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Hey everyone, here's another DIY that some people have been wondering about. I'll try and provide as much info about this as I can.

So basically most grounding kits for the engine are made up of a few wires that are used to ground various components. I originally bought my kit of 4 gauge wires from Happies a while back. I'm gonna run through how I installed mine and also a little bit of extra stuff that went on.

Bottom line--grounding IS worth it on our cars. I will also have pics and install of the Hyper Voltage system by Sun Automotive. It works as a stabilizer of voltage by connecting to the battery.

Now the first thing I did was went shopping for some supplies. I picked up a new, bigger negative terminal that can accomodate large gauge wire. I also picked up some dielectric grease.



I will mostly focus on the additional mods I did to the grounding system. There are three ground wires connecting to the battery and extending to three components each (tranny, valve cover, and thermostat). These were suggested by Bridge Motorsport in their grounding kit instructions.


I also have a ground wire going from the terminal connector to the stock ground point, in addition to the stock cable. So anyway, first you need to remove the fuse box. There's a bracket, and then some tabs you'll have to release. That gives you access to the factory ground.



Now I also removed the intake hose mounting bolt to gain access to more grounds. I shaved the paint down to the metal. These points were for my underglow neons and extra siren for alarm.



You can see the stock ground bracket here, and also where it's connected to the terminal clamp. I'm in the process of placing the new ground in the same hole.



Now that everything is out, you may as well get a damp cloth and clean all around the battery terminals and clamps. Let them dry thoroughly. Now I used dielectric grease to cover the connections. You will also want the grease on any shaved grounding points to prevent rust.



Now here is what I noticed after grounding the tranny, valve cover, stock ground, and thermostat.

--The car seems to idle better and and engine sounds much better. I actually was going around without the upgraded chassis ground and could feel a decrease in performance. The engine was alot noisier and would often feel like it didn't want to go.

--That being said, there may be other effects. They are subtle, but I believe a $40 kit of cables is worth even a small gain.


Now onto the biggest grounding mod. The hyper voltage system by sun automotive is a small box that connects to positive and negative terminals of the battery. It has a small LED light that will blink green and red ALL the time once it's connected to show proper operation.

This kit says it improves the electrical system alot by stabilizing voltage from the battery. I picked up the MR (multi-rev) version that offers the best performance in all ranges. Here's an overview.



I actually hid the box in between the battery and intake for a clean look. Plus I couldn't see any other place for it.



Here it is connected with the smoke wire color. Looks really clean.

IMPORTANT: Before you take the box outside, completely wrap the negative end of the lead with electrical tape. You don't want the wires touching the chassis and battery while working. First connect the positive side of the box, then unwrap the negative end and attach it the the negative side. You may see some spark. That's it. The LED should start blinking now.





There were noticable gains from this thing after install. With just the ground wires, you won't see much difference. A little, but not alot.

The hyper voltage system does work. I drove it around a bit yesterday and the car was definately a little quicker. It would jump forward from a stop and cruise through the gears. The engine feels smoother and not as bogged down as before. Headlights also seem a tad brighter, but it's hard to say for sure. It's also supposed to increase battery life and increase mpg. Overall, great mod!

 
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nice writeup...i'm going to get the mugen grounding kit, and this hyper voltage system and see what goes...
again, great review!

 
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Went out driving again. The gears switch much faster in my auto and it's less sloppy. You can even feel the car pull a bit better when vtec kicks in around 3k rpms.

I've already gotten flashed once tonight, and I know my headlights are aimed. So maybe they're brighter as well. I'll take a pic.

 
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nice DIY: ill be getting a grounding kit soon as well

 
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I have an Arospeed ground kit and an Optima red top battery and I've noticed that I can run accessories like A/C without killing overall power. It seems that everyone with electrical mods say that our cars respond well to them.

BTW Nice write up.

 
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Thanks. One thing it didn't do is fix the dimming problem whenever I turn on or use accessories like windows and locks. There's alot more torque and better throttle response.

I'll let you decide on the headlights. This was taken with normal exposure. Bulbs are sylvania cool blue with stock cleared parking lights. They look whiter, but it's hard to say.

 
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Great DIY. BTW, where's the best price for Hyper Voltage System?

 
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I got mine from optauto.com because of their good service and fast shipping. It's gonna be about the same anywhere. Just be sure you get the type MR, which is the best and most expensive for performance throughout the rpm range.

 
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Cool. .

How long would you say the complete install took you? 45 minutes?

What was the total cost?

Do you think the electrical kit will work just as well on non-EX models like my LX?

 
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http://shop.store.yahoo.com/rotorworks/hyvopa.html

Here is a link to get the Hyper Voltage system for $140 plus shipping. I'm not sure if they are selling the MR seris or not though, and I will update the info as I just emailed them with the question. They are located in Rowland Heights so people from L.A might be able to pick them up locally~

 
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Cool. Just make sure cause there are two other versions (one for just torque, and another for just hp). MR is for both and costs more.

The ground wires took me between 1-2 hours because I went all out and sanded the connections. It also takes time to take stuff apart like the valve cover, intake, and stock grounds. The HVS only took maybe 30 mins to install, since it's just connecting pos and neg wires to the battery. The HVS will work on any model of car. It is a voltage regulator, and the ground wires only add to the improvements.

 
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Sweet.. great info man.. I just finished doing my own grounding kit. With the extensive info that was written about this topic. Thanks everyone that posted all these wonderful tips and ideas.

 
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Very nice dude! I'm gonna be talking to you some more once I get up and running on this project.

-Kre

 
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Cool. Hit me up with any questions. I can tell you guys now that I definately feel more torque and throttle response in the lower rpms, and the car just drives better with the HVS. I notice it every time I drive now.

 
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Hey guys just a note to all of you. Remember the link I provided earlier for the HVS for $140 plus shipping? Here is what they replied today.

"The one we carry is the MR series

Thank you,
Team Rotary Xecret 7"

It seems to be the lowest price so far. So if any of you are thinking about getting one for your ride you can check it out!=)

 
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That's a great price and definately worth it on our cars.

Features:

Increases torque & horsepower (Model MR)
Generates cleaner exhaust & improves milage
Enhances turbo boost response & performance
Enhances audio sound quality
LED light to indicate proper connection & operation of unit
Integrated safety feature to protect the vehicle even if the terminals are connected to oposite lead wires
Wires are high-quality, thick gauge 99.99% pure copper with multi layered shielding
Waterproof design
Guaranteed for up to 1 year

 
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Bump. Anyone else getting this? I'm gonna report gas mileage improvements hopefully soon.

 
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i was looking to do this my self buy my own wire crimp them and install them my self i was wondering how much cable i would have to buy and what is the best gauge to do it in 8 or 4

 
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maybe we can ask the vendor to setup a GB

 
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Yea GB and im interested

 
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This the same thing?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2466809214

 
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I've never seen that one before. Seems like the same idea, but the one I got has Japanese writing on it and is made by Sun Automotive. Don't know too much about the ebay one.

It's best to use 4 gauge wires (no less like 0 gauge), but I guess 8 gauge would be okay as well. I noticed a difference just by upgrading the stock chassis ground and sanding the connections so they touch bare metal.

 
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For wires.. I say.. at least 16ft to make about 4-6 connections doing the parallel way. (a-b, a-c, a-c, etc..) If your going the daisy chain way.. I'm guessing maybe 10-14ft. not too sure about the leghts.. if someone else has the specs.

I used both (6ft) 4 guage and (13ft) 8 guage wires. since i wanted to use the smaller wires to hide it more easily. Used to 4 guage for battery for other places that isn't in view.

 
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I would strongly suggest running a new wire from the battery to each ground component. You want each ground point going directly to the battery. My setup is almost invisible, and most people would not even notice except at the battery terminal where I have four ground wires attached.

 
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UPDATE: I just finished a tank of gas that was full when I installed the HVS. Now most of you know I'm very unhappy with my gas mileage. My usual is between 22-23 mpg with mixed highway and city driving.

Well for the tank of gas used after the HVS was installed, I drove much more aggressively than normal to test it out. I was flooring it at least once a day and taking off faster above 3k rpms (vtec engaging alot).

So I go to calculate gas mileage and I got 25mpg!!!! This is amazing for me and I'm very happy! I know it's not an absolute measurement, since I need to do all highway miles for it to be accurate. But I'm still very impressed by this, especially after driving it hard. I was expecting less than 22 and ended up getting much more.

 
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I heard from some newsgroups that HVS is mainly a circuit of three capacitors (47u, 1000u, 4700u ) connected in parallel.

 
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Yeah, I've heard that as well. It's supposed to store charge and release it when needed. Electrical components like stable voltage, and I think that's why it helps so much. The stock grounding is rediculous.

 
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gearbox, i got questions here..

1. do you use only one grounding point? (so if u parallel it, u have to tighen 4 or more cables on the same grounding point?)

2. can u list all the important grounding points? and also, the cable that's required for each point

as far as i know..and i know how to install it...they are the negative battery and the sparkplug black top screws.....

thanx!

 
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I grounded many different components in the engine bay, but all with a separate cable that went back to the battery (that's why you can see about five cables attached to the negative term).

Grounding points are negative terminal to...

1. tranny
2. valve cover
3. thermostat (replaces stock ground)
4. alternator
5. stock chassis ground

Those points are all listed very nicely in Pharoh's review of the bridge motorsport kit. I focused mainly on the chassis ground from the battery. Note that I also kept the stock chassis ground that was thinner, because it connects to the tranny as well.