Ultimate Ground Wire Upgrade

[Andrew Warfield]

I am upgrading all my charging and grounding wires on my 1995 Tahoe with 1/0 Knukonceptz Kolossus. I would like some opinions as to if the set up and connections I have made are all proper and the best possible. For instance, I understand the more grounds the better, but 2 grounds going to the body? Is that right? Thanks for any help. Here's what I got:

Alternator positive to battery positive

Alternator negative to engine block, located on fuel pump block off plate (Ground)

Engine block to frame (Ground)

Firewall to frame (Ground)

Battery negative to fender (Ground)

Battery negative to firewall (Ground)

Battery negative to engine block. located on fuel pump block off plate (Ground)

Battery negative to frame (Ground)

 

[RawbDidIt]

Seems a bit much, and it doesn't cover the main power connection to the distribution block, but it isn't bad. The common upgrade that gets passed around here is:

Battery negative to fender
Battery negative to alternator bracket
Battery negative to frame
Battery positive to alternator output
Battery positive to main dist block in engine.

I went 0/1 ga for the top 4, 4ga for the last one, and I have enough headroom for the sound system I installed (1000W) and the 2 light bars I'll be installing considering my upgrade high output alternator (225A)

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

 

[brian c lindsey]

there is two more i can think of , rear of passenger side head to frame and bell housing near starter to frame

 

[Schurkey]

Giant ground wire from the battery to the engine block is justified. Giant ground wires anywhere else is electrical ************. Might make you feel good, but it doesn't accomplish anything useful.

The starter motor draws ~200 amperes when cranking. You need starter power and engine ground cables suitable for 200+ amperes.

There is nothing else on the vehicle that draws anywhere near that much current. Therefore, no need for Kryptonite ground cables.

I am upgrading all my charging and grounding wires on my 1995 Tahoe with 1/0 Knukonceptz Kolossus.

1/0 is insanely huge. 2 gauge would be plenty for the starter power and engine ground. 4 gauge for starter power and ground is common, and cheap-junk aftermarket cables are 6 gauge.

I would like some opinions as to if the set up and connections I have made are all proper and the best possible. For instance, I understand the more grounds the better, but 2 grounds going to the body? Is that right? Thanks for any help. Here's what I got:

Alternator positive to battery positive

Does GM route the alternator output directly to the battery? I'm guessing alternator output is routed to a power-distribution block that indirectly goes to the battery. The OEM routing makes more sense.

How many amperes does your alternator provide? I bet 6- or 8-gauge cable is plenty.

Alternator negative to engine block, located on fuel pump block off plate (Ground)

Is there an OEM ground wire at all on the alternator? Keep in mind that the alternator is at least partially-grounded via the metal brackets that hold it in place. I bet you could not use a ground wire at all, or a 10- or 12-gauge cable at most and be just fine.

Engine block to frame (Ground)
Battery negative to frame (Ground)

If the battery negative is directly connected to the engine block, and also connected to the frame, it really makes a frame-to-block connection redundant--but it's easy to pop a an 8-gauge cable in between frame and engine.

Firewall to frame (Ground)
Battery negative to firewall (Ground)

Again, if the frame is directly grounded to the battery, and the firewall is directly grounded to the battery, a cable from firewall to frame is redundant. If you insist, 8-gauge would be plenty.

Battery negative to fender (Ground)

I'd think that 8-gauge would be plenty. Maybe 10- or 12-gauge. How much electrical equipment grounds through the fender? How big is the OEM cable?

Battery negative to engine block. located on fuel pump block off plate (Ground)

That would be your largest ground cable, able to cope with the full starter current plus a little extra. 2-gauge is plenty. Same for the battery positive-to-starter solenoid cable--2-gauge is plenty, I bet OEM is 4-gauge.

The shop that overhauled my transmission has a policy of adding a ground cable from transmission to frame, looked to be 8- or 6-gauge. They even did a nice job of cleaning the rust off the frame where they made the connection.

Make sure all your connections on both ends of the cable are to bare, clean metal--no rust on the frame at the contact point, for example; and no corrosion on the copper cable ends. The ground wires are often connected with star washers. The edges of the star washers dig through surface corrosion for a low-resistance connection. You might want to consider buying some appropriate-size star washers to go with your new cables.

Adding some corrosion protection to the cable ends once attached to whatever they're connected to makes some sense. any one of the many kinds of Glyptal paint is commonly used, as is NYK 77 grease. The grease works OK, but if you brush up against it, you're going to wipe it off the connection and onto your clothing.

http://glyptal.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-97944-Corrosion-Preventive-Electrical/dp/B002HC396G

 

[thinger2]

Ha! "Electrical ************"
That is the best thing ive seen recently.
Im a gonna steal that one Shurkey and use it on the next job site I go too.
1.0 ga wire for most grounds is not only massive overkill and a waste of money,
It is also just from the weight and vibration transmitted through a wire of that size much more likely to make the hardware fail.
A good example of this is bolting a 1/2 diameter ring onto a 5/16 bulkhead connector.
Sure, you can stuff some washers in but,
The stud or bolt will fail because of the "gap wander" and the lack of surface area contact. and the lack of clamping force.
In other words, if the **** dont fit its gonna break.
I can see using 1 ga on the battery side.
Maybe, if you are planning on loading the hell out of it.
But the rest of that plan is just a bad idea with good intentions.
The "big three" upgrade is well worth the effort.
But, it is not a miracle cure.
There are grounds to the head amd from the head to the firewall and then to the frame.
There is a ground from the transmission to the frame that, if its bad,
it will corrode the tailshaft in your transmission and make the seal leak
Grounds at the body mounts, grounds at the tranfer case.
A ground strap from the fender to the hood .
Etc...
Just fix the damn grounds.
Crawl your ass under the truck and take all that **** apart and fix it.
And watch most of your problems go away.
Then, and only then,
will you be able to diagnose an obd1 problem

 

[Frank Enstein]

I prefer to have the negative cable go to the starter and jump a 10 gauge or bigger wire from the starter to the block. Then I ground EVERYTHING to the block on bare shiny metal. I use the block as a buss bar. You can put all the ground wires on the same bolt or on 12 different bolts it makes no difference. If a ground wire touches the exhaust nothing happens! It doesn't have to be insulated except near a 12v + terminal. Use ground straps if you want. I use 10 gauge black wire with the highest strand count I can afford.

GM puts the neg cable on the alternator bracket because it is cheaper, easier, and will likely make it through the warranty period. I have never seen an alternator bracket start an engine. Besides, you have to run the + cable to the starter anyway just run the - right next to it. A heat insulating sleeve wouldn't hurt my feelings either.

I advocate immense cables from the battery and I prefer welding cable with a bazillion strands. Do not use aluminum or copper clad wire. It can be cheaper but isn't as reliable. Having a 1 gauge battery cable with the battery under the hood is admittedly overkill but if you break 1/3 of the strands it will still start your truck.

Welding cable is more flexible because of the higher strand count and more flexible jacket that handles a lot of abuse. There are some who say a higher strand count flows electricity better. I don't know if that's true or not but the higher strand count is less likely to break strands.

I make my own cables. I crimp them,( the place you buy the cable and connectors might be able to crimp it for you) fill with the best solder I can find (heat the terminal NOT the wire!), dielectric grease, and finally heat shrink. I do this procedure with the ground straps as well.

The crimp handles the conductivity. In fact if you cut apart a proper crimp the wire and the terminal will be solid copper! The solder keeps oxygen and moisture out of the connection (and might make the connection a smidge better). The dielectric grease fills in the gaps and pushes up into the wire to make it less likely to corrode, and the heat shrink keeps it healthy.

Here is a generic list for grounds to connect to the block that I use all the time, Firewall, Computer Case, Both Cylinder Heads, (All 17 head bolts on each head have thread sealer on them and you have a gasket between the head and the block) Alternator Case, Radiator Core Support, (The headlights ground there) Any 1 Wire Sensor, Distributor Body, and O2 Sensor(s). You can hose clamp the ground wire to the O2, Distributor Body, and 1 Wire Sensor if there isn't a convenient bolt. Then you can say I KNOW it's grounded instead of I THINK it's grounded.

I know that you asked for the time and I told you how to build you a clock but I wanted to give you all the information I could so you don't repeat labor or replace new parts with new different parts.

American Autowire recommends the procedure I just outlined. I have been telling my customers to do it this way for 20+ years. Over 95% of my electrical calls are bad grounds and bad connections. Whenever you have an electrical issue (like you put on the turn signals and the dash lights go out) check the grounds first!

 

[Erik the Awful]

Welding cable? Maybe if I got it for free. 2 gauge if I'm buying. And, yes, I have a welding cable ground wire that I'm going to install on my motor soon. I got it for free.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Welding cable? Maybe if I got it for free.

Try this stuff . We used it in plant electrical switch gear when there was the need for a tight radius to get to the buss bar in the back. Not cheap!

http://www.electrowire.com/markets/transit/dlo-diesel-locomotive-cable/

 

[Schurkey]

I prefer to have the negative cable go to the starter

How are you attaching that cable?

If you're using one of the starter-to-block bolts, the thickness of the copper lug must not be great enough to lift the knurled section of the starter bolt out of the block--the knurl ideally is 1/2 in the block, and 1/2 in the starter housing.

You'd surely want to paint that connection with Glyptal or equivalent; that connection is gonna get heavy road-splash. Especially bad in areas where they use salt or brine on the roads!

Your system is better electrically, but I'm perfectly content to use the OEM grounding point--on my '88 K1500, it's a studded bolt at the "fuel pump" area of the block.

 

[kenh]

The ground wires are often connected with star washers. The edges of the star washers dig through surface corrosion for a low-resistance connection. You might want to consider buying some appropriate-size star washers to go with your new cables.

My instructor in Tech school HATED star washers. He claimed they caused way more issues than they solved. And this was before there was any hint of computers in cars! (1975)
His view was to get rid of them and add vaseline under and around the connection. Back at the time there wasn't any silicone anti corrosion grease. He was a former GM district rep if that adds any credibility.

Ken