Ok I have a problem here..................

[Solo-baric 10+ year member]

I want to do the BIG 3 upgrade.

97 neon, and the alt is completely hidden out of sight. I can see it if I crouch to the side and look in at an angle, its way way down on the bottom

All the stock wiring is 8awg except for the battery ground which is 12awg I believe.

Maybe I can get to it from the bottom or if I took a tire off?

What if I just changed all but the battery/alt?

Was thinking of running 2awg or so because I'm only running about 500rms.

ADVICE PLEASE

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[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

I want to do the BIG 3 upgrade.
97 neon, and the alt is completely hidden out of sight. I can see it if I crouch to the side and look in at an angle, its way way down on the bottom

All the stock wiring is 8awg except for the battery ground which is 12awg I believe.

Maybe I can get to it from the bottom or if I took a tire off?

What if I just changed all but the battery/alt?

Was thinking of running 2awg or so because I'm only running about 500rms.

ADVICE PLEASE

If I had to pick one of the big 3 to do, I'd do the negative to chassis ground. Then block to chassis.

I did those two on my Mustang and went from 12.5 volts to 14 volts @ idle.

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

If I had to pick one of the big 3 to do, I'd do the negative to chassis ground. Then block to chassis.I did those two on my Mustang and went from 12.5 volts to 14 volts @ idle.

I too can not be bothered to go through the hassle of getting to my alt, so I just upgraded these two.

If your power wire to your amp is bigger than your chassis to battery ground, you need to upgrade it.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

I too can not be bothered to go through the hassle of getting to my alt, so I just upgraded these two.
If your power wire to your amp is bigger than your chassis to battery ground, you need to upgrade it.

This.

DC current works in a giant loop... if the ground is bottle-necked, it will adversely affect your positive run. It's always better to have a bigger negative than positive, regardless of what anyone says, physics says the previous statement to be true.

 

[sexiewasd 10+ year member]

It won't hurt upgrading the ground but you should find a way to get that positive done if your going to go through the trouble of doing the big 3. 500w isn't very much so I wouldn't be too concerned unless your getting voltage drops.

In the future please buy well designed cars, maybe a new fiesta when they get here, or Pontiac vibe?

 

[Solo-baric 10+ year member]

If I had to pick one of the big 3 to do, I'd do the negative to chassis ground. Then block to chassis.I did those two on my Mustang and went from 12.5 volts to 14 volts @ idle.

I'm definitely gonna do that as well.

I too can not be bothered to go through the hassle of getting to my alt, so I just upgraded these two.
If your power wire to your amp is bigger than your chassis to battery ground, you need to upgrade it.

I will probably run 2awg from negative/ground as well as engine/ground. Then run 4awg for my amps power/ground instead of the 8 I was using.

In the future please buy well designed cars, maybe a new fiesta when they get here, or Pontiac vibe?

Don't have enough money to buy a car and never have for that matter.

 

[bigaudiofanatic 10+ year member]

I would sell the car and get a good car than start from there.

 

[Solo-baric 10+ year member]

I would sell the car and get a good car than start from there.

A good car? I would be lucky to get a grand for what I have now. What would be better?

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

have you tried jacking the car up?

 

[bigaudiofanatic 10+ year member]

Anything is better than a neon trade it in and get a used honda civic they last forever and are great cars our 96 Honda civic finally died at 298,000 miles becasue of something I did lol.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

probably need to access it from underneath, no biggie...

 

[Jeremy M 10+ year member]

i believe u need to take off the passenger side tire....

 

[Solo-baric 10+ year member]

have you tried jacking the car up?

No I haven't but I will probably try that.

i believe u need to take off the passenger side tire....

Yes I think so too. After thinking about it, they had to take the passenger side tire off to change my belts for me so I bet I can get to it there.

 

[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

i have a car with electronic throttle body.i did the two grounds awhile back with 4 awg.then my car started to not like the engine to chassis ground, so i took it back off and it straightened out. i had the - battery and chassis bolted at the same spot.i wonder if i went back and bolted engine to chassis somewhere else if it would still act up ?

 

[Solo-baric 10+ year member]

i have a car with electronic throttle body.i did the two grounds awhile back with 4 awg.then my car started to not like the engine to chassis ground, so i took it back off and it straightened out. i had the - battery and chassis bolted at the same spot.i wonder if i went back and bolted engine to chassis somewhere else if it would still act up ?

I've never done it before myself but I plan on grounding at different spots, maybe that would work for you?