4 end rings and your set.

D.