How To: Ground Wire Replacement For Your Civic

[h22dreamer]

PICS PICS i need more pics

 

[toplevelej]

thanks for the tips

 

[Shiznit]

i wanna hear peoples responses... did you guys notice anything buy doing it? im too lazy to go to that other site. id rather hear from CCers anyway.

 

[vandynamics]

i wanna hear peoples responses... did you guys notice anything buy doing it? im too lazy to go to that other site. id rather hear from CCers anyway.

cc'ers own

 

[neaky]

When I did mine (replacing the stock with audio cable) I noticed it was smoother when i was accelerating and idling.

 

[gabebauman]

I hooked up some DIY grounds this weekend to my car using 8 gauge wire. Noticable throttle response, headlights don't dim when at idle, idle is smoother, starts up real good,(but it always has).

I'll post some pics when I get my camera done.

Basically, I linked all of my grounds together starting from the negative battery terminal ground and went to the starter, tranny, chassis...throttle body, engine valve cover, chassis. I'm planning on also connecting to my alternator.

 

[SiGSR]

This is just like strut bars! There's lots of em, you can do without em, but they are functional and will help some. And.. yes, some people do over do them.

 

[DarC_KonQuesT]

Did this to mine (halfway) last night. Replaced the engine ground....doing the trans. ground tonight.

As mentioned above the 7th Gens have decent ground wires...but the 4ga insulated, no oxygen, stranded copper I installed is a lot better. The stock wire used for the engine ground wasn't insulated, just a metal braid (about 8ga?).

Anyway, even with just the one wire setup I see a small enhancement. Unless I'm just hallucinating (it happens...) it seems to idle quieter and be a (tiny)bit smoother on accel.

Note: This is on a 7th gen '02 Coupe - 1.7L (no VTEC for me )
-DarC

EDIT: Turns out I smoked too much crack before trying this. My massive brain fart was thinking that there should be one wire that runs from battery negative to chassis, and one from transmission to chassis. However, I just saw one that ran from negative battery, to a ground clasp on chassis, to trans...somehow I didn't make the connection that it grounded both the battery and the trans with one cable...sad isn't it (crack is bad)? But I've got it figured now and will finish it off tonight.

 

[96greencivic]

Im about to do this tommorow because i got some audio cable left from wiring up my system

Andrew, got any extra so I can do it to my car?

 

[green]

This is sort of an old thread, but I was wondering if there are any tips on grounding the alternator, and I guess the starter, I replaced the big three already, I acutually felt a little difference in accelerating and definitely smoother idle. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[civic_rice]

This is sort of an old thread, but I was wondering if there are any tips on grounding the alternator, and I guess the starter, I replaced the big three already, I acutually felt a little difference in accelerating and definitely smoother idle. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

When I was doing my push-button start, I noticed the starter has like 16ga connectors, and it would be awfully hard to convert to 4ga somehow..
as for the Alternator, i think it could be done, maybe from beneath? When I took a peek, everything looked too tight and I just didn't bother, I thought it would require too much effort.

 

[Enjoi]

if i were to use 8 guage wire instead of 4, would i get similar results? would a smaller wire really have much effect on it?

4 guage is too big and looks a little goofy

 

[gabebauman]

8 gauge will work just fine. 4 gauge is a bit overkill.

 

[Enjoi]

thanks gabe. your car gives me a hardon btw

 

[RiceburnerRyan]

sounds tight .... ill try it .. thanks buddy

 

[green]

also..i think your missing the intake manifold and alternator grounds.

Anekin any advice on how to do this? for the intake manifold, can I just pick somewhere to ground it or does it have to be a specific place? I'm pretty lazy about looking underneath at the alternator, but I have two more ground wires, and don't want to waste em!

 

[child_racer]

nice.....i changed a few extra grounds under my hood and i used 0 and 1 gauge wire. Well worth it and it didnt cost much at all.

 

[green]

nice.....i changed a few extra grounds under my hood and i used 0 and 1 gauge wire. Well worth it and it didnt cost much at all.

Did you ground the intake manifold???

 

[kamikaze_fish]

I was having A/C problems in my '86 Si, went to replace clutch and noticed it had crap for a ground from tranny to battery and chassis to valve cover and that's all I found. At Wal-Mart in lawn and garden I found some 4 gauge w/ ends already, various lenths and they were only $2.00 ea. Bought 3 of em, went from battery to starter, battery to distributor, valve cover to chassis and A/C problems are gone, and car accelerates smoother and starts quicker. Bought 2 more but haven't put them on out of laziness and thinking, how much better could it get?

 

[green]

I was having A/C problems in my '86 Si, went to replace clutch and noticed it had crap for a ground from tranny to battery and chassis to valve cover and that's all I found. At Wal-Mart in lawn and garden I found some 4 gauge w/ ends already, various lenths and they were only $2.00 ea. Bought 3 of em, went from battery to starter, battery to distributor, valve cover to chassis and A/C problems are gone, and car accelerates smoother and starts quicker. Bought 2 more but haven't put them on out of laziness and thinking, how much better could it get?

Did you just pick a bolt and stick the ground wire to it, or is there a specific place to do it?