crf3629

Thanks for the response. I started a new thread at
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=17889
and it documents what I've done.

Jt-Imports

Looks like peoples prices are raising, thats the norm...

Anyway, I made my grounding wires on my FD in about 20 mins. To the engine 1 and 1 to the alternator.

A little bit of a different in idle smoothness, but my car is not STOCK like the cars we are talking about. Nope I dont mean a muffler....

Anyway, any company that makes them say they are pretty nice for heavy modded cars, or older vehicles since the grounding points get old dirty etc.......

Personally on an RX8 I think its a waste, even though they are cheaper here then anywhere else.

huhsler

B-Nez: "Pan right and pull back."

mmmdowning

I'm alittle confused, with the ohm readings is this extra current going to places where it shouldn't or it needs to be low as possible. If so how does it improve throttle responce, etc.... Electronics is an area that I know enough to get me in trouble. Big trouble. Maybe even draw pictures. Ha just kidding. This thread is very interesting thanks guys.

mdmaclean

The resistance for the various grounds should be as low as possible. The concept is that variations in the relative ground voltage is effecting the ECU or its sensors.

This is hard to prove that performance is improved without doing dyno testing, but since it is simple I ordered a kit (which arrived today).

mmmdowning

mdmaclean- Thanks I guess I just assumed that the ecu would be pertected from interferance and also the sensors. I will buy a set and install. Again this has been a great thread.

crf3629

I've built and installed the grounding wires using the 4 GA Power Cable. I am amazed at how felxible this wire is as compared with that I got from Home Depot. I no longer get the clicking noise I described above. My guess is that the first set of cable were stiff enough to transmit the noise from the engine to the body but the new cables are so flexible that they don't transmit the sound. I don't think that the old cables actually caused the noise.

A side note...I ordered 11 feet of wire from Parts Express and had 6 feet left over when I was done. If you add up the length of the 4 wires involved you get roughly 10.5 feet. Do you think they had doubts about my cable making abilities?

Omicron

LOL. :D

Glad you got it resolved. FYI, I'll be merging this thread in with the other grounding wire threads shortly.

G8rboy

Did you stick with the Ace hardware crimp connectors, or did you go with something more upscale? Just wondering what the best material would be for the ends (If they end up being the weakest link, than what's the point in high quality cable, right? : )

Thanks!
-Sean

z327

Please use Gold Plated ends. Gold has the greatest number of free electrons and is therefore the best conductor of electricity. Since the electrons on the outermost edge do most of the work the gold plating is the best way to go.

The company I work for makes the DCDC power supplies on the high-end servers that make the Internet run. We use gold plated edge connectors to ensure the best connection possible for the high speed processors and RAM that they provide power to. These power supplies carry more current then your grounding kit will ever see, so don’t believe anything someone might tell you about using pure copper connectors. Gold plated are the best.

IMHO

syntrix

Exactly what I used. I might use connectors from HD, but NEVER wire.

You might want to grab a fluke and check resistance of that wire that you used!!!

crf3629

Yes, I did use the connectors from Ace Hardware. Since my crimping tool was not big enough to crimp the 4 gauge connectors, I soldered the connectors to the wires.

crf3629

It is hard for me to understand why I would need gold connectors when I look at the other connectors they will be mating with. If I saw a bunch of other gold connectors already installed I would have an easier time with that.

z327

You want gold to make a better connection then the factory did. The factory sacrifices quality and performance at every turn to keep the accountants happy and to sell less expensive cars. Out of the 10,000 to 30,000 they sell how many buyers are going to spend extra money and tune their cars? Just look at how many owners are on the forums and you will get the idea.

The 4-gauge wire is better than the factory, but you have not optimized your grounding without gold plated ends.

Most high-end audio and video people use gold plated jacks for all their connections.

If you buy an HDTV and high-end DVD player you could hook it up with coax cable and it will look real good. You can hook it up with the digital connections and it will look great.

The bottom line is you have improved your engine's grounding and you got the joy of doing it yourself. You may have even saved a few dollars off of the cost of a 4 gauge gold plated terminal kit off of Ebay and that’s great. So enjoy it.

IMHO
Quality OFC 4 gauge cable and gold plated ends are the JDM standard as best I can tell and from an engineering perspective I can understand why.

Charles Cope

The gold plate is normally to make sure very low current "signals" are transmitted through the connection. To take this idea further, you need to make sure the surface of the "mating connector" is also clean and free of debris. That means removing paint on fender connections, etc. I also suggest a star lockwasher between the cable connector and mating surface.

If you're trying to lower noise to help the computer recognize accurate sensor signals, the cable and connectors are a good start, but don't the enhancement by ignoring the other side of the connections!

shebam

I used z327's excellent kit. Initially on first run I heard same thing that crf3629 reported in his posts, the faint mechanical clicking in synch with the engine. I did a little tightening and rerouting and started it WITHOUT PUTTING ON THE FLIMSY ENGINE COVER and no problem. Then I made sure to put back the engine cover carefully -- the first time, I'd noticed that on the right-hand side, it didn't want to snug -- effect of the thick wire running along the cross-member (that the cover snaps over) there. I slightly adjusted the wire to get it along the absolute bottom of the cross-member, and made sure the engine cover was on solidly. Voila -- no more noise! In my highly non-technical opinion, crf's noise went away because the thinner wire he used the second time did not cause the engine cover to be loose! Anyway, if it works it works, and z327's quality, instructions, and prompt delivery were great. Now, Canzoomer, about a cool engine cover ....

XcelR8

I purchased a generic set off e-bay in red. Looked at Canzoomers pictures and the directions, then made a couple of adjustment. I didn't want the wire running across the firewall or the strut brace, so I hooked two wires to the negative terminal on the battery. I ran one left and one right to the grounds (see pic) One thing I read in someone elses reply (sorry can't remember who) was that they put black electical tape on the red wire were it connects to the battery terminal. This is a great idea, so no one gets confused and messes the electrical system up. I have notices a little smoother idle, no drop in rpm when air or lights are turned on. Not sure on HP gains, doesn't really feel like it.

rx8daniel

I read with great intesest and shopped around for wires and connectors in my area quite a bit back about Oct or Nov. Bought 4 gauge wire, and connectors. However, not gold-plated connectors. From a car stereo place. Installed this afternoon. Went for short drive for ice cream w/ fam after install - CEL light stayed on. Came home, checked connections - my connector at the battery was loose - so loose I could pull the connector off. So I clamped the wires down under the wide bottom OEM ground connector without my connector. Tried again - CEL still on. Can I reset the light? Is it something else that's causing it? It took a lot of effort to get 2 wires inside the larger connectors I got for those 2 wire connections but I think I have them firmly installed. The one that came loose - was the first one I connected back in Oct/Nov-and I stripped off more of the wire jacket than I'd liked to and had concerns it might be too loose.
Figure perhaps I should remove everything and try again? Any suggestions welcome.

XcelR8

I think the CEL has to be reset by the dealer, who can tell you the code or why it was tripped. I never tripped the CEL because of the grounding wires.

z327

If the RX8 uses ODBII you can go to an Autozone parts store and have them check the code and clear it (for free).

rx8daniel

have it resolved, for now. removed the ground kit. will inspect connectors tomorrow.

VividRacing.com

Hmmmm.... That's wierd, never heard of a grounding kit throwing a CEL.

Genom

To clear a CEL just unplug the battery for 15 minutes :D

Killerking1964

Anyone got info on the grounding points locations????? I got the MazdaSpeed ground wire kit, and want to install them, but need info. on specific location of the grounding points.

VividRacing.com

I've got an idea but need to try them out myself. I'm planning to hook one up myself and do a before and after dyno run to see the gains. I'll post my findings next week.