I was trying to finish my Big 3 upgrade tonight. The only other run I had to do was the battery to the alternator. I did the 2 grounds over the weekend and the car has run perfectly since then so I don't think the problem is my grounds. I found the alternator down near the ground and I found what I thought was the connection on the alternator on the bottom of the alternator. So, I ran an additional power wire up through the engine bay to the battery but when I hooked it up, the car wouldn't start. I did smell the faint odor of sulfer too which concerned me. As soon as I took the new wire off the positive terminal of the battery, the car started just fine. What's going on? Am I short circuiting the whole system out somehow

What do you think...

 

I think you hooked up the wire from the battery to the alternator the wrong way. You should hook it up to the bolt that is under the rubber cover on the alternator. hope that helps

 

^^^That's what i figured out but the problems continue. I have it hooked up correctly now but when I go to turn on the car the lights flicker and there is a grinding noise inside the engine area. Is it possible that I burned up my alternator when I had the new wire going from the alternator ground to the positive battery terminal?

 

Same thing happened to me after I did the big three. I started the car and it kinda bogged a little. I drove it down the street and back, and it was fine... Wonder what caused it cause I never make a bag connection

 

i havent done this yet..how long of a wire do you need?

 

I made a bad connection Big Mack thinks it might be my starter so I'm gonna get that checked out tomorrow. I hope I didn't screw up my computer or anything major.

 

update us... I was in the process (a long time ago) and never finished this part of the connection.

 

weird, i have a BIG 3 and actually a few extra drops as i had extra wire and have had NO issues at all....

and no, i didn't make a bad connection lol

BTW OP what size wire you use, did you leave the OEM wires attached also?

 

im running the big 3 no problems and 2 kinetik batterys.

 

which ones? one underhood and one in trunk?

i have a hc2400 in the trunk and been looking at putting another one under hood to replace my optima yellow top. i know alot of people go with the hc1800 underhood though i wouldnt mind the hc2400 just not sure if it will fit as i measured a OLD HC2400 since i cant get to mine in the trunk to measure it.

 

I used 0 gauge and I did leave the OEM wires attached.

 

Here's the update:

1. I did in fact hook the positive terminal of my battery to the ground connection of the alternator. Stupid move...I didn't pay enough attention to the fact that there is a copper threaded stud coming out of the top of the alternator. This threaded stud is covered by a rubber covering. It is the positive connection and the one that you need to connect the big 3 wire from your battery's positive terminal.

2. By connecting the positive lead from the battery to the ground of the alternator, I fried my battery. Luckily, it was just the battery and not the starter, the alternator, or even the computer.

3. This morning after checking my connection again, I jumped the car and it started right up. Drove perfectly but now it won't start again. So I just ordered a new battery for it.


All things considered I'm pretty happy that I got out of this with just a blown battery It could have been much worse.

 

glad to know its going to be an easy fix

 

any pics for the locations you guys used?

 

Yeah, I'll get some pics later on tonight for ya.