Official CarAudio.com Big 3 Thread

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

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 10+ year member]

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 10+ year member]

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 10+ year member]

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

I agree totally!!

 

[connersdad19 10+ year member]

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

 

[cable729]

All the images are gone. Please fix

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

All the images are gone. Please fix

not my pics.

 

[cvplaya23 10+ year member]

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 10+ year member]

^^^ Cap it?

 

[its10v1 10+ year member]

I guess I answered my own question.

 

[tigersdl65]

This was a huge help.

 

[jamesmington 10+ year member]

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 5,000+ posts]

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

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

 

[jamesmington 10+ year member]

Is it okay to stack ring terminals on top of one another when placing them on the battery terminal?

I noticed some people saying they needed to buy separate battery terminals, I'm not sure if that's because their ring terminal won't fit, or because you're not supposed to stack.

Any help would be great

Thanks

 

[stilltippin863 10+ year member]

Is it okay to stack ring terminals on top of one another when placing them on the battery terminal?
I noticed some people saying they needed to buy separate battery terminals, I'm not sure if that's because their ring terminal won't fit, or because you're not supposed to stack.

Any help would be great

Thanks

I would say because they had no more room...It does not hurt to stack terminals as long as you can get the screws or whatever tight to hold them all...