I searched already and its frustrating the **** outta me I cant find any info on the big three Im trying to figgure out which wires are the ones to replace and I know there was a post a while back with pictures and everything so if anyone could help me locate it or has any pictures of the way they ran the wires and which ones to replace I would appricate it. Thanks alot!

 

You don't need to replace any wires, unless they are corroded, or damaged in any way.

What you need to do is add wires.

If you take one 4 awg wire and install it from the battery + to the alt +, then one from the alt mount to the frame, and one from the - of the battery to the frame, preferably where you mounted the one from the alt. mount.
With the positive cable, you should put a fuse in line. Get one rated above you alt amperage output.


Just remember to run the wires out of the way of any danger, (fan belt, fans, any moving objects). And just to be that much more profesional, route them clean and not just from point A to point B.

 

I understand the concept of this wiring upgrade. Should all third gen cars have this upgrade. I didnt know there was an issue here. Anyone with more on this can you put in your input. Thanks

 

Every car should have this upgrade.

 

Where do I get a fuse for the BAT + to Alt cable? How does it attach? Is this an auto parts store item or more of a Radio Shack item?

EDIT: Is it preferred for all three added cables to be 4 awg?

 

Atleast 4 gauge, thick stranded wire is great.

 

Thanks. I replaced my positive cable yesterday and added a store bought marine style 4 gauge cable for the alternator output. It didn't help. I'll butcher up the old positive cable for the other 2/3s of the big 3.

I just need to figure out the simplest way to put a fuse inline to the alternator, and I will be set.

 

This afternoon I added the two extra grounds. I now have a 4 gauge cable from the alternator to the battery +, a 4 gauge cable from a strut tower bolt to the battery negative, and a 4 gauge cable from the strut tower bolt to the alternator support bracket at the exhaust manifold.

http://www.widetrackdrive.com/temp/IMG_1287cr-rs.jpg

http://www.widetrackdrive.com/temp/IMG_1288cr-rs.jpg

I used the strut tower bolt because I read here in an old thread where someone else did that, and the other day using my multimeter, it gave one of the quickest and strongest continuity beeps.

The second pic link above shows the hookups near the battery. The + cable is a Autozone Gold 2 gauge. It was the longest I could find in better than 4 gauge. It was still about 3" short, so I connected it to the end of an old cable and connected the alternator output at this same point.

For the negative, I use the side post cable end bolted to another side post end to make an extension to the top mount. At this junction I connected the cable that runs to the alternator support bracket.

I still see 14V at the battery with and without load, but in the car as the loads are added, the voltmeter drops. After driving a few miles then idling, with the headlights, foglights, heater/blower on HIGH, radio on, and turn signal on, the needle dips to the edge of the red.

Is that in fact normal? I've read in other threads that it is normal, but I am puzzled, because at some time in the past, the needle didn't do this. With no load or maybe just headlights on, the needle used to stay on 13 or a tad over. For the last year or so, it stays about two increments below 13, and once in a blue moon it will spike and hold at 13-14 for a little while.

My biggest concern is how in the past I have hit the foglights, and heard a pop with the radio going to static and all the gauges dropping to the left and headlights running at about 25% or less their normal intensity. The last time that happened, I hit a bump and that happened. I pulled over at the first place I could, and wiggled everything I could get my hands on, and when I went back to the gauge, it had gone back up to the just-sub 13V reading. I wish someone had been with me so I'd know which wiggle perked it up.

I've since wiggled everything within reach with someone watching to see if I can get it back to 13-14 V.

I also wish I had mine multimeter with me when it appeared everything was dead. I wonder if at that moment the battery was seeing 14V as it does regardless of the interior's voltmeter.

If anyone things my cable connections are hideous, please suggest something better. This sort of thing is not my forte!

If in fact the interior voltmeter reading so low when the battery is getting 14V is normal, I just hope whatever was causing the pop and dead gauges and weak lights is cured by the Big Three. That's what scares me.

One other comment is when the voltmeter is dragged down by a load, the hazard lights won't even pulse, and the turn signals are sloooow. If the battery is seeing 14V from a charging alternator, then why are things slowed?

I've also checked the condition of the G200 ground under the dash. It was clean and really tight. From reading other threads, I originally thought that was going to be my culprit.