Big 3 Question

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

So let's make the assumption that I'm like any other 25 year old and work full time and go to school.

Since I don't have HUGE amounts of time for car work all at once, is it possible for me to "slowly" upgrade the big 3? Like do battery to chassis one day, then alt to batt the next, etc....?

I'm not sure if this is okay... frankly I just don't have a lot of time each day to do a lot of work at once.

Thanks!

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[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

So, you only have time to attach 1 wire per day? Hmmm.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

it takes 30 minutes tops to do big 3, seriously you that busy.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

So, you only have time to attach 1 wire per day? Hmmm.

it takes 30 minutes tops to do big 3, seriously you that busy.

The answer to both of these is yes, and neither of them passes for an actual answer to the original question //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

And my alternator is WELL WELL tucked away, so its not THAT easy...

 

[ahole-ic]

The answer to both of these is yes, and neither of them passes for an actual answer to the original question //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
And my alternator is WELL WELL tucked away, so its not THAT easy...

It can't possibly hurt anything to put a wire in parallel with another wire.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Well it's tough to even get to the power cable ON the alternator. It's really tight in the engine compartment.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Oh, here's a smarter, more serious question:

It seems like my engine block has two grounds... do I replace both of these, or remove one and just use the other? Or what.

 

[PrestigeSounds 10+ year member]

youll be fine....do the neg's first just incase for safety reasons. you dont really have to remove any of the current wires but if you like then you can.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

youll be fine....do the neg's first just incase for safety reasons. you dont really have to remove any of the current wires but if you like then you can.

So I can leave one, and replace the other? Or can I even just stack the new 1/0 wire on top of one of those grounds?

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Also... this may be a Nissan forum question, but on this positive battery post, can I just connect the new 1/0 wire to that spare nut on that battery terminal contraption?

It's not "Reserved" for anything, is it?

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

You do not replace any wires while doing the big 3, only add on top of them. Leave the stock wiring alone.

And that's a pretty strange looking battery terminal but if I had to guess I'd say you'd be fine using the other stud. Where did you get it? Is that the stock terminal?

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

You do not replace any wires while doing the big 3, only add on top of them. Leave the stock wiring alone.

Good call on clarifying... thanks. I was going to remove all the old.

And that's a pretty strange looking battery terminal but if I had to guess I'd say you'd be fine using the other stud. Where did you get it? Is that the stock terminal?

That's stock how the car came. There are two wires the connect to the bottom of each side of it and it looks almost like built in fuses or something along the part on the side of the battery. Not sure what it's for though.

I did find this thread though that makes me feel a little better about using it. Other connection on positive terminal? - Nissan 350Z Forum : 350Z / 370Z Tech Forums

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

In addition to adding to the existing wires and not actually replacing them... if I go to ground the engine block to the chassis... can I use a different engine grounding point to a different part of the chassis? Or does it need to be the same grounding points?

 

[ovalevader 10+ year member]

Do the battery to chassis ground first...then if you forget about the other two, it won't matter. Barring an Alternator upgrade, two parts of the big 3 are pretty useless for most people...

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

In addition to adding to the existing wires and not actually replacing them... if I go to ground the engine block to the chassis... can I use a different engine grounding point to a different part of the chassis? Or does it need to be the same grounding points?

No, you can use different grounding points.

And please don't listen to this guy \/

Do the battery to chassis ground first...then if you forget about the other two, it won't matter. Barring an Alternator upgrade, two parts of the big 3 are pretty useless for most people...