Honda has provided a ~90 amp alternator, there is nothing stock in this vehicle that comes close to needing that much power. 1 ohm of resistance will not affect normal operation of the vehicle and as I mentioned that resistance does not apply to the plugs.

 

Yeah but the stock grounds are terrible..

 

Anyone find a good spot to attach the cable on an automatic?

 

Even if the stock ground was 16 gauge and 2 feet long (which it is not) . The theoretical resistance of the wire should only be 0.0082 and even if all 90 amps are running through that wire there should only be a volltage drop of 0.738 volts. Call them terrible but they aren't affecting anything unless you have junk in the trunk (amps and subs). Considering the voltage would still be around 13.2 volts ...

lol nvm

I see what you did there...



Anyway, I was wrong. At 1ohm the vehicle would be INOPERABLE as there would be a ~93 volt drop at full load, impossible.


The key thing with grounds is that length is a critical factor. At these 1-2 foot lengths the difference between 0awg and even 16awg is minimal for the non subwoofer inclined. The only time awg becomes a big concern is for that 16 foot wire going to your trunk.

 

The car works just fine with stock grounds.. but If silly things like lights dimming when idling with a/c on or when touching an acc switch, or even slow starts, revs bouncing, etc, etc. Than improving grounds will deff make a difference to you. If you dont care about any of that then "its not broken done fix it".

 

I've done the big 3 with 0 awg (well grounding strap is 0awg, I used 4awg for the others) and I still dim when a/c kicks in. Don't think it's a grounding issue. Anyway my main point was that the OP had not upgraded the Grounding Strap or Battery to Chassis wire so it wouldn't improve any of those things even if they were caused by a bad ground. Also I was concerned about grounding the battery directly to the engine. I only upgraded for the sake of my sound system, which I have noticed a big improvement with. I have noticed no difference in any factory component, lights even still dim when I close a window, but they don't dim when I hit anyting but the most extreme of bass notes.

 

Yeah, that info helps all this make more sense. I just wouldn't believe that, with all the intense R&D and high tech features that goes into a car these days, that a minor gauge upgrade in the wire was not on the list of critical components. Some cars really respond to it though (+whp, not just smoothing the graph), so I am still a little confused on why that is the case, but your experience and knowledge on the subject is valuable. It's such an inexpensive fix, but I guess the bar minimum is satisfactory for most components in a car - understandably.

So, has anyone noticed a change in the way the car drives?

 

Ok. To answer your questions:

The electrical grounding kits cannot hurt, but are overkill most of the time, and especially for this car. I prefer something more low key.

The applique works fine, is just a piece of non skid. You cut one cheaper and with the same results as what Honda sells.

 

Is the intermittent starting issue with the Fit or Harley?

 

True, but the issue with most cars is sometimes the grounding wire, and the rest of the time the grounding attachments. Corrosion and oxidation at the connection points affect these.

Yes, you can clean these. I'm still under the impression that there should be a ground from the battery to the block, to assist with the biggest load, the starter.

I have a grounding story, while extreme, accentuates the point that grounds should err on the side of more and larger. While driving some friends around in a vehicle many many moons ago, I turned on the headlights, and the temperature gage pegged high. The guy, drunk, relayed that this was normal operation for the gage....

Later on that evening, while driving on the interstate, the engine cut out and finally stopped. No indication of any issue. When the hood was popped, it was discovered that there was a hole in the radiator hose. Of course, with the temp gage pegged high (later found to be caused by a bad ground), you could not detect this flaw.

I also had a car that the dash lights would dim any time you turned on the blinkers. That was fixed by a battery to body ground cable. For that particular car and many others, the alternator is incapable of outputting a large supply at idle.

I am a somewhat sensitive to grounds, and as such, am willing to spend $3.44 to improve a actual, not a perceived measurement, knowing that the measurable outcome may be difficult to detect, because the logic behind it is sound and based on science.

The issue with lights that dim at idle when starting large loads such as the AC clutch is in most part, the battery. The internal resistance of the battery prohibits such a large current outlay. Buy a bigger or better battery. Other contributing issues are body grounds and alternator regulator response time.

 

Thanks for providing evidence. Although I can think of no downside to this mod, is there one? Seems like a very easy upgrade.

 

None that I am aware of, but Lyon mentioned that he seemed to remember there being a downside. Maybe a little time will jog his memory.

 

MS Paint ftw!

Here is the stock setup:


Here, in red, is the wire you installed:


Here, in red, are the wires that are normally upgraded to improve grounding and reduce overall resistance (The Big 3)


Here, is the reason why you don't need an engine to battery wire if you decide to updrade the other wires:

The wires with blue arrows are the grounding path for your accessories. It is a longer path than just upgrading the grounding strap.


You could also upgrade the grounding strap but then you would be paying to add 4 wires instead of 3 and still getting the same performance as 3.

(Thickness/1) + Distance = Resistance

 

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ows-worth.html

 

hmm.. 2 FF members claiming opposite results. I'm guessing the only true answer is to test your own car as they may have different readings. I personally trust Honda and will leave my Fit as is. Curiosity did get the best of me and I tested my car and had the same results as applemacfit. I do have a friend that also has a GE next time he's over I'll take reading and see if there is a difference.

 

Absolutely, measure your own car before bothering. I saw a surprising amount of resistance on my GD (like I said, .6 ohms from the negative battery terminal to the alternator body, and between .4 and .6 ohms at others points on the engine & chassis).

With only one relatively thin gauge chassis ground, it's not hard to imagine it being perfectly fine in 2007 when applemacfit tested his, but performance starting to degrade 3 and a half years later.

 

Aye, after 3 years you are definetly going to want to clean all of your connection points.

 

Lol... MS Paint is in serious need of grounding!

Results after grounding? Adobe Photoshop!

 

SO... at worst...there's is no downside to this...right? besides being out $3.50. No negative impacts on performance, right?

 

As far as I could find there should be no downside so thumbs up to the OP. I would just encourage anyone upgrading to also do the big3