Grounding kits

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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 01:27 AM
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Grounding kits

For those of you who has gotten aftermarket/DIY gounding kits, any suggestions in how to approach this, what to get, where to get, and how to install?

I don't care if some ppl say it doesn't do anything, just want to give it a try..
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 10:43 AM
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No one will stop you from trying. But make sure you have a way or know how to measure the before and after effect. Otherwise, might as well just tape the money under the hood and call it good.
If you just want to connect some wires to ground, then you can get them from here. The installation is pretty much self explanatory.
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by JTso
But make sure you have a way or know how to measure the before and after effect. Otherwise, might as well just tape the money under the hood and call it good.


If you're already set on it, it's definitely worth a try.
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 04:32 PM
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I thought there was no point of these on newer cars?
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by PixelHarmony
I thought there was no point of these on newer cars?
but he said he doesn't care, he just wants to try it out.
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 06:12 PM
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i thought the tsx was already grounded?


i coulda sworn i saw the grounds wheni took my bumper off...
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Co0bs
i thought the tsx was already grounded?


i coulda sworn i saw the grounds wheni took my bumper off...


You're gonna have to explain that one....
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 07:23 PM
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I saw ground too when I look out the window... :troutslap
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by JTso
I saw ground too when I look out the window... :troutslap
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by JTso
I saw ground too when I look out the window... :troutslap
You're on a roll in this thread Jtso....
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 08:55 PM
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I installed the DIY 'kit' tonight with the help of a friend. Basically picked out some good wires and connectors from HomeDepot and connected the important places to the chasis (ground). The whole thing took about 3-4 hours, picking out the stuff, cutting, connecting the connectors, and wiring...

Will post up the pics when I get a chance later this week.
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 10:53 PM
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Any difference?
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Old Feb 22, 2005 | 07:02 AM
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Please post some pics and review on the kit. I always thought it was a waste of time in the newer cars, but a lot of people with the G35c are doing this.
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Old Feb 22, 2005 | 10:15 AM
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well im not sure...but when i had that accident a while back, i took the front bumper off myself. and i coulda sworn i saw grounding wires already on the frame?
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 07:25 PM
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Originally Posted by JTso
I saw ground too when I look out the window... :troutslap

haha. you used troutslap

i want a grounding kit too.
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 07:42 PM
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and a grounding kit would be what exactly?
...i'm assuming something to do with the electrical system, but i dont see what needs improving
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 09:03 PM
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Originally Posted by madmanmax3000
and a grounding kit would be what exactly?
...i'm assuming something to do with the electrical system, but i dont see what needs improving

it needs to be more grounded noob.
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 09:26 PM
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Originally Posted by madmanmax3000
and a grounding kit would be what exactly?
...i'm assuming something to do with the electrical system, but i dont see what needs improving
Without a solid connection to earth ground to provide a zero-reference for voltage it gets a lot harder to cancel out spurious noise in the electrical system, such as noise induced by the spark plugs and static electricity generated by the wheels against the road surface. Car audio systems need so many damn filters because of this. This is also why all home electronics, such as the PC you're viewing this post with, uses three prong grounded plugs.

Electrical noise wreaks havoc with electronics, to include the engine controls and such. They can induce error in digital systems like the ECU and DBW. Therefore, eliminating them and ensuring a high fidelity signal would possibly reveal performance that was being squelched out by EFI in the system.

Now I know next to nothing about the TSX's electrical system specifically, so this is more just my general knowledge of the subject.
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 09:40 PM
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oooooo i gotcha, thanks
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 09:59 PM
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Originally Posted by PixelHarmony
I thought there was no point of these on newer cars?

On the contrary, many new cars are fitted with a LOT of sensors, servos, and the like. With so many electrical gizmos grounding to the engine block elecrical charge is built up preventing said sensors and gizmos from working optimally.

True, the car is adequitely grounded for everyday driving. But when the engine is better grounded to the chassis and battery, the whole system works better. Many people report more power, better milage, and even peripheral benifits such as improved radio reception!
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 10:22 PM
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i did the grounding kit. I would say my car runs better. My main concern
was rough idle, 5AT, particularly worse after header. This is better.
There is alot of ground already the TSX but not directly from engine block
and head to the battery.

I ran from left inner fender factory ground wires, to bolt through the
alternator bracket, from that bolt inside the intake manifold to the battery.
Another from a throttle body bolt to the battery. One from tranny bracket
to the battery.
Another from the head to the battery. One from the right rear
engine block to the battery etc using existing bolts. The original
neg bat cable is still attached. I ran out of cable but need one from
left rear of head and left engine block.

I might do voltage stabilizer next.

I don't really like the contraption on top of the neg bat post and might
relocate this less conspicuous.
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 10:39 PM
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Originally Posted by TSXTuner
i did the grounding kit. I would say my car runs better. My main concern
was rough idle, 5AT, particularly worse after header. This is better.
There is alot of ground already the TSX but not directly from engine block
and head to the battery.

I ran from left inner fender factory ground wires, to bolt through the
alternator bracket, from that bolt inside the intake manifold to the battery.
Another from a throttle body bolt to the battery. One from tranny bracket
to the battery.
Another from the head to the battery. One from the right rear
engine block to the battery etc using existing bolts. The original
neg bat cable is still attached. I ran out of cable but need one from
left rear of head and left engine block.

I might do voltage stabilizer next.

I don't really like the contraption on top of the neg bat post and might
relocate this less conspicuous.

do you have any pics? what kit did you use? or did you do it yourself with some 4 gauge wire?
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 10:40 PM
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^^ what he said. Pics please
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 10:55 PM
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I'll post the pics this weekend. our digital was broken just got a new one.
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 10:56 PM
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oh, got a no name brand on ebay, there's nothing to it, any
brand will probaby do.
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by TSXTuner
oh, got a no name brand on ebay, there's nothing to it, any
brand will probaby do.
yea i know.

i was thinking about just buying monster cable wire and doin it

:troutslap

but i wont.
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Old Apr 1, 2005 | 04:06 AM
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i'll tel you guys this .. those special grounding kits .. just damn wires connected at certain point on the chassis. I did a ghetto riged one and gained like 3lb of torque off of my teg .. only spent 5 bucks!!! just get normal 4 gauge .. preferable as high percent of copper you can get .. on my teg .. i just used 4 guage monster cable .. start from neg post of batter, then to passenger front strut bolt, then to intake manifold, then to driver side strut bolt, then to engine, then to front radiator support.
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Old Apr 1, 2005 | 09:45 AM
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For those of you who did the grounding kit, did you guys get to the ECU ground? I can't seem to find where the ground of the ECU is (should be a wire going through the firewall into the engine bay), I've seen pictures where ppl connect it to the bolt on the valve cover, and was told that that was the one ground that made the most difference...

I've done the extra grounding a couple of months ago.... I THINK I noticed quicker starts and smoother idling (not so sure about any power gains). I used guage 2 wire for battery and alternator, and guage 4 for the rest, btw. These wires aren't expensive whatever material wires....so they're really stiff, good in the sense that it's not likely to move around.....bad in the sense that it takes forever to cut and bend them if you dont' have a heavy duty wire cutter...
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Old Apr 3, 2005 | 12:22 AM
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pictures of ground wire kit

First one is overall view of engine bay.




close up of this wire from the left inner fender factory ground point to
alternator bracket, and another from alt bracket running inside of intake to bat.



Wire from the throttle body loops behind intake pipe to the battery.
Wire from Alt to battery is running past there.


Collector on top of battery, factory neg bat cable is attached


Behind and left of the K$N sticker a wire is attached to
the tranny bracket, where a factory ground wire spans to the frame. A wire is going to the right end of the head, and a wire is running to the right rear of the engine block.


The wire running to the right rear of the engine block is attached at the
clip for the oxy sensors harness. The part that this is attached
spans the tranny and engine block.


I feel I need one long cable to the left rear of the engine block and left of the
head but the alternator bolt is also covering the left side of the engine.

The car, it is overcast, lighting not good. The pear bloomed last week.
33k miles daily driver.

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Old Apr 3, 2005 | 03:23 AM
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^^ Nice pics....this looks interesting...I wonder if I should do it...
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Old Apr 3, 2005 | 11:17 AM
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excellent pics. the diy sounds like a good alternative for an inexpensive ground kit, but I don't like how it clutters up the engine bay. that's a tough tradeoff.
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Old Apr 3, 2005 | 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by xizor
excellent pics. the diy sounds like a good alternative for an inexpensive ground kit, but I don't like how it clutters up the engine bay. that's a tough tradeoff.
I think the collector can be placed somewhere else with one wire
from collector to neg bat clamp.

I would do black wires if I could do it again. The end terminals are readily available and wire lengths can be custom fit, using tie wraps etc to clean it all up.

I just want to get the thing on an see what it would do, it is better.
Next I have clean it up.
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Old Apr 3, 2005 | 01:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Tsx536
^^ Nice pics....this looks interesting...I wonder if I should do it...
I've done some calculations and figured out that grounding the car to a piramid shaped terminal will double the horsepower improvement over a more conventional setup (6 hp vs. 3 hp).

Anther benefit of using a piramid is, your hearing and vision will improve, your allergies will vanish, and your hair will grow back.
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Old Apr 5, 2005 | 10:07 AM
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Originally Posted by fedlawman
I've done some calculations and figured out that grounding the car to a piramid shaped terminal will double the horsepower improvement over a more conventional setup (6 hp vs. 3 hp).

Anther benefit of using a piramid is, your hearing and vision will improve, your allergies will vanish, and your hair will grow back.
Is it really needed in new cars though?
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Old Apr 5, 2005 | 10:39 AM
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that looks great!
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Old Apr 5, 2005 | 08:02 PM
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Originally Posted by dzuy
that looks great!
Thanks dzuy. I'm stuck with red but I'm going to custom fit the lengths
and clean it up some.

I had a broken header, it was on and off. Confirmed on the 2nd header
install, idle got rougher. It's the usual complaint about A/C on and I think
worse in the 5AT under load in Drive. Dealer said they all do it and refused to
up my idle 50 RPM. This helped that
problem, just a little roughness with A/C on very nice w/o A/C.

Thinking about it the worst noise is from the spark plugs and alternator.
The worst power drain is from the headlights.

Rigging up someting extensive to cover the head is probably the best
thing. Maybe I'll span to 4 intake manifold bolts to fully cover
the head. I only have one intake manifold bolt covered on the right side now,
I have 4 attachments to the head but three of them on the right side
and not distributed.

Does anyone know where the headlights factory grounding is, I want
to be sure this is covered. That's why I hit the factory ground on the
left inner fender but I'm not sure this is headlight ground.
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Old Apr 5, 2005 | 08:24 PM
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[QUOTE=fedlawman]I've done some calculations and figured out that grounding the car to a piramid shaped terminal will double the horsepower improvement over a more conventional setup (6 hp vs. 3 hp).



I
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Old Apr 5, 2005 | 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by TSXTuner
Does anyone know where the headlights factory grounding is, I want
to be sure this is covered. That's why I hit the factory ground on the
left inner fender but I'm not sure this is headlight ground.

While installing my wiring for my fogs, there are several grounds under the bumper that are obviously not visible like those in the engine bay.
f you have the regular covers where the fogs belong, remove that. Inside the hole look towards the center of the car and up a bit, you should see three wires attached to one spot for a ground. I could be worng, but it might be another option for where the ground might be for the lights, being closer than the one you mentioned.

Hope that makes sense.
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Old Jul 9, 2005 | 10:40 AM
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Bringing this one back...Does anyone have have any definitive results on what a grounding setup will do?

"I think I feel this and that" dosent cut it.
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Old Jul 9, 2005 | 11:08 AM
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Interesting Article

Check out the dynos
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