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HowTo: DIY Grounding Kit Install |
| Last updated: 4/09/2008 |
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Grounding kits can help your electrical system stay stable.
For about $40 you can build a high quality one yourself!
No need to spend all that money on store kits that aren't really made for your car anyway.
Equipment:
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12-14 feet of 4 gauge temp resistant wire (Usually audio amplifier wire will work
as it is made to run in engine compartments.)
Here is a list of the measurements you'll use:
(Note: These are the measurements I used on my 2003 Jetta. You may want
to verify that they are correct for your car! I used lots of slack so I could
hide everything for the stealth look as well.)
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Passanger side frame to throttle body: 14 inches
Uses two O connectors
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Throttle body to engine cover mount: 15 inches
Uses two O connectors
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Driver side engine mount to negative battery terminal: 23.25 inches
Uses two O connectors
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Battery negative terminal to drivers side frame: 16.5 inches
Uses two O connectors
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Battery negative terminal to coilpack ground: 42.5 inches
Uses two O connectors
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Battery negative terminal to transmission ground: 33 inches
Uses one O connector and one U connector
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Zipties (small and large size)
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11 O terminal connectors (crimpable)
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1 U terminal connector (crimpable)
Tools:
Grounding Points (I refer to them as SLOTS):
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Passenger side frame (SLOT 1)
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Throttle body (SLOT 2)
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Driver side engine mount (SLOT 3)
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Negative battery terminal (SLOT 4)
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Driver side frame (SLOT 5)
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Transmission ground (SLOT 6)
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Coilpack ground (SLOT 7)
Slots in action:
Pics of the Parts:
Here is the wire:
Connectors, they came with shrink wrap:
Installation:
This only takes a few hours of leisurely installing. No reason to hurry, measure everything
precisely and you'll get a really nice stealth install.
The key is putting the wires together properly. Make sure to crimp them tightly
and to use the shrink wrap properly to seal the connections.
So away we go. Open the hood. I bet you didn't think that would be the first step!
We will be starting on the passanger side of the car.
Find the bolt in the picture, remove it from the car. Then verify wire length:
Assemble the wire (14", 2 O connectors)
Remove the throttle body bolt (has the engine cover mount on it)
Connect the wire to the first and second slot and attach the frame bolt (don't tighten it though, just to hold the wire connector in place), but not the throttle body bolt.
Now take off the bolt on the driver side engine mount, slot 3.
Assemble the wire (15", 2 O connectors)
Connect the wire to the second and third slot. Tighten up the throttle body bolt.
A close up of that bolt:
Now take off the bolt on the negative battery terminal, slot 4.
Assemble the wire (23.25", 2 O connectors)
Connect the wire to the third and forth slot. Tighten up the driver side engine mount bolt, but use a longer bolt because the stock one was not long enough for me. I swapped the engine mount bolt with SLOT 1's bolt, it worked fine in both places. Make sure the engine cover will line up on the mount.
Now take off the bolt on the drivers side frame, slot 5.
Assemble the wire (16.5", 2 O connectors)
Connect the wire to the forth and fith slot. Tighten up both bolts on the slots.
(See next the picture info on how we will connect MORE O connectors to the negative battery terminal.)
Now take off the bolt on the coilpack ground
Assemble the wire (42.5", 2 O connectors)
Connect the wire to the forth and seventh slot. Tighten up the coilpack ground bolt.
A close up of that bolt. You'll notice I put heat shielding around it. That's leftover
from my Stage 3 install so I decided to use it:
Now LOSEN (do NOT remove) the bolt on the transmission ground:
Assemble the wire (33", 1 U connector and 1 O connector)
Connect the wire to the forth and sixth slot. Use the U connector for the transmission ground slot. Tighten up the transmission ground bolt.
Some close ups of that bolt:
Now zip tie everything together and tighten up all the bolts. Make it look good,
don't leave wires hanging around your engine compartment! Especially near the
shifting mechanism!
Finished product. Pretty stealthy, you can't really see many of the wires
and since I used clear black colored wire it looks stock even when you do:
Enjoy!
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