Help locating 3 wires in my engine bay :)

[Nevalite]

Hey everyone,

I need to do an upgrade on the electrical system in my car to help take some load off the system with my new amp for my sub going in. I need to replace/add 3 wires with 1/0 gauge wire. The 3 wires I need to do is:

- Positive on battery to positive on alternator
- Negative on battery to ground
- Engine block to ground

I think I can see the negative battery to ground but the engine block to ground and battery to alternator I can't seem to locate. I see 2 wires coming off the alternator but I'm not sure which one is which? Could someone post a pic of the alternator where the positive wire is, also where the negative is on the engine block?

Or point me in the right direction.

Thanks a lot

BTW this is on a '92 Camry Manual V4

[Nevalite]

I think I may have found the alternator positive to battery positive. Any help on the engine block to ground?

I will be posting pics soon so you guys can just point them out.

Thanks

[Albuynp Ryeno]

On my car their were 2 wires attached to the positive battery terminal and 2 attached to the negative battery terminal.

One from the - terminal goes right below the battery, thats one of the 2 negative ones.
Another one from the - terminal goes down and then to the left (toward the engine). Thats the other negative cable.

Btw smart move bout upgrading ur wires. I had 2 8 gauge wires going toward my amps but only 1 8 guage wire going from my car chasis. So I upgrades that wire and the negative to engine wire to gauge 1. I didnt bother doing the alternator to battery since idk which cable it is, lol/

[Nevalite]

OK I took a look under the hood and took some pics, let me know if this is right:



This is the positive terminal of the alternator, that I connect to the possitive on the battery, right?






I need to also add a wire to this negative terminal of my battery and connect it to a ground on the chassis, if I follow one of those wires I should find a ground spot right? (Don't worry im getting new battery terminals :P )






Now this last one I have no idea, where do I find the engine block to ground wire? If I follow the second wire from my negative battery terminal will that lead to the engine block?

Here's a pic of under the hood, maybe point me in the right direction:






I think the first 2 are right, I'm just not sure where the engine block to ground is. Anybody know where I can find it on my car?

Thanks

[frojoe]

I circled the wire you are looking for:



For my big three I went strait from the alternator case to the chassis instead of from the engine to the chassis. The electrical effect is the same, it was just an easier place to attach. I will put up a few pics from my install.



And an upclose of the place your asking about:





If you have any other questions, I have some more pics I can throw up. Good luck.

[Nevalite]

Oh wow, thank you so much, this is perfect!!!!

Could you throw up a pic of your battery negative to chassis (ground). I see the original wire going down but I don't know where it leads. Will any spot on the chassis work, what did you use?

Thanks a lot!!!

[Nevalite]

Also, I see that you attached the wire from the alternator casing to the side wall with a new bolt, could I use the bolt that has that stock wire going to the engine block? I'm thinking its the same thing.

[frojoe]

The ground goes to the original spot(under the air filter), but uses a 4 gauge terminal. I reconnected the original on top of the new connection as well. Here are the only 2 pics I have of that area. The silver wire that goes down behind the battery is the ground, and it follows the same path as the original.





The only reason I relocated the bolt from the alternator negative to the wall was the size of the ring terminal. If you clean the contact it will be the same, it was just a bolt size issue for me.

Just a few other things for the install, first don't forget to sand down to bare metal for all your connections. Also, the alternator positive to battery positive should be fused, as well as the line to the amp. Both fuses should be withing about a foot of the battery. And as a motivation boost, it really made a difference on my camry. I can't testify to difference in audio, because I did this before the sound install, but the proof was in my windows. At idle, with the lights on I couldn't move more than one window at a time without them slowing down a lot and the lights dimming. After the install I could move all 4 at once, highbeams on, ac on full blast, and radio playing. It barely dimmed at all. It's worth it.

[Nevalite]

Thanks so much for the info, I know what you mean about the windows :P I'm glad this will help. Wire+Fuse+Terminals on its way, can't wait to do this

[FishyMan]

Wow,
May I ask you what size ring terminals (opening) did you use? I have some 4 gauge that I want to use. I know it may be a bit excessive, but I don't want to use it up. I know that 4 gauge terminals themselves have different sized openings.

Awesome thread.

[frojoe]

I bought ones with 3/8 in. holes because they were the cheapest, but I drilled them out to be the exact size of the bolt I was using in each location. I used that in a few locations, but where there was room I used the ones that came with the kit I used. They were alot like this, but all one type of metal.