Grounding ( earthing ) Kits ?

I am wondering if any members have had first hand experience with grounding kits.

They sound great. If the blurb is to be believed - the promise is -

Better fuel consumption
More HP
More torque
Brighter headlamps
Better sound from your stereo system
Better idling
Less Co2 emissions
Smoother power window / sunroof operation

All this for chump change ( almost ). It is basically multi strand copper cabling - similar in appearance to heavy duty audio cable.
The idea is to have multiple grounding points on your chassis, engine, alternator, bellhousing.
The kits vary in price from say $20 to $500.
Some people are giving positive feedback quoting noticeable gains, whilst others scream snake oil.

Feedback would be appreciated.

Some of those claims *might* have a basis in truth, but more horsepower and less fuel consumption is an outright lie.

As cars get older its a known fact that corrosion sometimes does effect a cars wiring harness and therefore random electrical problems appear. This grounding kit might help in these cases, but on a new car, don't waste your money.

reply to post by Timely


Just about all metal parts on a car are bolted, screwed or welded together, thusly grounded all together anyway.

If you're unsure, a conveniently placed lightening bolt whilst being inside of said car, should confirm just how well your car is grounded.

Generally speaking most auto manufacturers do the job of grounding the electrical system of your car as cheaply as possible. Quality copper wire is expensive and they are in the business of delivering a product inexpensively so it is a given that in this department they cut corners. A good grounding kit will deliver as promised. I was making my own long before they became commercially available as I was an audio enthusiast and builder of competition vehicles. Keep in mind that you will not be seeing any large increases in power but you will notice more torque lower in the rpm range as the spark plugswill be able to deliver more energy to jump the gap under hard acceleration. The high fuel load creates much more resistance and tends to "blow" out the spark which results in detonation that the ecu sees. It then lowers the timing advance and ads more fuel to compensate and stop the detonation events. In my opinion a ground kit is worth the money.

reply to post by Timely


You can, and should, upgrade the ground wires on your car after time because of maintenance. The connections get corroded and break, or rust apart. The "big 3" upgrade is recommended for audiophiles, and that usually includes the ground to battery, motor to frame and alternator to battery wires. Even sizing up the wire from stock to say 4 awg or gauge helps. Larger diameter wire = more current to pass through. But that is for bigger drawing sound systems, not necessarily the performance of the vehicle. You may see a difference in how the electrical system operates and an increase in power or gas mileage, but only if those leads were broke, rotted or rusted to begin with. For the most part, there is no magic charm to get that list of items on your vehicle. If that were the case, all cars would have the bigger wires from the factory. Upgrading them isn't a bad idea....just don't expect miracles.

Keep your tires inflated to the right pressure or +2lbs, keep a clean air filter, provide regular maintenance and tune-ups, and the vehicle will always perform to it's best abilities. Nothing special there. In short, no this won't make your car instantly 4 mpg better or faster, but it is good to have solid connections on any vehicle.

Another negative side effect of 'stray current', which is fixed by the grounding, is that aluminium corrodes like other metals, but put a current near it and it will deteriorate a lot faster.

reply to post by havok


Have heard others say it can cause "ground looping" ?

reply to post by AlphaHawk


Umm ... Yep, that'd be the Aussie way !

reply to post by Kulkulkan


Nice to hear from the "pro" side !

Do you know if there is any measurable data ? ( reliable ATS grade .. )

reply to post by markosity1973


The idea is less resistance. This makes sense in as much as a cleaner 'brighter' spark will promote better throttlle response
especially if it is "drive by wire".

Reading up on this - it seems to lead to most benefits being had on retro fitted motors or old clunkers.

A friend has just done his 350Z. He reckons there is better throttle response and snappier changes.

Could be psychosomatic though lol!

reply to post by MissMegs


Good point!

I wonder if those sacrificial anode rust proof kits are a help or a hindrance ?

reply to post by Timely


I agree with the importance of good grounding through out your auto, especially the more modern more electronic ecu, sensor and relay rich cars and trucks of today.

Recently I had a problem with my 1981 Toyota Pickup due to corrosion in the wiring and fuse panel creating enough collective resistance to keep the external voltage regulator and alternator from functioning correctly.

Short of replacing most if not all of the wiring and the fuse panel I converted to a "one wire" GM internally regulated alternator.
This is a common fix for this problem.

My point being....Proper grounding and clean wiring kept away from moisture and humidity is important.
The older the vehicle and the harsher the enviroment mean increased problems and decreased efficiency in all systems related to the electrical system.

i won't bore you all with my aggravating experiences with resistance related corrosion issues in my old 1986 740 Volvo!!

AlphaHawk
reply to post by Timely

 

Just about all metal parts on a car are bolted, screwed or welded together, thusly grounded all together anyway.

If you're unsure, a conveniently placed lightening bolt whilst being inside of said car, should confirm just how well your car is grounded.

Still, All automobiles have specifically designed and dedicated "grounding straps" linking engine to chassis, chassis to main body(cab) and in the case of pickups bed to chassis.

Also throughout the run of the vehicles wiring harness are connecting point attaching the various ground wires to different parts of the vehicle. They will be located close to a circuit junction or electronic device (head,tail lights, wiper motor, voltage regulator, sending unit and so on......)

WIRING: "complex in its simplicity....simple in its complexity" >> in otherwords aggravating as sh*t sometimes!

reply to post by Timely


The benefits reported for older cars will be because their wiring systems are corroded. Going around the car and pulling apart and cleaning all electrical connectors will have the same effect.

The notion the it will cause better spark is only going to be true if that giant lump of iron in your car (the engine) is not earthed properly. Given that they have a very heavy cable going to the starter motor to handle the current for that, its never usually an issue unless you are noticing issues with the starter not working correctly either.

reply to post by Timely


i would think so, I know they used to use zinc (attached to the metal), zinc would oxidise and the metal would rust also.

Stray current will also create havoc with alloy heads. I have a 1979 280zx, it ran crap, we rewired the entire ignition system (coil and all associated, not the key bit). This thing doesn't miss a beat now

MissMegs
reply to post by Timely

 

Stray current will also create havoc with alloy heads. I have a 1979 280zx, it ran crap, we rewired the entire ignition system (coil and all associated, not the key bit). This thing doesn't miss a beat now

Any older car with an alloy head that had not had it's radiator fluid changed regularly runs the risk of this happening. Antifreeze contains corrosion inhibitors, but needs to be changed at the recommended intervals.

If it is not looked after properly, the bolts that hold the head to the block start to corrode and yes, anything electrical in that part may start to play up severely. Putting an earth strap directly in to the head from the battery would circumvent that issue. The same goes for any steel bolts in an alloy head. If they look rusty, they will not be conducting electricity properly. Rust is a very poor electrical conductor, so swapping out rusty bolts and especially rusty spark plugs does help things a lot.

I Once had a Ssangyong Musso that was misfiring terribly when i put my foot down hard. It turns out that when i washed under the hood one day, I inadvertently got a large amount of dirt and water into the area where the spark plugs are; a nice place for water to pool with no drainage. The plugs slowly rusted over time and eventually started shorting onto the head down the outside the plug instead of igniting in the cylinder. New set of plugs and i was away laughing, but that's how easy it is to cause an electrical problem.

Thanks for all of your replies !

This is the forum that I take more seriously than any other .

The general consensus seems to lean on the ' maybe if there are issues or transplant - or age.'

I have a 2010 Mazda CX7 lux sp.

I will wait a bit before committing to "unproven makes sense with no results" hype .

Thank you all for your input !!

Still willing to look at before / after legit figures ...

reply to post by Timely


Decided to take my own advice and grounded the heads on my winter car. There is a small increase in torque. It is a 99 Taurus. I have larger diameter wheels than stock and was seeing a bit of lugging at cruising speed of around 50 mph as a result. The lugging is gone and acceleration is much smoother. I am logging fuel economy this week as I commute to work. Today seems to be a small improvement but I had little traffic to contend with as I came early and missed the majority of the crush. Just want to prove the doubters wrong.

reply to post by Kulkulkan


Great - some real time-ish man on the spot !

It will be interesting to see the " before and afters " !!

Thanks for your input Kulkulkan!

reply to post by Timely


Haha! Whilst we are at it, what are your thoughts on " hi-clones " ??