Take a sandpaper and sand down the grounding points a bit to remove any corrosion.

Maybe you're expecting way too much from the grounding kit?

 

Clening up ground connections is always good advice.

Everyone should understand that the ground potential of a car chassis is different at different locations of the car. Not all ground locations are ideal or optimized, clean or not.

Some factory ground areas are weaker than others. Anyone who is experienced with noise and power issues for high power car audio will tell you that a power amp needs to be grounded to a "good" ground location, not just any ground. Why? Well the amp will still work no matter where you ground it, but it may not operate at it's fullest potential if the ground is weak, plus this becomes a cause of audible noise in the system, in some instances identified as alternaor whine. Can the sound quality improve if an amp is grounded properly. ? Yes. So isn't it reasonable to say that the performance of other electronics in a car could be improved through better grounding, such as the ignition and tranny ECU???


The grounding kit "TIES" in all the factory grounding spots so that they all become "good" locations. In addition it ties in other locations where no good ground connection may have previously existed. There is a REAL improvent in electrical connectivity by doing this.

My only point here is to say it is "Possible" for a grounding kit to yield performance improvements in a car, however every car, model and type are different, so "Your actual results may vary". I won't elaborate as to what electrical part of a Lexus can benefit from better grounding, but if something runs better after installing this kit, then I just explained the reason why.

 

Very well said. To add to that, there is a distinct probability that, for any individual car, the existing grounding is "good enough" such that adding any additional grounding does not make a material difference in grounding quality. My guess is that this would NOT be the case for the majority of cars, but the possibility still exists. It is all dependent on the quality of the stock wiring, the integrity of the connectors and connections, how much corrosion and oxidation is involved, etc. It would be VERY hard to predict, or even test. It is much better to just spend the $100 or so and put in the additional high quality grounding.

 

thats where mikal grounded his.

 

mikal: I wasn't really expecting a really big gain, actually I was very skeptical and got what I expected.... pretty much no gain... I just really wanted to make sure I didn't do it wrong, or ground it in place that was obviously wrong... I will keep it on though, I am sure I am benefiting from it some how...

I will try moving the grounds around, maybe get under the car and try the tranny ground...

Or maybe be bold and do what the directions say and put one of them on the alternator ground...

maybe next time I am at LMS, I will have them do those two grounds and see what happens.

thanks for the info

Airek

 

If you caught my post earlier in this thread, I mentioned that it may be easier to tell a loss than an improvement. Drive around for a few months, then disconnect as I described and see if you can feel a change or loss.

The analogy is the same when listening to High End Audio (Car or Home). Many people report they can't tell the difference or hear improvements when they make an upgade, but after their ears acquire a sense for the nuances of sound quality, they can easily tell a downgrade in performance when they revert back to the original set up.

Food for thought.

 

RMMGS4:

I read your post before I bought the grounding kit and it made complete sense, I was actually going to try that...

I wanted to make sure if there was a consensus on where the best grounds were for starting the controlled baseline test.... then disconnecting them later to test for degredation...

thanks

Airek

 

Yeah, you're doing the right thing. Not all the kits offered recommend the same gound mounting locations. I've actually seen a couple spots that didn't look like they would help in the least. For sure use all stock grounding spots on both fenders, one on the fire wall, two on the manifold front & rear. A dedicated ground to the alternator is not bad and one to the battery of course. Not sure about the tranny, but it doesn't hurt. Beyond that you could pass through the firewall grommets on both sides and connect to the ground points near the fuse boxes. You can only get 8 gauge wire in there since the grommet is tight. It doesn't hurt to over do it, so buy extra wire and make additional runs if you want. Just use the same logic.

 

doesnt the apex only come with 3 or 4 grounds? can u add more grounds?

 

Hmmmm....bringing this thread back to life....LOL.

I just installed mines....grounded to the alternator, tranny, and body. I have the Versa Cruise one with the muffler ground....which I attached to the header....connects to the exhaust.

Seems to idle better, but not sure about the other claims yet....time will tell.

Pete

 

Pete

You prolly got the newer version. My old one didnt have the muffler to ground one. It did Idle and since our cars are dbw the response (to me) was overall improved by the butt. haha

 

sorry to bring this back from the dead, but...... i just got the H.V.S. Cyber Speed Version Voltage system and grounding wires. my question is what are the 3 best locations to mount them? i am thinking alt, chassis and block. any input would be helpful, but intall pics would be better. thanks