i had upgraded my wires to 4ga a while now and had some wires left over. my friend told me to do a 2nd run of the 4ga because then it would be like i was running 2ga. is this true or am i just wasting my time? and also i went ahead and put a wire for the alt-chassis. does that help or will it do nothing?

Can someone please help me with a general Big 3 Question.

so I know big 3 are:

1. Block, or Alt to GND

2. Batt. to GND

3. Alt + to Bat. +

What is the diff in #1 and #2... both are getting grounded.. and Would it make a diff to just do Batt- to GND, and NOT Block to GND because right now I have 2 Batt- to Gnd.. actually it goes batt- to Tranny GND ( I didnt do it)

Thx guys

Edited April 22, 200817 yr by snb778

Jason, I think I mentioned it before, instead of pulling the existing wire out, leave it for the 100.4. Then run 1/0 for the 1500D, and ground it in the rear. But yeah, do the big 3 and get more out of what you have, then go from there.

I've got the 1/0 that will be going in soon, but the more I read the forums the more I wonder if my other parts are inadequate. I believe the OEM alternator is 80amp, and the battery is whatever came in there when I bought it used last year. Certainly my first step will be the 1/0 installation (and BIG 3), but how can I determine if any other steps are necessary?

-fp

I just did the big 3 with 1/0. But I had a problem with one. I couldn't get from the chassy to the engine block, so I when from the chassy to the alternator bracket. Is this a good thing?

Edited May 27, 200817 yr by m4a3master

I just did the big 3 with 1/0. But I had a problem with one. I couldn't get from the chassy to the engine block, so I when from the chassy to the alternator bracket. Is this a good thing?

You should be on to the alternator bracket. I did mine to alternator bracket and the engine to make sure I got a good circuit completion.

got a question why do i need a fuse between batt. and alt.

Same reason you need a fuse anywhere, but of course they don't use one at the factory so if you are good with your wiring you can get away without it.

u dont need it but it is safer. I dont use the duse since i want the least amount of resistance.

The Big 3 Are:

1. negative battery wire to ground - just replace the negative batt. terminal and wire and ground it to the factory location

2. engine block to ground - replace the ground wire from the engine block to the chasie with a bigger wire (maybe 4 guage)

3. alternator to batt - add a fused wire from the postive post on you alternator (the one comming from the battery) to the postive terminal on your battery. DO NOT exchange wires just add a extra one. make sure it fused the same size as your factory fuse.

hope thats helps

Note on #2- Some cars have a batt-engine block connection stead of chassis to engine block...

So on my 2000 Sebring Convertible, the battery is in the wheel well and there are neg and pos terminals up in the engine compartment where you hook up stereo items and to jump start the car. With this setup would there be more wiring involved? Thanks

the factory wire from the battery to the terminals under the hood are probably pretty crappy, if your planning to do the big 3 you would have to upgrade those wire (or run new ones along side it) in addition to the rest of the steps

have to do this to my BMW, have to to some work, battery is under back seat.

get er' done sander, you will likey!

it works i have 0 gage for everything

Big 3 Wiring for better voltage which will decrease drops and increase steady voltage at idle and bumping. You dont replace your wire, you can add on to the existing one's but is up to you if you want to replace them (depending on how simplified or complicated your wiring is such as the positive wire). Depending on the factory wires you have go with 4 gauge or bigger, 1/0 AWG is preferred and recommended especially if you have an HO Alternator. You can fuse the wire between battery and alternator if you want to this is also personal preference (some do just to be safe but if your wiring it right and tight you should be fine without it). I also recommend that you do the ground wires first just to make sure you have enough wire, connectors or whatever to finish the job.

1.) Battery's Negative post to Car's Frame.

2.) Alternator Bolt (that attaches the alternator to engine) or Engine Block to Car's Frame

3.) Battery Positive post to Alternator's Positive Terminal.

*** I noticed that if you double up the wire on the battery negative to car's frame it does help out on voltage and not recommended at all just sharing my results from adding a second wire.***

For my Big 3 I did mine like this:

1.) I replaced the 4 guage wire that was on my battery's negative post going to the car's frame. I took out the old wire and added two 1/0 AWG wires.

Two runs of 1/0 AWG

2.) I replaced the 4 gauge wire that was on my engine block going to the car's frame. I took out the old wire and added one 1/0 AWG wire.

Engine Block

Car's Frame

3.) I have not did the wire from battery's positive terminal to alternator's positive terminal yet since my main battery is in the trunk (as you can tell in above pictures). I will get around to upgrading this wire, I will not replace this wire at all. I will just simply add on 1/0 AWG wire when I get an HO Alternator but for now it is fine with the 4 gauge factory wiring.

Thank you jay-cee for adding more detailed info and the pictorial.

No problem denim just trying to do my share that is all

Thanks Jay-Cee.

Some details are always welcome, for a lot of us !!!

It's hard for me to change the wire from batt to alt, so I will ground of the alt (the battery already has a good 0/1 ground).

Thanks Jay-Cee.

Some details are always welcome, for a lot of us !!!

It's hard for me to change the wire from batt to alt, so I will ground of the alt (the battery already has a good 0/1 ground).

Do you guys think this procedure can be done in Auto shops?

How complicated is this procedure? I mean, I would love to try it, but I dont have any experience at all with this.

In the worse case, I would prefer an auto shop to do it, but if its going to cost a lot forget it lol

it wont be called the big 3 though. ask them about upgrading the power and ground wiring. Audio shops do this too. However, it is really easy to do it when you really get into your engine bay. It may be hard at first trying to find out where what is but easy after that.

Thanks Jay-Cee.

Some details are always welcome, for a lot of us !!!

It's hard for me to change the wire from batt to alt, so I will ground of the alt (the battery already has a good 0/1 ground).

Do you guys think this procedure can be done in Auto shops?

How complicated is this procedure? I mean, I would love to try it, but I dont have any experience at all with this.

In the worse case, I would prefer an auto shop to do it, but if its going to cost a lot forget it lol

Yes they can do this in local shops but would probably cost you an arm and a leg. It can be simple to do if you are hands on and can pick up things quickly. All you are doing is adding three wires to your electrical system but if you dont feel comfortable doing it then yeah I would let a shop do it.

I plan on doing this but i have one question as in eng ground to chassis, my car has the eng ground running to the battery. so I was wondering would it make a difference if i use bolt on my alternator bracket as a ground and connect that cable directly to the neg battery or should i just ground it to the chassis of the car?

I would do both, if possible. The ground in a vehicle is just as important as the positive wire.

I would do both, if possible. The ground in a vehicle is just as important as the positive wire.

yeah i see the battery ground to chassis thats no problem its less than a foot away from each other, its just the engine ground is where im stuck on, should i just mount the engine ground to the same spot as my battery ground to chassis(which is about 4feet in length roughly) or save a foot in cable and mount the engine ground to the negative terminal on my battery?

Edited January 19, 201015 yr by PT3005

nevermind i found a spot to ground my engine block to chassis

nevermind i found a spot to ground my engine block to chassis

would it not also make sense that if you are running 1/0 ga wire to the amp for power and a 1/0 wire for the ground from amp, to size your ground wire from the battery to chassis or frame the same or bigger than the largest power wire in the system? example

battery to amp, 1/0 ga

amp to ground, 1/0 ga

battery to ground point either chassis or frame 1/0

electricity takes the path of least resistance so doubleing wires to the alt makes no sense. you can't double wire it, that would be like twisting the ends of 16 ga speaker wire togehter and calling it 8 ga. in most newer cars the main lead from the alt does not lead straight to the battery, it leads to a fusible link or something else that everything is tied to. that why alot of the newer cars don't just have terminals to the battery they have big boxy looking things. i have done the big 3 and sometimes alot more on all my vehicles regardless if they had a system or not, its good practice and can result in a alt's life being extended. in no way will doing the big three up the amperage of a alt. it just guarentees it a lil bit easier path to choose and will give that tired old autozone special 7 days of life instead of 6.

Should i be running 0/1 or 4g wire for this and whats a decent price per foot for some good stuff. Thx in advance