Aftermarket "Earthing" (Grounding) Kits?

Do you have any particular reason to suspect inadequate grounding in your car?

 

As far as brighter headlights go, the wiring to these on the Prius is very to say the leased "light weight" giving on my own vehicle a voltage drop on the passengers side (drivers side for the US) of 1.7 volts at the bulb, and on the drivers side (passengers side US) a drop of 2.1 volts.

These readings were take compared with the voltage at the jump point and a suspension mount bolt above the fuse box with the car in ready.

I have rewired the lights taking a fused supply from the jump point and switched this with relays below each headlamp controlled by the existing wiring and replacing the ground wire to each light with larger cable. The results show less than 0.1 volt drop even at both lights, and noticeably brighter lights.

 

Sorry the weather over the weekend was too bad to do wheel rotation "I have to work outside" but will post ASAP. You will not believe the rust on the rear discs fitted less than four months ago in the summer compared to the fronts fitted at the same time.

 

I could see the need for this in a car wired by Lucas... esp a 20+ year old car with corroded grounding points and such. But if your car is only 4 years old and you already have corroded wiring / connectors, I think your problems are worse than bad grounds.

Keep in mind the ground is a small part of every circuit... there are many harnesses and connectors in each circuit as well. Voltage drops can occur at corroded connectors, esp. if they're not gold plated.

I did the Britprius headlight fix on a 24 year old car of mine, saw great improvement in headlight brightness. The issue wasn't grounding, it was voltage drop between the fuse box and the headlight.

I think Monster Cable has expanded into the automotive market. Save your money and use bulk wire from your favorite hardware store.

The write-up you copy-pasted is fishy. The table shows zero improvement (0.5 mv to 0.5 mv) in two rows. Heck of a sales job there.

"Some even say the ground wires help prevent static shock when getting out of the car."
This demonstrates a total lack of understanding of basic physics.

Man, I really should be making mod kits for the Prius, if folks are buying this stuff. I could sell a jar of salt and instruct users to pour it into the windshield washer tank for "improved throttle response", and I'd make a few thousand overnight...

 

The headlamp fix in my case was a mixture of bad grounding (high resistance wiring not corrosion of terminals) and wiring loom resistance. The wiring on the Prius while safe is far from the ideal electrically with runs of small gauge wire running unnecessary long runs, (the right hand headlamp is grounded on the left hand side of the car).

 

I put a self-made ground wire kit on my specV and noticed smoother idle, my engine didn't hick-up when the AC kicked on, and the headlights were brighter. -- improving the grounds on the Prius couldn't hurt. If you don't want to make your own get the NRG kit, for $28 why not!?

 

I keep seeing this phrase, but it makes no sense to me. Is the engine lurching at idle before the mod? Or does it idle at a higher RPM?

"Improved throttle response" and "smoother idle" are so subjective, I bet one could drink a few cups of coffee and see the same effect...

 

rrrrrrrrRRRrrrrrrRRRrrrrrrrRRRrrrrrrrRRRrrrrrrr (bouncy idle like at 900 and randomly jumps to 1200 then back to 900) becomes one steady smooth 900 rpm rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr after the mod.

So not higher rpm idle - just one constant lower rpm speed at idle.

I don't know if it'll do anything for monster V8's but I know it helps In-Line 4's

Will it hurt the Prius to add some grounding cables? - no, I have to ask, why do the headlights and bulbs burn out so frequently on the Pruis? I have a feeling that it's spikes in the voltage. An improved ground may or may not help, but it's worth a try...

 

The 12 volt battery is your chief defender against voltage spikes. Better grounds will just pass spikes more effectively... 8-(

 

Lets assume extra grounding helps some cars, I have no evidence it does but if it does not, this whole thread is useless.

The reasons I am extremely dubious that this will help a Prius:
Alternator is not using the engine ground as it's ground. MG/1 is 3 phase AC, the Inverter makes 12v DC.
Alternator does not change speed with engine RPM. The Inverter makes a steady voltage.
Battery Ground strap is not out in the weather. There should be less corrosion.

If I knew where 'ground' was on the inverter, that would be the place to add a heavy duty strap to the frame ground.
The long run of 12 volts from the Inverter to the positive terminal on the battery might be a weak point, but since there is no starter, I am not sure it is important.

The safety implications of trying to 'beef up' any of the HV lines rules out any consideration of those cables.

 

On my second car 06 Acura TL 3.2L V6 I went to Autozone,got a few battery replacement cables that are pretty thick and connected them to grounding points then to my negative on the battery. Before this mod I did a "Hypervoltage" kit like a capacitor directly hooked in line with the battery. Combined this fixed my interior lights from flickering. As far as smoother idle and better performance I can't says it's made a big difference,could just be the placebo effect. Either way I am happy that I did the ground wire kit in general on my TL and would love to try it on my Prius but have so many other things to do to it first.

 

Two comments Sezy, in your TL the 12 volt battery starts the engine, and the alternator speed affects the car's voltage.
Neither of these are true in a Prius.

Be sure you understand how the Prius's low voltage system works before you 'fix' it.

Should you still convince yourself that you need a thicker ground cable, you have JIS battery posts in the Prius, not the much more common SAE posts.

 

Good call,that's why it's at the bottom of my list . Was hoping to find a DIY or some sort of directions from somebody who has done it first with results.

 

I do not doubt that someone has gone first, I just doubt that they have any 'results'.

Sadly, the most obvious cable to 'beef up' is the Positive cable from the battery in the passenger rear to the jump point under the hood on the driver's side, then on to the inverter. That will be expensive and a lot of work under the car.

Without an alternator, all those cables going to the engine are pointless,

 

I have notice some use this for custom audio applications. But , I agree with my friend here. I am unsure whether the grounding kits and voltage stabilizer sold on ebay live up to the claims that are made...............

 

Replacement of OEM filament bulbs (almost all of vehicle) changed/replace with LED is a fairly easy and better money spent ................