voltage stabilizer and ground kit - SRT Forums

lunchbox660 · 10-07-2005, 04:57 PM

not really "high-tech" but i dont think any of the other forums really cater to this type of mod. anyway..

i installed a voltage stabilizer and a 10 point grounding kit last night and i am very pleased with the results. the butt dyno says there is at LEAST a 5 ft/lb gain in torque across the powerband, with a substantial jump right around the middle of the RPM's. i have not been to the dyno, so no verified numbers, but i am planning to go dyno the car next week, and since it is very easy to disconnect the set, i will try to get baseline and "after" numbers posted.

install was a breeze, but since i am still using the stock airbox, location for the stabilizer was a difficult task. i ended up sticking it on top of the battery for now, but i plan to move it elsewhere when i get some more spaceunder the hood.

in case you are not familiar with this part, it basically is the same thing as a capacitor that people use for stereos, but it is designed to be used under the hood. when your car's electrical system experiences and lull or a surge, this part keeps the flow of power constant by using it's backed up current handy for ignition tasks. the MFR claims that the unit is good for about 10 HP, and they provide a dyno sheet with it, but i want to see my own results once i go to dyno it next week.

the grounding kit is a no brainer. anybody who has tinkered with this engine knows that the grounding wires that come on the car are REALLY small, and probably insuffiecient. well, i changed that with the addition of 8 more points of grounding on the battery ( there are already two on the factory battery clamp, making a total of 10.)

i grounded the head in 3 places, the chassis, the ingnition coil, the tranny, the starter, the voltage stabilizer, the two factory ground wires from the original loom and harness, and then of course, the battery terminal being the point of origin. the basic idea here is simply to provide the best ground possible to ensure full and smooth transfer of electrical current for ignition tasks. This mod also has a MFR claim of a few extra ponies, but my dyno run will tell the real truth.

I intended to run one of the cables to the alternator as well, and one to the block, but unfortunately, none of the calbes were cut long enough to reach the alternator, and the block was just too much of a pain, so that is why the head has 3 grounds on it.....

here are some pics.

Bacardi 151 · 10-07-2005, 09:01 PM

Read this:

Before You Buy A Grounding Kit

lunchbox660 · 10-07-2005, 10:22 PM

thanks for the link. for 50 bucks for a set of wires and 120 for a capacitor that basically acts as a backup battery, im not too concerned about having wasted my money though. i have used grounding kits on cars before and have found torque gains in each application. i fully understand that a dyno may prove otherwise, and i also understand that some magazine reveiws boast these kits while others bash them. it really all just depends on who is writing it, and what they tested it on, and if they were picking sides from the beginning.

just to note, the article you linked me to was informative, to a degree. some of the information they refer to is more specifically talking about SUPPLY line though, not ground line. in that very same article, read this excerpt....

"In wiring the electrical system in a car the best way is to run separate ground wires from each system to a common ground point. The common ground point should NOT be just a bolt where lugs from each device are stacked in top of each other. The contact patches between the lugs create their own resistance and ground problems. The very best way is to bolt a short piece of copper bar near the battery to the frame. Connect the copper bar to the battery with a heavy duty ground strap. Drill and tap the bar for each ground return. The heaviest current user in a car is the starter. It can take up to 800 Amps of current. So it should have its own ground strap directly to the battery. So should the alternator. Its wires carry the second most current after the starter. Electronic fuel injection and ignition systems have their own caveats though. Ignition systems create very high current pulses for a very short time. This is especially true for Capacitive Discharge Systems. Those need their own ground wire to the common."

basically what this is saying is that a grounding system IS a good idea, but needs to be adressed differently. sure, the copper bar and straps the guy refers to are not the same as what people are installing in their cars, however, they simulate the same basic principle....allowing the least resistant path for electrical current. even if a person does NOT use an aftermarket ground system, their car still comes factory with similar devices alread installed. take the srt-4 for example. it is grounded all over the place. most of the wires are VERY small though. and the two largest of the wires DO collect at one point: the battery, just as an aftermarket kit would.

the true test of time will be on tuesday. i will run a before and after dyno with the ground kit to tell for sure what it is doing. i will post my results for everyone to see, even if they are bad and prove me wrong, how'd that sound?

lunchbox660 · 10-07-2005, 11:19 PM

i am actually trying to find the article i read a few years ago that got me interested in the grounding systems. i canot remember for the life of me what mag it was, but it was one of the popular tuning mags like turbo, SCC, import tuner....something like that. anyway, they dyno'd a kit and were able to gain like 15 HP from it. i was skeptical at first too, til i saw the dyno proven results. i think it really just depends on who is doing the writing, from what i can tell, cus i have seen plenty of things that say they are good, and plenty of things that say they are a waste. its a toss up.