Big 3 Charging/Electrical System Upgrade

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1 What You Need
- 1.1 Tools
- 1.2 Parts
2 How To

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What You Need

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Tools

8mm socket or wrench (grounds)
10 or 11mm socket or wrench (alt)-- Your size may vary
Allen wrenches or whatever it takes to remove your battery terminals
Sandpaper (220 grit works fine)
Boltcutters (if the wire is hard to cut)
Lighter or heat gun
Vice or Vice grips

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Parts

~12 Ft. of 4awg or bigger wire
4 copper eyelet (lug) terminals, crimp on type (+2 if you have to use them to connect to the battery terminals, and +2 if you plan on using the factory 'Mega Fuse'
150 amp fuse and holder (not necessary if using existing 'Mega Fuse'
Heat shrink tubing
Zip ties

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How To

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1. Disconnect negative battery terminal

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2. Battery to ground

Remove the bolt holding the grounds on the driver's side inner fender and sand the area where the grounds contact the car to bare metal.

Measure how much wire you will need to go from the ground point to the negative battery terminal. Always leave ~2" slack (cars dont stay completely still.) Cut the wire and strip the insulation off each end about 5/8 inch. Crimp a lug onto one end and slide a piece of heat shrink tubing over the connection and heat it up. (If your battery terminals do not allot room for a large enough wire, you may have to do this to both ends)

Thread the bolt you removed from the inner fender through the existing ground wires that were there and also through the new lug, and attach all back to the newly sanded ground point. Attach the other end to the negative battery terminal.

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3. Engine to ground

For this one, you need to find a good mounting bolt on the block. I just happened to find a bolt that did absolutely nothing that was threaded into side of the motor. Any spot will do, just make sure that the wire path will not interfere with the serpentine belt or any other moving parts. I used the side of the motor because the factory ground strap was in the back, and I did not want to fight with the UIM. When you find your target bolt, once again measure and cut the length of wire you need to go from the bolt to your nearest grounding point (leaving slack for the movement of the motor). You can use the same one as before (which means you don't have to sand it again) but I used the one next to the expansion tank on the passenger side to save wire. Remove the existing bolt at the ground point and on the block, sand them down, strip and attach a lug to each end of the wire(heatshrink), and attach the wire from the ground point to the block. Make sure you reattach the existing grounds. Secure. This is mine: Ground point:

Engine mounting point:

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4. Alternator+ to Battery+

This one was not fun at all!! The alternator on the 'tec is located in the most difficult place. I did this without removing the alternator splash shield or jacking the car up. Strip and attach a lug to one end of the wire (heatshrink). Remove the + stud bolt on the alternator, attach the new wire over the existing terminals, and reinstall the bolt. Leaving enough slack to account for movement in the motor route the wire along the existing wiring harnesses attaching zip ties every 8 inches or so. When you get to the battery, cut the wire to length. If you are using an aftermarket fuse and holder, attach one end to the ran wire and the other to <12" of wire and attach that to the +Battery terminal. If you are using the factory fuse, attach a lug to the end of the end of the ran wire (heatshrink) and attach to the end of the fuse opposite of the factory wire that runs from the battery to the fuse. Then attach a length of wire from the same side that the factory wire that runs from the battery to the fuse, to the + terminal on the battery. This is mine, but since I am going to use an aftermarket fuse that isn't in yet I connected it for display purposes. The blue wire is for my amp, the black is the one in I just put in.