How to Upgrade the Big Three

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jmelton86

Gold - Posts: 1,228

Joined: February 07, 2007

Location: South Carolina, United States

Posted: May 07, 2007 at 6:32 PM / IP Logged

still_walkin, you ideally want to fuse the alt. to batt. positive. This protects the wire and essentially your car from fire in the case of collision near the front of the vehicle. You want to use a fuse that is the maximum rating of the wire, 8g-75amps; 4g-150amps; etc... As for the ground, use an ohmeter and check for the path of least resistance from batt. to frame, frame to block, etc...

2013 Kia Rio -90a alternator

DDX470HD GTO14001 GTO1014D (x3)

Big3 in 1/0G

1/0G to GTO14001

goser

Member - Posts: 14

Joined: October 04, 2006

Posted: May 10, 2007 at 6:01 PM / IP Logged

98 Blazer, looking into the upgrade I have 3 wires from my battery negative--One to the engine, one to body, and one to the chassis. Then there's a ground strap from the firewall which I presume runs down to the engine as well. How should I go about upgrading these? I have my amp grounded to the body in the back.

yanki01

Member - Posts: 5

Joined: May 10, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: May 10, 2007 at 7:00 PM / IP Logged

Im doing the Big3 since i already have a decent 2 amp system and about to change it out for an equaveliant 2 amp system along with an HID retro with a relay so i know ill need this.

I made out a little picture for mine just to double check....

on the grounds i have one comming from the negative which im sure every1 has. Would it be ok to use the same grounding points that the OEM negative ground has for the ground comming from the engine block? Thanks for the help! BTW- i have a Scion tC.

yanki01

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Joined: May 10, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: May 10, 2007 at 7:02 PM / IP Logged

woah, dont know what happened there? How to Upgrade the Big Three - Page 9 -- posted image.

yanki01

Member - Posts: 5

Joined: May 10, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: May 16, 2007 at 7:27 AM / IP Logged

anyone?

dk77

Member - Posts: 11

Joined: August 24, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: May 29, 2007 at 9:28 PM / IP Logged

the12volt wrote:

Great post DYohn. Thanks for posting this. Here are a couple of tips and opinions I would like to add.

...I also find it better to use an analog meter for this purpose since analog meters allow you to "zero out" the meter to accommodate for the much longer than usual test leads needed to make such measurements and eliminate the resistance added by the extended test leads from your readings which provides you with a more accurate measurement and a zero ohm starting point. Doing this, you will see resistance levels much closer to zero than you will with digital meters without this "zero out" feature...

Sorry to join in this thread so late. This is an excellent tip about zeroing (relative zero) longer sets of meter leads. I use a Fluke 87V, and it has a "REL" button for zeroing out meter leads. Place the leads together and press the button. The only disadvantage is that it will take the meter out of AUTO function, but that's no biggie.

hamzter

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Joined: March 15, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: June 05, 2007 at 10:11 AM / IP Logged

DYohn wrote:

jt824 wrote:

So when upgrading the big three I am adding wiring to the existing 3 locations and leaving the factory wiring intact correct?

That's the way I describe it, yes. You CAN replace the OEM wiring if you choose as long as you use large enough gauge to supply the normal vehicle loads PLUS the sound system load.

I just joined, so I am a newbie to everyone here...

Here is my situation. The battery has been relocated to the trunk. I am running 1/0 to the trunk for power on the driver side. My Alternator is on the passenger side.

so my questions are:

1. do I run 4 gauge or, what is the minimum I can run to my power mount point in the engine bay?

2. Can I also run another ground from my alternator to the motor, if so what gauge must I run. Should it match the powers size gauge?

3. This may not be in the scope of this post, but I have multiple grounds on the motor in the engine bay, will this cause engine noise?

thanks,

Mark "Hamzter" Cinense

1991 Infiniti G20 w/JDM SR20DE

Eclipse CD8445

MTX Thunder 684

Polk DB6750

Polk DB6500

Optima Red Top in the Trunk

wopaim

Member - Posts: 5

Joined: June 04, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: June 06, 2007 at 10:35 PM / IP Logged

OMG OMG and OMG. i did the BIG 3 wire upgrade and all i can say is WOW. My voltage increased by a couple of tenths, the deep bass notes sound a little stronger, highs and mids sound a little fuller and richer, and you guys may laugh and maybe its just me but my truck seems to run stronger. i took some voltage readings before at stock then wire upgrade then wire+optima.

stock: truck idling 13.6v - idling with stereo cranked using test tone CD 12.6 (lowest drop)

wire upgrade: truck idling 14V - idling with stereo cranked using test tone CD 12.9 (lowest drop)

wire upgrade+ optima: truck idling 14v - idling with stereo cranked using test tome CD 12.9 (lowest drop)

I had planned on doing this years ago but put it off and put it off. i'm glad i finally got around to it. i dont know why this isnt taught as the most important and fundamental upgrade to do regardless of aftermarket stereo or not.

if you havent done this yet i suggest you do. i dont know how much the wire upgrade alone cost but it was under 100 bucks probably more like 60.

notaken

Member - Posts: 1

Joined: June 29, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: June 29, 2007 at 12:38 PM / IP Logged

Hello,

I upgraded grounds with 0 gage and power with 4 gage.

One issue.

Upon upgrading the grounds I have a MASSIVE increase in voltage :-)

This is a 96 isuzu rodeo.

However, I just added the positive alternator to Batter positive.

Before this wire, voltage was high, I could turn on the headlights and voltage stayed the same.

Now, I turn on the headlights and voltage drops to 12 volts for about 1.5 seconds, then kicks up back to 14.

I have a feeling that adding the wire from alt pos to battery pos is not good for the car but may be for the stereo. With this new wire, the alternator has a delay before it detects the voltage drop or something.... Any idea/truth to my thoughts?

gmfan09

Member - Posts: 2

Joined: July 15, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: July 15, 2007 at 10:31 PM / IP Logged

I upgraded two of the three today but I could not find one of them. Engine block to the chassis was the one I could not find. Is it supposed to be from the alternator case to the chassis or the engine block cause there is only one wire coming from my alternator? I'm confused. Should there be an improvement by just upgradeing the alt to the positive batt and the neg batt to the chassis?

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