Upgraded Wiring

Public Disturbance · Post by **Public Disturbance** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:42 pm

Ok guys here is what I have done so far 4ga on the passenger side grounds, ground going from starter bolt to battery tray, and from battery to inside drivers fender. Also added a ground going direct off battery to strut tower with the extra wire I had. The main ground going direct off battery to strut bolt I did in 0ga. As for my positive side I ran 4ga from battery to fuse box, now my question is where is the wire that goes from battery to alternator is it the small wire that has the spade connection on the plastic piece that bolts to the stater could a guy bend a eyelet 90* and bolt it in place of that plastic piece. How would a guy go about upgrading the positive to alternator wire, and do I have the right wire that I think is for the alternator. Any help would be great.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:15 pm

Unless you plan on a higher amp alternator than what you currently have, there isn't really a need to go with bigger wire.

But if you still feel the need, just run the wire directly from the alternator to the battery, instead of to the starter. You will still need the wire from the battery to the starter, obviously, so your positive battery terminal will have to be capable of attaching three leads to it. (Starter, alternator, and PDC.)

Public Disturbance · Post by **Public Disturbance** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:56 pm

occasional demons wrote:Unless you plan on a higher amp alternator than what you currently have, there isn't really a need to go with bigger wire.

But if you still feel the need, just run the wire directly from the alternator to the battery, instead of to the starter. You will still need the wire from the battery to the starter, obviously, so your positive battery terminal will have to be capable of attaching three leads to it. (Starter, alternator, and PDC.)

I already have a bigger alternator a mechman 270 amp alternator and I have battery termainals with 2 4 gauge output and 2 0 gauge outputs. Would taking a eyelet bending it at 90* and replacing that plastic piece work in order to run the 0 gauge I want to run from battery to starter and then I would be running 0 from alternator to battery. Anyone have a pic of what the positive hook up on the alternator looks like?

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:45 am

The alt just has a stud that the eyelet attaches to. The plastic stays on the alt.

Sorry for the blurry pic

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:29 pm

Yes, I believe you can remove the starter connector set up all together, but:

I want to run from battery to starter and then I would be running 0 from alternator to battery.

So if I understand this correctly, you plan on running a dedicated line from the alternator to the battery, then another wire to the starter?

If so, just keep the factory cable to the starter. There would be no real advantage to upgrading it. Unless you plan on 14:1 compression, then the starter will need all the help it can get.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:27 pm

And if you do plan on replacing the factory wiring, get some kind of protection in there. I have a 0g running from my battery with two seperate fused lines run to my starter and alt.

The smaller wire coming off the top on the left is an unfused line running to my underhood PDC.

Public Disturbance · Post by **Public Disturbance** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:03 pm

So would I need to put a fuse on the wire going from battery to starter and a fuse going from alternator to battery, would I put those closer to the battery side of the equation or to clean it up a little could I just put a fused distribution block one wire off battery split going to the starter and alternator.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:29 am

No fuse to the starter: the amperage demand is too high. It would prolly blow, unless it is better than 250 or more amps. In the oem set up, there is a fusible link between the starter and the alternator, but that is to protect the alternator, or the car if the alternator shorts. I have no idea what amperage the fusible link fails at.

Public Disturbance · Post by **Public Disturbance** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:16 pm

Sweet deal thanks guys

D-Railed_Neon · Post by **D-Railed_Neon** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:53 pm

Danteneon wrote:And if you do plan on replacing the factory wiring, get some kind of protection in there. I have a 0g running from my battery with two seperate fused lines run to my starter and alt.

The smaller wire coming off the top on the left is an unfused line running to my underhood PDC.

wouldn't this be 2 lines running from my alternator and starter to a fuse box and then 0ga running from the box to the positive lead on the battery? (just for my own understanding no grammar Naziism here

.) Also, I have used 4ga already to upgrade my block to chassis grounds and and my negative battery terminal to chassis ground. I have faith in the fusible link to the starter so I will be leaving that one alone. From here I could run 4ga from the alternator to the battery, and if I did what size fuse would you recommend. Also any benefit to upgrading the starter to block ground or the battery to PDC lines?

Thanks

Public Disturbance · Post by **Public Disturbance** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:43 pm

D-Railed_Neon wrote:
Danteneon wrote:And if you do plan on replacing the factory wiring, get some kind of protection in there. I have a 0g running from my battery with two seperate fused lines run to my starter and alt.

The smaller wire coming off the top on the left is an unfused line running to my underhood PDC.

wouldn't this be 2 lines running from my alternator and starter to a fuse box and then 0ga running from the box to the positive lead on the battery? (just for my own understanding no grammar Naziism here .) Also, I have used 4ga already to upgrade my block to chassis grounds and and my negative battery terminal to chassis ground. I have faith in the fusible link to the starter so I will be leaving that one alone. From here I could run 4ga from the alternator to the battery, and if I did what size fuse would you recommend. Also any benefit to upgrading the starter to block ground or the battery to PDC lines?

Thanks

I ran 0 ga from the alternator to battery with a 300 amp circuit breaker so if it does blow i dont have to buy a new fuse but I also have a 270 amp mechman alternator and a pretty high end sound system. Kicker ZX2500.1 so I would say you will be good with 4ga. I upgraded my PDC line with 4 gauges just for the look and started to battery tray is what I think you ment and idk if its needed but it will help i did mine in 4ga, with 0 ga going from battery to starter bolt.

D-Railed_Neon · Post by **D-Railed_Neon** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:12 pm

Hmm decisions..... thanks for the input. I don't plan on running anything super crazy. I've got a rb4 and going to be upgrading to infinity 2 way 3.5s, 6.5s, and 6X9s. soon but no amp. Just want the cleanest, most stable charging and grounding possible. I know this isn't really a required upgrade but, it does serve some purpose. It's relatively cheap to do, and it looks nice. Do we really need any other reasons? lol

Public Disturbance · Post by **Public Disturbance** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:12 pm

D-Railed_Neon wrote:Hmm decisions..... thanks for the input. I don't plan on running anything super crazy. I've got a rb4 and going to be upgrading to infinity 2 way 3.5s, 6.5s, and 6X9s. soon but no amp. Just want the cleanest, most stable charging and grounding possible. I know this isn't really a required upgrade but, it does serve some purpose. It's relatively cheap to do, and it looks nice. Do we really need any other reasons? lol

I would just go 4ga then, 0ga wire is really heavy and over kill if you arent really running a big amp or something.

D-Railed_Neon · Post by **D-Railed_Neon** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:15 pm

Thats what I was thinking. I may go with a stinger or optima redtop for the cca. I work in home sales and during the NE winters it's good to know you got some amps to wake up the cold sleeping motor. So my plan is 4ga from alt to bat+ then 4ga from bat -, to chassis ground. Then 4ga from block to chassis ground. The basic Big 3. Any reason why I would upgrade the bat + to PDC, other than looks? I already have a upgraded car audio styled negative battery terminal. and will of course purchase a second one capable of handling 3 leads for the battery + terminal. Did I miss anything?

Thanks everyone.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:20 am

ready the how-to. it gives you all the lengths and paths needed. stay away from optima. a stinger spv44 is an almost direct drop in replacement for the stock battery.

D-Railed_Neon · Post by **D-Railed_Neon** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:38 pm

word. thanks