How to: Better Ground for your car

**TheTimob** · 10-10-2007 05:40 PM

I thought I made this thread before, but I couldn't find it for the life of me. Besideds, I took more pics...

This set is for 85Spraybomb. I am no longer making them for people though. Sorry. BTW - there was a $5 surcharge -because Freeland, PA is a NOWHERE rural area!

Tools: Lighter, Box Cutter, hammer crimper, Cutter things for the cables, and the BFH.

Supplies: Battery clamps, those corrosion prevention pads, 6" of 3/4" heatshrink.

And the cable. I used 4 gauge marine grade ANCOR cable I got from some guy on eBay. I actually bought WAY WAY too much, so measure your cables out with string or whatever before you order. Leave a bit of slack to work with.

Strip the wires after you cut them with the box cutters

So now we have about 1/2" stripped off.

Now, put the liug and the wire into the crimper. You want to put the lug in there so that the crimper's silver part will hit the back of the copper terminal - the flatter side. That makes it much nicer than hitting the front.

HAMMERTIME!

Here's what the crimp looks like:

Now, get out your heat shrink, and cut it into 1" sections. Mine came in 3" pre-cut sections from the hardware strore.

Put the section of heat shrink on it..

and BURN it on!

Then attach the battery clamps. These are 11mm bolts.

Now, here's what the cables do:

The transmission ground is that hole there near the flywheel inspection port. If you have a bracket there, just get rid of it or whatever.

The other end of that short cable goes to the body ground on a M6 10mm bolt right under the CIS airbox. You'll have to move that out of the way to see it. You can remove your stock ground strap. I bet it looks like hell.

This pic is of my old clamp. As you can see, I replaced one of the bolts with an M6 allen head bolt - it makes it easier. Put all of your stock grounds back on those bolts.

**G-rocco** · 10-10-2007 06:08 PM

This looks good. Easy, too. Bump this into my watched topics for a good winter project.

**TheTimob** · 10-10-2007 06:14 PM

Here's a link to an auction to the exact crimper that I own.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hammer-On-...wItem

**Jetta2dr** · 10-10-2007 07:19 PM

I need to do this to my car.
You can also solder those lugs on with a propane torch if you dont feel like crimping. Say, for example, if you have a torch but no crimper. I soldered my lugs on my rally car's cables and havnt had any issues.

**85roccoZ400** · 10-10-2007 07:48 PM

Looks good! Easy to do also!

The beauty of having MS

**Bones 16v** · 10-10-2007 08:02 PM

I'm kind of surprised we need a how to for this, but anyways if you don't feel like buying the crimper, you could use a vise, a rubber mallet and some metal hunks (other tools or what ever you have) to crimp the end on the cable.

**LastMartian** · 10-10-2007 08:09 PM

Nice work dude. Your Scirocco says thank you very much.

I have a suggestion. You wold have a more reliable connection if you locked in that bolt. The best solution would be to have under the bolt head: 1.split collar lock washer 2.flat washer 3.the ground lug 4.star washer. That way it will not spin as you tighten, and it will be much less likely to loosen.

This is especially important for preventative maintenance people. For me --a wait until it fails kinda guy-- I can rely on the corrosion to help hold it in

Quote, originally posted by timbo2132 »

::edit:: Timbo Dude, that BFH-activated crimper is the izshnit! Never seen one like that!

Modified by LastMartian at 8:11 PM 10-10-2007

Modified by LastMartian at 8:13 PM 10-10-2007

**scirocco*joe** · 10-10-2007 09:24 PM

Bump for Timbo since he made me a set. I love the work, but now I need to run the positive cable! Tranny weekend only left me with enough time to do the ground.

to Timbo yet again!

**Iroczgirl** · 10-10-2007 09:33 PM

Quote, originally posted by scirocco*joe »

to Timbo yet again!

Yes indeed! I will have yet another project for my car this coming summer

**jr_certs** · 10-10-2007 11:42 PM

Is there a noticeable difference in the car with these better grounds?
I don't know how credible it is, but I've heard that better grounds can increase your HP

**GLi_Luva** · 10-11-2007 02:06 AM

Makes a huge difference. I've also run heavy gauge wire from the battery to the fuse box. I'd gone from 11v on the volt gauge to almost 14 with the alternator, gnd, and main line to fuse box upgrade. Needles don't jump around either when you step on the brakes or turn on the lights. Great write up Timbo.

**TheTimob** · 10-11-2007 08:55 AM

Quote, originally posted by jr_certs »

Is there a noticeable difference in the car with these better grounds?
I don't know how credible it is, but I've heard that better grounds can increase your HP

It fixes drains, and strang electrical problems that cause bad idle, stalling, etc...

Maybe it gives you a SLIGHTLY hotter spark, because there's a tiny bit more voltage to the ignition coil. It would depend on how bad it was to begin with.

**rocco8587** · 10-11-2007 02:08 PM

Hey timbo.. I have heard that its a good idea to put a ground strap from your alternator housing to the engine block..

I have it on both of my roccos.. Just thought id throw that in.

I also heard its a good idea to run one from your intake manifold to your coil housing bolt on the firewall..

**CTCORRADOKID** · 10-11-2007 02:15 PM

I know I'm invading this thread.

But can this be done for maitanence for other vw's also, i.e. my rado??(currently dealing with electrical drain)

**TheTimob** · 10-11-2007 02:59 PM

Quote, originally posted by CTCORRADOKID »

I know I'm invading this thread.

But can this be done for maitanence for other vw's also, i.e. my rado??(currently dealing with electrical drain)

Yep. You'll have to adjust the legnths of the cables a bit, but it's the same idea.

**Jim's16VScirocco** · 10-11-2007 03:00 PM

Of course what Timbo says works for really any car....but some VWs suffer from poor grounding right from the factory.

This is exactly what I need to do with my 81' that I found rotting away in the forest !

**TheTimob** · 10-11-2007 03:00 PM

Yep, those two are good ideas as well... I use an ABF alternator - the case is attached to the bracket with no rubber bushings at all - so it's a pretty good ground there. I still have the stock valve cover to coil strap.

I'd suggest an 8 gauge strap for these things though - easier to work with.

**rocco8587** · 10-11-2007 03:32 PM

Timbo.. I just have one thing to say ...

YOUR THE MAN!! I wish i lived closer to PA..

**Mike Drew** · 10-11-2007 10:58 PM

Timbo,

The clamp on my stock ground cable ('81 Scirocco S) is busted, so while I was in the junkyard today I plucked a ground cable from a Mk 1 Golf. It had a single ground going from the battery to the chassis. I never thought to look at my existing setup to see if it was the same.

What is the purpose of having two ground straps running in series? Is it really worthwhile to install a larger-than-standard ground cable vice the stock one?

Also, would you mind pointing me to your thread about rewiring the car for heavy-duty headlights? I've already installed two relays and a fuse panel, but haven't wired anything up yet. Rumor has it there's a wiring diagram somewhere that can be followed by electrically-challenged folks like me?

THANKS!

**GLi_Luva** · 10-11-2007 11:39 PM

Quote, originally posted by Mike Drew »

Timbo,

What is the purpose of having two ground straps running in series? Is it really worthwhile to install a larger-than-standard ground cable vice the stock one?

THANKS!

The series straps assures good connection from the battery to the chassis and motor.

Going to a larger than "standard" will always be a win win. Over time as the copper wire ages and you get buildup of oxidation at connection points, resistance goes up. D/C current is especially sensitive to IR unlike A/C.

No disrespect towards Timbo by ANY means, but if you wanna get wild, forget about crimping, and solder ALL connectors. Not only is it a much better connection, the mechanical strength is far superior.

**DiezNutz** · 10-12-2007 02:03 AM

Quote, originally posted by GLi_Luva »

No disrespect towards Timbo by ANY means, but if you wanna get wild, forget about crimping, and solder ALL connectors. Not only is it a much better connection, the mechanical strength is far superior.

Uhh... NO, in every respect. You do not want to solder high-current connections like these. The resistance of solder is higher than that of bare copper, and aside from all the other issues you have to worry about with solder (cold joints, mechanical fatigue due to vibration, etc.), it may actually melt under load or even start a fire. Silver solder would help but is harder to work with/$$$/higher melting temp. Either one, the amount of heat you'd need to apply to such big conductors to tin/flow the solder is going to burn your insulation and begin to anneal the copper, making it hard & brittle. Solder is acceptable for low-current/signal applications only (e.g., printed circuit boards).

You won't find such solder connections in your cars (or most any other application for that matter), and THIS is why. Good crimp connections are superior in every way. If you've ever dissected a connection that was properly crimped, you wont find oxidation in the crimped section, only what's exposed. If you want to help keep contaminants out of the connection you can use dielectric grease and/or heat shrink tubing.

Naturally you can do what you want, but on behalf of the unsuspecting who might take bad advice I had to say something.

Modified by DiezNutz at 2:06 AM 10-12-2007

**GLi_Luva** · 10-12-2007 03:38 AM