"The Big Three" Electrical Upgrade (2 Viewers)

[abuck99]

Did two of my three today using 4 GA wire and crimped copper lugs.

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I am not picking on your work, but as an example for others that embark on this process; terminal crimping and heat shrink sleeving are really critical to creating a good long term corrosion free connection. After all the main reason for doing this is mitigating corrosion, parasitic drain and creating the best charging system connections. If you are going to change out the existing grounding wires, make sure that what you replace is better than what you removed.

Exposed cable will corrode and create electrical issues. Over crimped terminals create issues as well. You'll want to use a good marine grade heat shrink between the cable and terminal to seal any exposed wire. It has a heat activated glue that seals off everything inside from atmosphere. Also the crimp tool you use can make all the difference here.

Here's a great article "how to" of battery cable making. It helped me to understand how to make better cables, hopefully it helps others.

Making Your Own Battery Cables - Marine How To

Pick Your Crimp Tool FTZ 94284 & Ancor Hammer Crimper TEMCO TH0005 & FTZ Bench Mount BUY FTZ 94284 CRIMP TOOL - BAY MARINE

marinehowto.com

 

[jerryb]

I like exposed ground wires, so did toyota. I Iook at mine all the time though, kind of like greasing battery posts. I wouldn't.
Different story on + wires.

that's an awesome crimper.

 

[WickedPickle]

Had a ground wire exposed touching some metal tubing with possible sign of arching (silver tubing near the battery HVAC?). the symptom was starting clicking like dead battery but wouldn't crank. I couldn't start with a jump from another car but if you used one of those portable jump systems it would crank right up. I've addressed the bare wire and added new ground connection. I also went through all factory grounds and cleaned and added dielectric grease. I'm hoping this solves the issue. Alternator checks out from auto store and voltage is solid while radio with DMM.

2006 Lc with 149k on the clock and Denso remanufactured alternator installed around 120k.

 

[gregnash]

This was something that was on list of things to do seeing as I had great luck with it on BeBe (my old FJ60).
Question though, there are two grounds that come from the negative battery terminal; one goes to the body about 8" from the terminal (pictured by @2001LC in his corrosion explanation) and the other goes into the loom with some other wires but I cannot tell where it pops out. Is that the one pictured in the original posts that show connecting to the engine block near the oil fill neck?

As I said, I plan to take care of this as I move forward with doing more electrical stuff, like moving my Viair 88p into the engine bay and upgrading my stereo, but want to make sure that I know where the lines are going before I do such. Also, on my old FJ60 there was a engine block to chassis ground, does the 100 series not have one or did I miss somewhere along the way?

 

[jerryb]

There are 3, one short to drivers side fender, one to engine lift point drivers side, one to body down by fuel filter area. At least 05-07
the long ones are indeed captured along certain looms, but easily stripped and retaped, and captured in the one or two clamps depending on gauge used.

True 4gauge doesn't fit in the stock plastic clamps. That shouldn't matter to people, the gain is worth it.

 

[gregnash]

There are 3, one short to drivers side fender, one to engine lift point drivers side, one to body down by fuel filter area. At least 05-07
the long ones are indeed captured along certain looms, but easily stripped and retaped, and captured in the one or two clamps depending on gauge used.

True 4gauge doesn't fit in the stock plastic clamps. That shouldn't matter to people, the gain is worth it.

Right... new wire will likely be traced along outside of said loom with cable ties holding to loom.

 

[jerryb]

now I'm thinking one of those is a jumper wire. Not actually off the post. I'm unsure.

 

[bluesquirrel]

I just did these grounds, while changing out my starter. Upgraded to 6 gauge wire

 

[OwnerCS]

Looks like a good opportunity for someone to sell ready made kits. One of my car clubs had a member that sold kits. They were a very helpful product.

 

[gregnash]

Looks like a good opportunity for someone to sell ready made kits. One of my car clubs had a member that sold kits. They were a very helpful product.

@Fourrunner I believe used to sell kits for the FJ60 crowd, had one on BeBe. Not sure if he is still doing the kits or not, but it was top notch stuff.

 

[Fourrunner]

I do still sell them and if there is interest, I can put a kit together for the 100. Any takers?

 

[OwnerCS]

I do still sell them and if there is interest, I can put a kit together for the 100. Any takers?

Count me in.

 

[Fourrunner]

Saw the OP used 1/0 cable. Assume that is what everyone would like to see in this kit?

 

[AlabamaLX]

I do still sell them and if there is interest, I can put a kit together for the 100. Any takers?

I'll take one.

 

[gregnash]

I would be interested too @Fourrunner Loved the one you made for BeBe..

 

[Fourrunner]

OK...let me ask a quick question, the OP made three cables. The first one was from the apron to the head. The second was from the head to the firewall and the third was for the alternator?

 

[gregnash]

OK...let me ask a quick question, the OP made three cables. The first one was from the apron to the head. The second was from the head to the firewall and the third was for the alternator?

@TheForger is this correct??? Anyone else...
That is kind what I am trying to figure out, I will take a look under the hood to see what my 98 has and get back to you tonight.
But, ultimately would I would be looking for is something like what you provided for my 60 with a small 200amp (I think) fuse inline from alt to positive cable.
- then one from head to firewall
- one from negative terminal to apron
- one from negative terminal to block (I think this is the one that goes to near the filler neck)

Not sure if there are any other ground points as my 60 also had one from the block to the chassis. Need to crawl around under the truck to figure out if there is one being missed somewhere. For me, I would just be getting the cables as I plan to pickup the Slee Offroad extended battery clamps.

 

[TheForger]

OK...let me ask a quick question, the OP made three cables. The first one was from the apron to the head. The second was from the head to the firewall and the third was for the alternator?

@TheForger is this correct???

So first of all my grounds were additions, not replacements. I left the original ground wire in place on all just because I figured why not. I’m sure replacing them would work just fine too, but I haven’t noticed any side effects by doing it this way. There is a ground wire that comes out of what looks like the engine control harness down in that valley by the oil filler neck. This terminal was heavily corroded, but I did not want to undo all the OEM harness to trace that ground all the way to the computer or wherever it goes, so I cut off the terminal & corroded wiring, stripped, and installed a better lug terminal. Excuse my wiring rats nest, I’m currently grouping wires and drawing up plans for a fuse block and fixing a lot of the wire sheathing (hence the masking tape).

Battery negative -> chassis ground
DS engine head bolt -> chassis ground
Rear engine bolt -> chassis ground (firewall)
Alternator power from pos. fuse block -> alternator
Harness lug terminal replaced

Yellow are the added grounds, green is the replaced terminal

I personally would go with 2 gauge cable next time. 1/0 is just so damn stiff and hard to work with and route around the engine bay. The alternator power wire was terrible trying to run it all the way over there.

 

[cmw]

...

I personally would go with 2/0 cable next time. 1/0 is just so damn stiff and hard to work with and route around the engine bay. The alternator power wire was terrible trying to run it all the way over there.

Do you perhaps mean you would use 1/0 because 2/0 is too stiff?

I've got some 2/0 marine wire and it is stout, not sure I'm going to try to use it for this on my 100.

 

[OwnerCS]

Not sure what gauge cable was used in this 5-wire kit that I bought for another car. shown in the picture below. The cable was easy to route around in the engine compartment. The maker offered a color choice. Red was a color that just didn't sell for in a grounding kit. Ha! I was late to the game and bought one of the last kits available in Red as a close out. It does blow some minds when people are not familiar with it when they first see the red cables.

The car in the picture does have grounding issues result in mysterious no-start conditions that appear like a failing ECU. If I have a vehicle that I really care about, then I will figure out a way to add more grounds.