"Big Three" wiring upgrade

[MechEngg]

Hey guys, my 200A alternator is going in tomorrow after work and I wanted some advice from people who have done the big 3 upgrade before to their vehicles.
For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, your main 3 engine power wires are usually 8 gauge or so and cannot transmit 200A of current, they are only rated for around 75A or so. So I need to change out my charging system wiring to 0 gauge wire ad it will be easiest to do with the alternator out already.

Which wires I am talking about specifically:
Alternator power to battery terminal
Battery ground to chassis ground
Chassis ground to engine ground

Its pretty straight forward to run the first two, just go directly from the battery to the alternator and from the battery to the frame of the car, my problem lies in where the third one is located and how much wire I should get for it.

So how many feet of wire should I get in total to do this upgrade guys??

Cheers

[CGDoig]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

What does this accomplish? What are you running that requires more current draw?

[BaggedGLI]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

Two compressors and a valve block.

[All_Euro]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

I haven't heard of this upgrade but thanks for posting.

Maybe it's just my car but... I don't have a stereo or anything that draws a lot of electricity and when I do things like roll up both front windows at the same time; my headlights momentarily dim. I can also hear a faint noise from the wipers through the elec system with the stereo on... pretty inadequate I'd say.

[MechEngg]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

To answer your question I am running two large compressors, valve manifold, sub amplifier and 4 channel amplifier and my headunit so there is a LARGE current draw when its all running. Right now with just the compressors my 90A alt can barely keep the car running when they kick on, I have to keep the revs above 2K.

Anyone else know anything about this upgrade?

[Stonewall]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

The chassis to engine ground should be on the top of the trans on one of the bolts to the engine block. Whatever you do make sure you do not get CCA (copper clad aluminum) for this job as 0ga = about 4ga pure copper. So prepare for about $2-3 per foot.

[Stonewall]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

I haven't heard of this upgrade but thanks for posting.

Maybe it's just my car but... I don't have a stereo or anything that draws a lot of electricity and when I do things like roll up both front windows at the same time; my headlights momentarily dim. I can also hear a faint noise from the wipers through the elec system with the stereo on... pretty inadequate I'd say.

Try cleaning the grounds on the chassis under the battery.

[dwvw]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

There is a good post about it on the CanadianCarAudio forum that should help. It has pictures that are very helpful. You can run new wires in addition to the factory or replace what is already there. I have about 3K watts going to my stereo and plan on doing this upgrade sometime in June, when I have more time. I will probably take pics then. Just for curiosity sake, where did you get your alternator?

[All_Euro]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

Stonewall
Try cleaning the grounds on the chassis under the battery.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that when it dries up a little.

dwvw
There is a good post about it on the CanadianCarAudio forum that should help. It has pictures that are very helpful.

Link?

[MechEngg]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

There is a good post about it on the CanadianCarAudio forum that should help. It has pictures that are very helpful. You can run new wires in addition to the factory or replace what is already there. I have about 3K watts going to my stereo and plan on doing this upgrade sometime in June, when I have more time. I will probably take pics then. Just for curiosity sake, where did you get your alternator?

I got it fom Excessive Amperage in the US, they make tons of custom alternators from 150-350A.

Do you have a link perhaps??

The chassis to engine ground should be on the top of the trans on one of the bolts to the engine block. Whatever you do make sure you do not get CCA (copper clad aluminum) for this job as 0ga = about 4ga pure copper. So prepare for about $2-3 per foot.

I am planning on running the double stranded (or finely stranded however you want to call it) CCA wire because i want it fairly flexible for our winters. I am NOT going to use solid copper wire because it is too still for the engine vibrations in the cold winters here and will break over time. The CCA i have is rated for over 200A and is not $2-3 a foot unfortunately, its more like $15 so i wanted a good measurement so i don't get more than i need

[Stonewall]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

There is nothing wrong with normal car audio etc wire. It is the same as stock cable wiring so it is not doing to fracture over time. It is the sheathing that adds the flexibility more then the conductors in a wire. If you are using welding wire I can see it costing $15 but I have never seen car audio OFC cable that expensive. Another reason why I would stay away from CCA in an engine bay is heat. CCA wire runs a lot hotter then OFC and if you add engine heat in there you are asking for a fire as you have lowered the current handling even more. Just my $0.02.
I have also ordered wire from http://www.knukonceptz.com/ a lot in the past and they are rather good.

[MechEngg]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

Ah i didn't think at all about the heat difference between the wires. That leads me to re-think my plans haha. I currently have:
http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDe...?prodID=KCA0BK
running from my trunk to my engine bay and the stuff that costs $15 a foot is at autotemp where i wanted to get some more (it is similar to the link) but if you think that there is chances of overheating i will get some of the OFC and just wait on it for a bit

[dwvw]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

I would also use OFC, CCA has lower amperage capability. You can use welding cable if you want to save money, but it is way harder to run as the insulation is usually pretty grippy.
http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/showthread.php?t=134050

[MechEngg]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

I would also use OFC, CCA has lower amperage capability. You can use welding cable if you want to save money, but it is way harder to run as the insulation is usually pretty grippy.
http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/showthread.php?t=134050

Thanks but i know how to run them and from where to where, i was just wondering if anyone had a MK4 SPECIFIC application. If not i will write up a DIY when i do it. Thanks anyways

[All_Euro]

Re: "Big Three" wiring upgrade

Anything to update?