Official CarAudio.com Big 3 Thread

[Vital]

2 questions:

1. Do my chassy to engine block wire need to start at the same point as - battery to chassy wire ends so it's basically a continuation of it?? Or can i start runnig my chassy to engine block a few feet away from the point where -battery wire ends??

2. where do you guys buy wire loom for 0g wire?? I'm gonna use Rockford's 0g and every wire loom i've found is either too big or too small.

[connersdad19]

I know this is probably in this thread 90 pages ago but when doing the big 3 do you have to do the wires to the fuse box also? Or could I just skip the alt to fusebox, and go straight to the battery with an added inline fuse?

you can go from the alternator straight to the battery. I dont see it being a problem, as you are just adding.

[robertoyoung08]

for referance and for easier referance:

1. battery ground to chasis= yellow
2. battery positive to alt positive= red
3. battery ground to engine ground= white
4. intake manifold to chasis ground= blue

now step by step:

1. battery ground to chasis
this is the easiest and quickest to do of the big three. took off the bolt and sanded it down, placed the wire back in and bolted it back on.



2. battery positive to alt positive
this one was a little more work. i found the best way to do it was to lift the car up on ramps. take off the black plastic cover right under neath the engine and work both above and under car. but it could probably be done with out unscrewing the bottom plastic cover.





3. battery ground to engine ground
pretty simple also. bolt and wire are pretty easy to spot. pretty much right next to alternator. also did it while i had the plastic cover right underneath engine cover taken off. this bolt is facing down towards the ground when your looking down on the engine standing up. so you'll have to get underneath the car and take the plastic covering off to get to it.

full shot:


close up:


4. intake manifold to chasis ground
second to easiest connection to do. just have to make sure to route carefully, because the hoses around it get extremely hot and we dont want the 0 gauge to melt or cause a possible fire.




summary with all wires in view (color coded):




so this was the big three. hope it helps. tried to do it step by step and did some color codding. i know a bunch of wires that look like the rest of the other wires can b a little confusing to follow in the mess of an engine bay. hope it helps. il post a few more later of my finished product once my wires are connected witht he battery terminals and not just sitting there.

heres a before and after i had the zero gauge ran:

before:


after:

[devin601]

I did the BIG 3 yesterday and forgot to do the chasis to engine block. Is that ground necessary as it seems like you just grounding a ground. If so why? and is the chasis just and metal part under your hood?

[Carnivorous18]

I did the BIG 3 yesterday and forgot to do the chasis to engine block. Is that ground necessary as it seems like you just grounding a ground. If so why? and is the chasis just and metal part under your hood?

Yes it is important, it keeps all loopholes closed as far as larger amounts of power going through the positive wires, but then having a restrictive route back from the negative because the wire is smaller than the 0 gauge on the other 2. The chassis is considered one of the screws that go around the outer lining of your engine bay/hood. Look around that edge and look for a wire already connecting to the engine block somewhere. Thats where you should put on the extra 0 gauge ground. Also take some sandpaper before you put it on and sand off around that bolt hole for the chassis ground

[phrostbyte0311]

also if your going to start something like this dont delete your pics from your pic hoster

I agree totally!!

[connersdad19]

why do people keep on b1tching...its not rocket science....

[cable729]

All the images are gone. Please fix

[robertoyoung08]

All the images are gone. Please fix

not my pics.

[cvplaya23]

i have an 05 cobalt with two 12in type rs in a ported box powered by a precision power amp. when i have the volume all the way up and the subs are bumpin more times than not the subs cut out and the amp shuts off. when the they shut off i can turn down the volume and the amp turns on and the subs start bumpin again. when the amp shuts off niether the short or thermal lights come on. i cant figure out what it is. im thinkin its my battery, electrical or alternator. does anyone have any solutions

is it because im having voltage drop?

[mrToester]

^^^ Cap it?

[its10v1]

I guess I answered my own question.

[tigersdl65]

This was a huge help.

[jamesmington]

you can go from the alternator straight to the battery. I dont see it being a problem, as you are just adding.

So we don't need an inline fuse either, right?

[Kangaroux]

So we don't need an inline fuse either, right?

it wouldn't hurt to have one but you don't really need it