Big 3 - Alternator?

[tj1320 10+ year member]

I have a '94 Plymouth Acclaim with the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder. I'm trying to do the big 3 but I have some questions regarding the alternator.

I assume the connection in the first pic is where I will need to connect the new wire as well. Is that right?

The 2nd pic shows the black wire with the silver stripe coming from the alternator.

The 3rd pic is of the alternator wire running into a white connector of some kind, away from the battery.

The 4th pic shows the wire running out of sight toward the windshield under the area where the alarm is. I couldn't follow it but it is clear to me that the black and silver wire shown does not run to the negative terminal of the battery. So now that I know that for sure, is it safe to run the "big 3" wire from the alternator directly to the positive terminal on the battery even though the stock wire does not go directly to the battery?

Also, I was unable to identify a chassis to engine block connection. There are 2 connections to the engine block but I have no idea where they end up. I'm not sure a '94 Plymouth has this connection.

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[Blove1991 10+ year member]

Hmmm give some good shots of motor pics.........And is that the only wire coming from alternator?

**** plymouths....

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

is it safe to run the "big 3" wire from the alternator directly to the positive terminal on the battery even though the stock wire does not go directly to the battery?

That's what I did.

My alt (+) goes through a fusible link, then to the battery side of the starter solenoid, then to the battery (+). I just stuck an 8 ga between the battery and alt.

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

Alright, I'll get some more pics tomorrow. I know, my car sucks, but I want some loud bass in it. Besides, I'm getting a 2000 ***** Am pretty soon so I can transfer the system to it. That will be a very nice upgrade from my Acclaim, lol.

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

Here are some more pics. There are several grounding points but it seems like none of the wires go from the chassis to the engine block except possibly the one on the firewall that disappears under the exhaust manifold.

There are several wires running into some kind of fuse block on the alternator but I took a pic to show you. The grounding point on the engine (on the left) looks like it might be the ground for the alternator.

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

I can also scan the wiring diagram for my car if you guys know how to read it. It looks like jibberish to me.

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

bump

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

and another bump

Can I just create a new chassis to block connection? Would that hurt anything?

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

you can and should run your big 3 wire from the ALT to the POS BAT.

Some guys fuse this, I do not.

The whole point if a Big3 upgrade is to upgrade the cars factory wires which are small and conjested.

Run a fat wire from your engine block to the chasis

Run a fat wire from your Chasis to your NEG bat term

Run a fat wire from your ALT+ to your BAT+

Ignore all factory wires and go around or over them

simple

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

Thanks. My only issue was whether or not I should create my own block to chassis connection. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[tj1320 10+ year member]

I got it done and all went well. I ran the wire from the plastic piece of the alternator to the positive side of the battery by breaking part of that plastic piece off so I could fit the terminal on the bolt.

Then I ran the battery negative wire to the chassis in the stock location.

For the chassis to engine block run I simply used an existing grounding point on the block and ran the other end to one of the nuts on top of the shock/strut area of the chassis. It was really simple and now the car seems to turn over faster when I start it. I'll hook my system up today and hopefully I won't see any dimming.