Yet another BIG 3 question

[Yankeesfan239]

Well I hate to make another post because there's tons of them out there about this upgrade but mine might be a little different, well I went to the local car audio shop, and they told me that they never heard of the big 3 and that just upgrading the 3 wires pos battery to pos alt, and negative battery to chasis and engine ground they said would do nothing at all and they told me the only way to stop the small light dim I get is to have them install a gel cell battery $425 installed and they said that will solve all of my problems, well after looking online most posts said that the big 3 is the best and cheapest method to do cause you can get all the wire u need for under $30 or so

well my question is because I have such a small engine bay is it ok if i just change out the wire from pos battery to pos alt and the negative battery to the chassis and skip the engine ground one because my engine bay is so small i have like no room to work with at all lol and I would think that i would need a lift to ground the last wire which i am unsure of what would actually be grounded lol IDK if its a wire from alt to engine or a wire from engine to chasis I am unsure maybe somone can clarify that for me.

one last question should I just replace the stock wiring or add on to it ? the stock wiring is like 8 gauge from the looks of it and I would use 0 gauge because it's thicker obviously, and do I really need a fuse for the positive battery to positive alternator the stock wiring doesnt use one

Click to read more...

 

[Flex68 10+ year member]

well I went to the local car audio shop, and they told me that they never heard of the big 3 and that just upgrading the 3 wires pos battery to pos alt, and negative battery to chasis and engine ground they said would do nothing at all and they told me the only way to stop the small light dim I get is to have them install a gel cell battery $425 installed and they said that will solve all of my problems

Idiots. I'm sure they were wishing to sell you that batt at retail, plus install fees, lol.

Do the Big Three--- per the Sticky, leaving ur stock wiring in place--- and I'll bet your dimming disappears

 

[CHEMMINS 10+ year member]

Yup, do the big 3.

The shop are amateurs, wouldn't spend a dime there or ever cross their doorstep again.

Add to existing if possible. Try to run the chassis to engine ground.

 

[Yankeesfan239]

QUOTE=Flex68;8042486]Idiots. I'm sure they were wishing to sell you that batt at retail, plus install fees, lol.

Do the Big Three--- per the Sticky, leaving ur stock wiring in place--- and I'll bet your dimming disappears

Ok I can leave the stock wiring in place but now on the positive part of the alternator where the positive cable is now can I let my new ring terminal touch the original terminal that's there or will it spark up like when you touch positive to negative, and also when I put the cable from the positive alternator to the positive battery can I just put the ring gauge terminal below the battery terminal? like where the battery terminal is on top of the wire terminal because in the pic you see that I have the positive power cable connected to the extra terminal bolt on the battery i dont now if it makes sense to what I am saying lol look at the pics doing the big 3 really won't hurt my charging system or battery would it? I don;t really see it hurting it because all it is really doing is just adding on thicker wiring to allow mre current to flow through

Yup, do the big 3.
The shop are amateurs, wouldn't spend a dime there or ever cross their doorstep again.

Add to existing if possible. Try to run the chassis to engine ground.

Ok so what exactly is the chasis to engine ground I dont know if its possible to be seen above the engine bay oh and I would like to go 0 gauge blue wiring for the three wires I don't know if color really matters and I think i should get split wire loom tubing to prevent the wires from getting melted I see 0 gauge wiring on youtube for like $2.30 per ft I think 15ft should be enough for my situation . the shop is the one who installed the wiring for me along with one of their LOC's but they never new of the big 3 I geuss

 

[CHEMMINS 10+ year member]

Chassis to Engine is Frame-Engine. Usually there is a tether strap for the engine to frame ground. It isn't very good.

I recommend you use either a blue/silver, or red/black etc. Use 2 colors to differentiate the positive and negatives for anyone who may work on your car at a later date.

 

[Chipmunk2k3 10+ year member]

Dude I know first hand what your dealing with. Most NY shops are only into retail sale. They dont ahave a clue about a lot of the things mentioned on this forum. I've done the big 3 and All of the dimming stopped. The shops told me the same thing as you. The only shop I went to that had a clue about the big 3 was ProLine on Utica ave. in Brooklyn. They don't call it the big 3 but they do it. They are a little pricey but they do good work.

As for the chassis engine ground. See if you can work through the wheel well by removing the plastic shroud. My factory grounds went to the shock tower. I did a 0 guage run to both towers from the engine block.