Big "3" Upgrades

[Bostons94Vert]

Im having trouble figuring out where the alternator to battery cable is on my cutlass vert 3.1 so i was wondering if anyone has done the big 3 on a cutlass vert and if so what exactly gets upgrades...i am planning on doing the battery ground to chasis and the battery positive to the aux post but im lost when it comes to the alt. Should i upgrade anything else because ill be running a total of 3000 watts using a 150 amp h/o alt and a second optima yellow top...any help is appreciated

[white4d96]

On my 3100 'Prix, I did a run from the alt post to the battery and didn't bother with the aux post.

[RobertISaar]

stock, on a 3100 among other engines in a W, the normal alt-battery wire is an 8 guage wire that goes from the alt terminal down to the starter solenoid, then to the battery positive post.

 

i just added a second 8 guage wire for the alt to the remote positive terminal. easy to do and nets good results.

 

i also went and added another 8 guage for battery negative to chassis ground. those are definitely the two most important, with the engine ground to chassis ground finishing up the big 3.

[white4d96]

Oh, and yellow tops, not the best idea...Look into AGM batteries, like XS Power or Kinetic, or SLA-type batteries.

[GP1138]

Why is a Yellow Top a bad idea?

[white4d96]

I've heard of people having issues with them when being used as an auxiliary battery, and that they don't last too long under that kinda stress.

[Bostons94Vert]

alright so from what im understanding all i have to do is run a line of 0 gauge from the alt to the aux post and then from the battery positive to the aux also...the battery ground to body and then where is the engine to frame cable cuz i cant find it lol and i was also told that the only real difference between the yellow top and a kinetic is size...as long as the battery is deep cycle its good

[Garrett Powered]

spiral cell batteries are not as good as AGM I know for a FACT first hand. I have abused many batteries and spiral cell dies first under extreme abuse.

 

talking red tops though. fuck wasting even more on yellow tops.

 

engine to body ground cable is right by the battery tray over to the upper transmission bolt. this is in my opinion the most important one of all.

 

the alt to aux is second most important. I believe it isn't even 8 gauge. more like 10 gauge stock charge wire. If you disconnect the stock one and tuck it down shrink wrapped or tape it off, your new one will have more flow to your amp. and of course charge the battery even better.

[white4d96]

I left my stock wire attached and just added the 4 gauge in.

 

Come to think of it, I might try adding another run to the aux post. I just hope I can fit another ring on my poor alternator =P

[Garrett Powered]

if you think this is going to be superior than a single larger gauge wire you are wrong. its basically pointless.

[white4d96]

I'm just curious to see if running bigger wire to the aux post will affect anything, as my voltage stays fairly solid, but I still have issues with light dimming in the car from my hazards and my HVAC (but interestingly not my stereo...)

[CSI_MuNkY]

You guys must have different "gauges" down there... I found the aux post lead to be identical to the 4 gauge I bought... I have a pic somewhere, I will see if I can find it

[CSI_MuNkY]

Here is the 4 gauge welding cable I picked up to do the swap, only to find out that it was the same size as the wire I intended to replace with it

 

[white4d96]

Yeah, that's some tiny wire, almost looks more like 6 gauge inside.

[CSI_MuNkY]

Well the piece between my fingers says 4 ga on it... its 4 ga welding cable...

[white4d96]

The thing is though, some wire suppliers tend to be...overzealous with their wire ratings. Once I got a roll of 2 gauge cable that was no bigger than wal-mart 6 gauge (never mind it had 6 strands in it...you read that right, six. It coulda doubled as an STB.) Likewse some suppliers underrate their wire. It just depends on the brand and who made it.

[Bostons94Vert]

is there a special spot to run the wire to the aux post or can you just use a ring terminal and put it on the post along with the battery positive? and white4d96 the optima yellow top is an AGM battery the red is not which is probly why you had bad results...and thanks for the info on wire spots...btw is Tsunami wire any good do you know?

[RobertISaar]

ring terminal for the aux post and throw it under the brass nut. i've stuffed two extra 8-guage wires under it with no issues.

[Garrett Powered]

The thing is though, some wire suppliers tend to be...overzealous with their wire ratings. Once I got a roll of 2 gauge cable that was no bigger than wal-mart 6 gauge (never mind it had 6 strands in it...you read that right, six. It coulda doubled as an STB.) Likewse some suppliers underrate their wire. It just depends on the brand and who made it.

 

 

there is metric and standard I believe.

 

car audio wire is the standard I use though. way thicker.

[Garrett Powered]

is there a special spot to run the wire to the aux post or can you just use a ring terminal and put it on the post along with the battery positive? and white4d96 the optima yellow top is an AGM battery the red is not which is probly why you had bad results...and thanks for the info on wire spots...btw is Tsunami wire any good do you know?

 

neither are AGM batteries. both are spiralcell technology paste electrolyte batteries though.

[Jprice90]

damn he's pushing some power lol.

i always wanted to do this, not that i have bad voltage issues, but i do have some dipping..now, im gonna use some 4G wiring, should i just disconnect the stock wiring from the alt and batt, and run the 4G to take the place as the stock? then another piece from the batt to the aux? i just wanna get it straight before i start and f something up

[white4d96]

Just run it in addition to the stock wiring.

[pwmin]

hijack....

 

so it's cool (and better) then if I just run an additional wire from the alternator to the battery post for now until I get time to do it right? I have some 2ga battery wire left over I'll use and steal some copper terminals from my dad's shop.

[white4d96]

That's what I did.

 

FWIW though I went back when I put in my rear batt and moved all my connections to my aux post and it really helped voltage for the rest of the car's systems. They're both close enough together that you could just try each one and see what works best.

[pwmin]

I ran a 2ga battery cable from the alt to the battery over the weekend (forgot that in my other thread). I haven't been able to test the change in voltage. I finally got my alternator replaced, too. Right away the old codes came back up, but it may have been from the battery dying and other stuff as it hasn't come back on yet and it's been a week or so. I need to rescan it, though.