Jez @ H-Dev Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I've been reading about grounding kits and their effect on engine smoothness and driveability and to be honest I was a little skeptical. At the moment we're in the process of rewiring a car and had some spare high quality multistrand flexible copper cable and copper connectors. I made up a 4 cable grounding kit and recorded our findings. To judge whether the grounding kit would make any difference we chose to measure the signal from the air flow meter at the ECU (in the passenger footwell) and also the noise present at the throttle body, with the engine idling. I've got a laptop based osciloscope that we used to record the signals. First we took some measurements of the air flow meter signal at the ECU and voltage at the throttle body without the additional grounds. Results below. We then added 4 grounding cables - 2 cables from the battery ground body connection to the inlet plenum and the front of the engine at the same point as a loom earth. And 2 cables from the left hand side of the engine to the body. Pictures below. We were really surprised to see that the additional grounds did reduce the noise at the AFM and throttle body quite a bit. Also, I've driven the car and it does seem smoother when coming on and off the throttle in the lower gears. Because the results are better than we expected, we will be offering these kits for sales in the near future. Hopefully others can benefit from a smoother engine. I've highlighted the points we used for grounding with red circles as they don't show up that well otherwise. Obviously this isn't a 100% scientific test, but at least it shows a significant change in signal noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
introspect Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Hmmm, very surprising. Must admit I've always thought it wouldn't make any difference either. Was this on a totally stock car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Yeah - 100% standard. 2005 UK GT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Good work Jez. I noticed fitting a kit to my old MY03 Zed that it did make a noticable difference when pulling away and idling, but no real difference other than that. We did notice a few years back that some cars had good grounding and some were pants. Its pot luck what you get. Some see no difference from grounding kits and some see good differences. You just dont know til you fit one Nice to see some science applied to it though, when I got mine it was a case of just listening to the car and seeing what happened on the butt dyno. Good to see it proved that when it does work, it makes a measurable difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 As you say, you'll obviously see a bigger improvement if the original earths are in poor shape. On this car they weren't that bad as we've just put a new (standard) engine in it, so freshly fitted. I was surprised to see any difference at all - often this sort of thing is just a placebo effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacky Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Interesting, I have never bothered as I always thought it was a bit of snake oil. Can you do them in ORANGE ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I always felt that the car smoothed out with the grounding kit fitted. As someone that looks at lines on screens all day I can see considerable difference there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Interesting, I have never bothered as I always thought it was a bit of snake oil. Can you do them in ORANGE ? Same here I wondered how long it'd take before we were asked for different colours - Only in black at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 That's good to see, and well done for actually testing it. I fitted one to my old TT6 Supra and it did feel a bit smoother. I never done anything as in depth as putting a scope on it, but I did measure the resistance from battery ground to different areas of the car before and after. On average I saw a 0.15 Ohm drop in resistance with the kit fitted. So I figured it must do something. Maybe I'll get round to fitting one to the zed, I've had one sitting in the garage since I bought the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Ive got an Orange one fitted to my Zed It was on when I bought it so can't compare to not having one... My headlights seem brighter than most other Zeds, I heard that this is due to the grounding kit too, not sure if its true or not ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I had an MR2 turbo where the grounding cable from engine to chassis failed, when the AA man came round and tried to start my car constantly for 5 minutes he cleverly burnt my throttle cable as that was the next best route to ground! I guess problems like this would be avoided using multiple grounding cables so another benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 After reading this I bought a 2nd had 6 piece kit of eBay for £15 and I have to say it has made a difference, much smoother idle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael robinson Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Do you supply these ? If so how much are they and do you have a colour option ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 We can supply them, but only in black or red at the moment. We're looking into coloured option but they'd be more expensive. Black or red cable will be £29.99 - let me know if you're interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael robinson Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 How many cables do you get for that? Thanks for the info al let you no when I need them as my cars still in Nissan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 4 cables. We found more than that didn't make any difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbagross Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Jez, can't find them on your website, how do I order?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Jez, can't find them on your website, how do I order?? +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Give us a call on 01635 247 477 - they're not on the web site yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez @ H-Dev Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Now on the web site: http://www.h-dev.co.uk/product_info.php ... s_id=25417 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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