Ground Upgrade Kits

[HostileJava]

Just thought I'd throw this out there since I had an experience with it today. Just so that it's here if anyone ever decides to use the search feature. As some of you know I've been working on my 1st gen odyssey, making it a little quicker, dressing up the engine bay, and upgrading the brakes. I decided to order one of the cheapie ground kits from ebay. They make all kinds of crazy claims like 8-10hp and what not, but I figured at the very least I might get a smoother idle.Here's the one I got. Well long story short I diconnected the battery, pulled all the old grounds and ran a ground wire to every ground location. There were 2 direct grounds from the battery to the chassis and 3-4 other locations where there were grounds from the chassis to a major component. After I reconnected the battery I turned the van key to the accessory position and all my stuff worked. I figured great, I'm good to go. Turned the key and one loud click then everything died. I was sweating bullets, I thought I screwed somthing up big time. I disconnected the battery, got my multimeter out and started checking all the ground connections. Turns out the damn kit is aluminum and coated with a gold paint. I just assumed it was a brushed copper/nickel type finish. The paint is NOT conductive. I had to pull the whole thing apart and took the metal dremel brush to every peice that made contact with the battery or another cable. Put it all back together, tested the ground again, connected the battery, and walla the van started right up and it actually does idle a tad smoother. It's hard to believe that they don't clean the contact area's of any paint before they ship these things, but I guess you get what you pay for. Perhaps mine just missed the cleaning or maybe this is how they prevent the contacts from corroding while they are stored I don't know. But I figure this will save the rest of you some headaches if you decide to do this later on.

[A20A1]

Well they base it on a stock system that was degraded... they made around 17 hp on a supra that had old wires and what not. But really they just got back the hp that was lost from bad electrical connections. This was with a namebrand kit.


I would have bought a name brand one... you're pretty much assured quality that way. The one you got looks like a knock off. The paint is to make it look like more expensive connections.

I didn't check if they listed the materials used in construction, but I would check those out too before buying.



Thanks for the write up though, at least we know to avoid these, or at least scrub off the cheezy paint.

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[HostileJava]

I would have bought a name brand one... you're pretty much assured quality that way. The one you got looks like a knock off. The paint is to make it look like more expensive connections.

I didn't check if they listed the materials used in construction, but I would check those out too before buying.
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Oh, the way it looked in the auction and the price I paid, there was no doubt that it was a knockoff. The whole thing appears to be made of aluminum so it's pretty conductive, I suppose copper would have been better but would have corroded alot faster. But you figure conductive metal is conductive metal. And the whole thing is well put together. The problem was just the paint on the contact area's. I suppose the moral is you can spend a bit more money and get one that has clean contacts or you can cheap out and do some of the work yourself. I'd love it if you could find the article you read that in though. I doubt I gained any real hp, but maybe I'll get better gas mileage and the engine is def smoother while sitting at the light.

[A20A1]

I'll see if I can find the article and scan it.

[HostileJava]

After looking around online abit at the other kits, it seems there are the cheapies in the price range I got mine and then there are ones that look almost exactly like mine and are made of light metals but plated in gold and start around $100. I think I made the right choice in going with the cheaper kit, I mean i know gold is a better conductor, but not $80+ better Do you remember if the kit you saw the article on was plated in gold?

[Hash_man_Se_i]

One of my friends tried a sun auto grounding kit on his 03 Accord v6. only other mod he has is an injen CAI.

On a mustang dyno the ground kit made 8whp gain, I was pretty impressed. But ya, on an older car, it'd make a much bigger difference like a20 said.

[HostileJava]

I'm really suprised to hear you guys saying it made that much of a difference on a stock setup. Maybe I'll push the van hard on the way home and see what it feels like, we all know how accurate seat of your pants is It didn't even occur to me to bother pushing it on the way to work because I wasn't expecting much in the way of performance and I've been working hard at keeping up my fuel economy the way gas prices are now.

[king86]

WOW never new any of that, its a good thing u posted. keep me informed!

[ICEMAN707]

next time you guys should get the ones with the voltage stabilizer box. that's the real stuff.

[89accordex4dr]

I got a ground kit and a volt stabilizer box and it made my car feel more responsive

[ghettogeddy]

whats a good kit to buy

[EricW]

I made my own out of some 4 gauge heat and chemical resistant wire.

You can see it here next to the end of the strut tower bar.


One I have 4 wires one to the back of the Alternator, one to the Battery, one to the tranny ground, and one to a bolt on the engine. Those four connect to one which goes to the frame. I also upgraded the one from the valve cover to the frame.

[HostileJava]

next time you guys should get the ones with the voltage stabilizer box. that's the real stuff.

I have a 1 farad cap I was gonna throw in the engine bay, that will work just fine as a "voltage stabalizer".

[Hash_man_Se_i]

next time you guys should get the ones with the voltage stabilizer box. that's the real stuff.

Ya thats what was used in my friends car when he netted the 8whp gain. The sun auto kits are the real deal, and are really nice.

[MessyHonda]

i might use some of that if i get a HO alt. my friend had it on his acura and he said that it gave him better mpg..i was like wtf from wires?

[Cheeseburger]

hey java do you have any pics on how it looks on ur Odyssey

[king86]

where did you put the cap in the circuit?? could you send me a diy? i have a E cap 500.000 that i took out of my trunk, would it work?

[FyreDaug]

Id probably put the cap between the alt and battery

[HostileJava]

where did you put the cap in the circuit?? could you send me a diy? i have a E cap 500.000 that i took out of my trunk, would it work?

If your installing it to upgrade the electrical system for the stereo you should probably install it as close to the amp(s) as possible. Otherwise you can install it in the engine bay in parallel with the battery.That's where it will affect the most electrical systems in the car. Basically that just means hook the + on the battery to the + on the cap and the - on the battery to the - on the cap. Any time there is a quick extra draw of current on the system the battery has to react quickly to supply that, if it can't react quick enough(chemically it can only react so fast) you get a voltage drop. The capacitor can react much more quickly and eliminate any voltage drops.

hey java do you have any pics on how it looks on ur Odyssey

I'm probably gonna install the cap tomorrow, I'll try to get pics either way.

[3G Jester]

i got a j30a1 v6. man. that was like ...100 more hp..you guys should try it hahaha...
they painted the connections to make it look gold...or something more expensive...i contemplated getting a cheap one or make one myself. some people sware up and down that the expensive ones are the best and im sure their quality and construction is superior. but for the price..the cheap one will do just fine. but ive pretty much made up my mind..no more engine mods whatsoever really. its not worth it when i could be doing my interior work....seeing as how over hte next year and a half i will be doing the acura CL-S 3.2 6sp MT and MDX 3.5 guts build with possible twin turbo set up
man. its gonna be fun.

[Cheeseburger]

I'm probably gonna install the cap tomorrow, I'll try to get pics either way.

thanks bro! i just want to see how it looks like

[HostileJava]

i got a j30a1 v6. man. that was like ...100 more hp..you guys should try it hahaha...
they painted the connections to make it look gold...or something more expensive...i contemplated getting a cheap one or make one myself. some people sware up and down that the expensive ones are the best and im sure their quality and construction is superior. but for the price..the cheap one will do just fine. but ive pretty much made up my mind..no more engine mods whatsoever really. its not worth it when i could be doing my interior work....seeing as how over hte next year and a half i will be doing the acura CL-S 3.2 6sp MT and MDX 3.5 guts build with possible twin turbo set up
man. its gonna be fun.

Less talk, more results and stop whoring up my thread

[3gmodifier]

sounds like it worked alright for u. i have a voltage stabelizer that i am going to use with some 2 gauge wire. also if any one is interested a friend of mine has his own custom shop and he now sells these caps that are the shape of a small jet ski battery but they are rated at 100 fareds and up. there is so much power storing that u can actually substitute one of these for your battery. they are fucking awesome. as soon as i get some more money i will do an install and show u guys.

[HostileJava]

I didn't get the cap in yet, but here's a pictures of the install in the van(ignore all the dirt):







I couldn't really tell much difference in power, and it may be a fluke, but the last tank of gas I got, got about 15miles more out of it and I didn't drive any differently then I normally do.

[Cheeseburger]

looks good Jim! looks like i am going to do this in the near future