I just put the "big 3" in my car, and my cap used to run at 14.8, now it runs at 15.1, would that overload my battery? Yeah, cars a little dirty, but i live on a rock road, Hard to keep everything clean
what all do u gota do 2 get the big 3 new ho alt. new power wire 2 the alt new ground from the battery 2 the cars chassy an what else an is it ok 2 use 4gauge
My battery is grounded straight to my engine block, so i just added a chassis ground off my bat. and thats a 110A alt that is a few weeks old, 3 year waranty, so if it burns up, i can get a new one for free, i just wanted to make sure i wasn't overloading my batteries voltage.. there wasn't any light dimming at all, even on high beem, i just wanted to see how the big 3 would do.. labor sucked, i had to actually take out the alt to get to the post in back.. thanks for the replies, bump..
erm.. ok just to clarify; battery negative should ground to the chassis (read: fender most times) block should be grounded to the chassis as well, separately.
remember the engine block isn't a ground by itself. it's isolated from the frame and chassis by the engine mounts, which allow the engine to move independantly of the subframe for torque, so it doesn't twist itself right off the frame of the car. those mounts are rubber or urathane.
My block is probably grounded to the chassis some where, i'll have to look for it, not much room in that little grand am.. but the battery is grounded at the engine block, along with some other wires that come out of a loom... i don't really know why either..
If your engine block is grounded directly to the negative of your battery, and your battery is still also grounded to the chassis of your vehicle, you're fine. (assuming the wires are of sufficient size).
John Smith - Just find a bolt on your engine block. You do not need to use the same one as the stock one. A common place, to do this, is on one of your alternators grounding bolts.
the engine ground wire is already there. you're just replacing it with a larger wire.
the block has to be grounded to the chassis or your alternator and ignition system would have no ground point. The ground can't go through the battery but it could be in parallel with it to chassis, which may be the case if both go through the terminal post.
So, on my mounting bracket thats holds my alt. i should coonnect one end of the wire and then the other end of the wire i sould connect it to the chassis of the car?
(they're numbered in the picture) 1. Alternator to battery 2. Battery neg to chassis. 3. Engine to chassis.
Also, you dont need the whole distribution block thing. That's just something I did to shorten the length of wire between my alternator, and my sound system. (Instead of running it to my battery, then doubling back from my battery to the back.) And it keeps things looking nicer w/ only one large wire going to my battery.
