Just got through installing the ground kit and new battery terminals. I guess tonight will be the night to see if the dimming stops I ran about 6- 4 gauge wire throughout engine compartment, sanded the ground spots and grounded them. I am hoping for an improvement. I'll post pics, but there are a couple more things I would like to do before hand.

MisterT

 

Did you run a new, larger ground wire from the battery to ground? That will make a large improvement too.

 

c'mon man, post pics already!

 

Im gonna jack your thread so i can have my 100th Post!!!!!!!!!! . Sorry i just had to do that.

 

I took it for a test drive and most disappointed. I don't notice any improvement whatsoever. There must be a bad ground some where. I am going to retrace the wires and further investigate. I took the stiffening cap out of the loop and the dimming got worse. No difference before ground kit. There has to be something I did wrong. Just doesn't make sense. It's not like I am pushing a **** load of power. My system is loud, but not so loud that you hear it from miles away! Mazda alternators suck. I was on another protege site and even the MazdaSpeed Proteges have wimpy alternators! WTF?!

MisterT

 

wow, i thought it would work. keep us filled in.

 

I used 4 gauge all around. Are talking about battery to closest ground as in factory location along with 4 gauge every where else?

MisterT

 

I wouldn't expect too much from a ground kit.
It's a temporary solution to a permanent problem...

I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work for you man. Did you run wires from the alt. to the battery?

 

I re-routed some wires and added a couple more to complete it. It took me 1 1/2 hours to do to wires this a.m. as well as redo some others. By the time I was finished, my shirt was soaked with sweat. It's too friggin' hot here in Charleston. No breeze either. I used an old shirt to soak up sweat on my face. I just hope that this is it. There is not much room in a 2.0 liter engine compartment. The screws that are easily accessible are too big in circumference for the 4 gauge rings. I about lost it with one area on left side where there is a wire grounded just between power steering fluid reservoir and windshield wiper fluid reservoir. If this **** doesn't work, I will get mad. Don't make me mad, you won't like me when I am mad!

misterT

 

Decided to do it and I did it with 8 guage instead... Not much of a difference except...

1. THe steering wheel and stick hardly vibrate at all now
2. A lil' more pick up and go around 4.5 RPM's in 3rd

Im happy with it.. I decided to get the 8 simply cuz the audio store just used all of their 4 up in an install and only had like 6 ft left and wouldnt get a new spool back until like next week when im gone so I just did it with 8... took me about 2 hours start to finish... bought 12 ft and still have 1.5ft left over....


Car: 96 Protege
Wire: 12 ft of Blue Stinger Pro 8 guage
Rings: Gold Plated Stinger Pro

 

hey man, got pics? your car is just like mine, so I was wondering what connections you made. did you follow a tutorial or something?

 

heh, i finished my ground wire kit and my once GOOD ground to my amp is now somehow bad? i'm getting alot more signal noise than i used to, it's coming out, not worth my time, money, labor or interest. i was able to finish most of the instal before work today. i don't notice ****, interior lights still dim on a 200 watt amp, i'm just stripping it out and going back to the stock set up with my optima red top battery. good luck to those of you who see the benefit, i just think it's a waste. if anything, just jump up your factory ground up a bit... but even in my car, the wire wouldn't fit into an 8 gauge terminal fully?? wtf?? it's gotta be 4 or 6 gauge wire to begin with. good luck, but it's a waste of my time, and if anything, i'd run my positive wire straight up to the battery for my amp install if i have too many problems, eitherwise, **** it!
peace

 

I'll take a snap or two once I get home from work

Basically I did this with the wires...

Right Chassis -> Manifold
Manifold -> Metal Peice on the left side taht is already a ground
Metal Piece -> Screw that holds a bracket in down by the trans.
Metal Piece -> Intake scew

(3 cables went to that little metal piece)

Intake Screw -> (-) Battery
(-) Battery -> Left Chassis

 

After redoing a couple of grounds and adding two more, I have noticed no improvement whatsoever. Headlights still dim, idles the same, and I don't notice any more hp not that it gives much (maybe 1 or so), but the whole idea was to reduce dimming of headlights and nothing. It looks good, but for around $70, I could have invested in to something better like a bigger battery or something.

MisterT

 

optima redtops run 120 at peppy's with core charge, you would have been 50 bucks away..****, for 70 bucks, i could get some power off those phat apc winshield stickers they got guys, save your money, buy yourself a new set of speakers. and if you're in misterT's situation, i think you're screwed.
you know, i was thinking about it, what the **** are you going to do if an alternator rebuild or upgrade (if even feasible) would run over 300 bucks, and if caps don't work for ****, what the hell are we supposed to do?
peace