Has anyone here Hyper Grounded their Maxima?
I installed a 5 wire Hypergrounding kit to our
2000 Maxima and want to confirm that I have the
proper ground points. The car runs so much smoother
with the grounding kit.

 

WTF is a hyper grounding kit, what does it do, and where can I go to view it?

 

You can see one at www.z-extreme.com/GroundingKit.htm
There is a very detailed thread with pictures at
http://g35driver.com on the Technical and Modifications
forum under "Hyper-Ground (Earthing) Kit Resource Thread.

Hyper-grounding systems provide direct ground path from
battery negative to body, chassis, and engine components
to improve on electrical circuit conductivity.
Hyper-ground system cables have 10 times less impedance than
factory ground systems which reduces electrical power loss.
The higher resistance of factory grounds affects the ignition
system and obstructs the potential (low voltage D.C. circuit
electron flow). Good hyper-ground systems use thick gauge
99.99% pure copper wire and connectors that ground the engine
and other points under the hood to the battery and chassis
providing ultra low resistance connections. Results in quicker
engine starts, smoother engine performance, torque and horse power
gains. The electrical gauges like the fuel gauge will read consistent.

 

I'm interested in this as well--cato, your link is broken ("www.z-extreme.com" does not exist)

 

hmmmmm, very interesting. Thanks for the explanation. I'll check it out once there is a good site posted.

 

I am able to get there! try www.z-xtreme.com
Then click on products.
The best was to check out the Hyper-grounding is to
go to http://g35driver.com
Then go to forums
go to Technical and Modifications
The second thread is"Hyper-Ground(Earthing) Kit Resource Thread"
This thread has over 300 entries, many with pic of
different installs. Once you read what the G35 drivers
say about the Hyper grounding kits, you will want one
of your own! I have Hyper-grounded my G35 and my wife's
2K Maxima.

 

whoops, you accidentally put "z-extreme" in the first link, not "z-xtreme"
works now, thanks

 

whoops, you accidentally put "z-extreme" in the first link, not "z-xtreme".
works now, thanks

Yeah, I'm going to try a grounding kit, whether I buy the supplies and make my own or buy a kit...
My 2k Max feels a little, err, "unrefined" most of the time... wondering if some of my problems could be random electrical flakiness...

 

It doesn't look like the make them for a maxima, how did you do it??

 

Yeah, can we just buy the 350Z or G35 kit and it will work? (2k max, VQ30DE-K here)

 

I e-mailed them and asked, so you think they will work? I've go an 03 SE.

 

I am way interested

 

I had mine custom made for me from Gordon Gee at the G35drivers forum.
After I installed an 8 wire set on my G35, I knew I had to do my wifes
2000 Maxima. Gordon has made kits for the 2003 Maxima and Altima. I
measured the grounding points on the 2000 Maxima and Gordon designed
a custom kit for it. I think it makes it much smoother. It makes a big
difference on the G35. Stillen has started making their own Hyper-grounding
kit. They sell it for about $120. If you go to the g35drivers.com
thread, you will find several sources to buy kits from. Gordon only makes
limited number of kits, he is not a business.
Here is a great source of information and list of manufactures:
Go to http://g35driver.com
go to forums
go to FAQ & DIY
go to the thread "Hyper-Ground FAQs"
You will learn most all you need to know. Enjoy!

 

I think they sell for as inexpensive as $90 and upwards. If you really want to test this out, build your own for much less. Buy some 8 or 4 awg wire and some couplings and make a thing of it.

This is what we call overdesign in EE. From an electrical engineering standpoint, it should have negligible benefits, unless our cars have a grounding problem to begin with. It may be more likely to cause a ground loop.

your $$ in the end
SHIFT_woosh

 

That is what all the "experts" say. Read the thread at g35driver.com!
There are testimonials from all sorts of skeptics who are now believers. Even the parts manager at an Infiniti dealership is a
believer now. Gordon now sells kits through the Infiniti dealership
in Alberta Canada. In fact, the Japanese version of the G35 has the
Hyper-grounding kit as an option from the factory. Nissan sells a
kit as well, but of course they sell it for more than $150.
The G35driver thread explains how to make your own kit if you are
so inclined.

 

Unfortunately I'm not an expert , but I do have a electrical engineering degree.

I don't know if their experience is a psychological effect and we're not going to argue that but unless the ground bus design in our cars is flawed, bigger/multi-path/mess-ground designs are not going to produce any measureable benefits.

Yes u can buy into it but u can build it for much cheaper on your own. It's been discussed/done here before.

There is no magic or free lunch here, Kirchoff voltage law still rules!

SHIFT_woosh

 

I'm also a P.E. and I was skeptical, the grounding wires do work to a degree but yes they can be made for a ton less. I haven't tried this mod yet but will soon. A friend of mine got some for his hatch and they worked he was pleased with them and this guy is very picky about his car I doubt it was a butt dyno because he mostly complemented on the improved throttle response and he is no amateur to modding cars.

 

This sounds like an rec.audio discussion I read years ago where they said jump starting cables should be used instead of properly gauged speaker wire.

 

Here is a link to the thread on my clubs message board might help answer some questions. http://www.houston-imports.com/forum...0&pagenumber=1

 

i'll have to agree with woosh. for a 2k max, i may see it beneficial in the sense that at 2 years, MAYBE some of the wiring has begun to rust away. that's what i see. send me all the g35er's you want, i wont' buy into buyint $125 worth of wire.

i will accept that thicker, stronger wiring causes less resistance, and better flow of electricity through the car, but if you think that 125 is worth spending, that's ghey. i have about 85 feet of leftover 4awg wire. i wouldn't mind doing this, and hell, i'll even sell the rest of my 4awg wire. will come out 10000x's cheaper.

let's expand this into our experiments, whoever has this on their car, would you mind telling us at which points you connected this hyperground kit. did you simply piggyback already existing wires or make new connections at certain points.

 

Friend did a ground with Monster 8 gage with his WRX same thing less $

 

I think I'll make my own... $100-ish is a bit too much to spend on a bunch of 4-gauge wire & connectors...

 

For those that did this, what ground points did you use?

 

The G35 kit won't work on the Max. The wire lengths are
model specific.
OK. Here are the specs on my 2000 Maxima grounding kit:

wire #1: 18" Left Chassis ground to ground point #2
wire #2: 10" Ground point #2 to vacume hose assembly
at front left of intake plenum.(pt. #3)
wire #3: 23" (pt. #3) to rear right side wire bracket
on intake plenum (pt. #4)
wire #4: 27" (pt. #4) to lower engine wire bracket (pt. #5)
(pt. #5) is opposite the oil dip stick on the
far right.
wire #5: 32" (pt. #4) to battery negative terminal.


Ground point #1 exists on the chassis just to the right of the
windshield washer resivoir neck. There are 2 factory grounds
side by side here. I had to remove a bracket blocking access
to the right most ground wire. Then moved it to the one next
to the resivoir. This point will have the 2 factory grounds
with the wire #1 all bolted down to the chassis.

Ground point #2 is at the left most part of the engine at the
top. It is just to the left of the oil cap. There are 2 bolts
grounding 2 factory grounds here. Remove both bolts and move
one of the factory grounds to the other ground. Here I gounded
both of the factory grounds along with the other end of wire #1
and the end of wire #2.

Ground point #3 is at the left front of the intake plenum at the
vacume hose assembly. The end of wire #2 and wire #3 connect
to this point.

Ground point #4 is at the right rear of the intake plenum at a
wire bracket attached to the intake. This ground point will have
three Hyper-ground wires attached to it, the end of wire #3 and wires
#4 and #5 connect here.

Ground point #5 is on the front of the engine at the same level
as the oil dipstick hole, all the way to the right opposite
the dipstick. There is a wire bracket mounted here. Connect
the opposite end of wire #4 under the bracket.

Ground point #6 is the negative terminal of the battery.
Connect the end of wire #5 here.

I discovered another grounding point to the left of the
oil dipstick that a sixth wire could connect to from grounding
point #1. Have not measured it yet, but it should not be more
than 12 inches or so. Sorry I don't have a digital camera to
illustrate these ground points. I'm going to have to buy one
one day soon.

 

Sorry I did not see your pic when I made the previous post.
My ground point #1 is your fusebox/relay harness, including both
of the pictured grounds.
Ground point #3 is your upper intake manifold ground point pictured.
Ground point #3 is on the intake manifold up and to the right of the
oil filler.
Ground point #4 is around to the right and behind on the intake
manifold towards where the air intake attaches to the manifold.
Ground point # 5 is not in your picture. But it is easy to identify
as it is exactly opposite the oil dip stick at the right of the
of the valve cover.
Ground point #6 is a no-brainer.
My proposed ground point #6 is the alternator bracket pictured.
It would go from the alternator bracket to the ground point #1.

 

I'm sorry about the screw ups!
Ground point #2 is your upper intake manifold ground point pictured.
My proposed ground point #7 is the alternator bracket pictured.
Actually there was no a grounding wire next to where the horn is
attached, just a bolt/clamp holding those lines.

 

A recent issue of SCC dyno'ed a 350z before and after installing a grounding kir. Along with their subjective opinions of better drivability/idle/etc., it also made more torque and hp on the dyno. I think it was around 3-5 hp and tq...not much, but it proves that it was "needed".

It is almost always better to leave the textbook home when modifying cars. Many, many things work that "shouldn't". And vice verca.

 

Hey, thanks for the pic & explanations everyone... I'm going to price out the wire & connectors soon and get to work :-D

 

this makes the least sense of anything in this thread... "many things work that shouldn't"??? How about this instead..."many people find many ways to justify the $125 they just spent on $9.99 worth of home depot wire."

Have you ever seen a dyno done? Did they do more than one run? Were all the numbers the exact same? It's more likely the "3-5hp and tq" could be attributed to just different dyno runs.

Bogus mod. I *MIGHT* try it if someone *gave* me the wire, but there is no way it's worth actually spending money to "test" this.

Oh, and this is IMO, of course.

 

You have some problem with the idea of spending a lot of money on some braided wire. Hey, that's cool, I wouldn't buy a pre-made kit either. We both can agree it's a waste of money (to us).

But my post had nothing to do with that aspect of it, so relax man.

And please, I know I am new here, but yes I know about the dyno thing. So does SCC - they are one of the better rags from this standpoint. I do remember that even though the gains were small, they occurred through the entire graph.

Dan

03 SE

-old stuff-
1992 talon 12.32@112
1985 ZXT 14.2@101

 

I will not be buying a pre made kit that's just a waste of money I will however make one of my own. After having this discusion with a group of friends one with a EVO that has done this on his own and my friend Cheesefrog's good review I will be making a kit. Yes this does improve a few things and improves power that was already there this I am sure of after speaking to a few people about this. My buddy with the Evo made his with about 20.00 and he had enough to do our friends with a WRX all he had to buy was the grounding eye lugs.

 

There is just no denying the fact that the Hyper-grounding
does indeed work. It is so interesting to hear from all the
electrical engineers who will simply not accept the fact that
the theory they have learned is challanged by actual facts.
Both of my cars with the Hyper-grounding kits do indeed run
much smoother, start easier with electrical gauges that read
consistent. The headlights are brighter also. The engines
run so smooth that you cannot hear them unless you are
accelerating, even then the engine sounds smooth as silk.

 

My question is where are the grounding points on an 03, are they the same as shown in this thread??? Thanks.

 

Since you have the same engine as the 350Z, Altima V6 and Infiniti
G35, the ground points have been established. Refer to g35driver.com
where they are detailed.

 

seems that you don't have to create yoru own grounding spots, you simply follow the current grounding spots.
the understanding of this hypergrounding kit is that our stock grounding wires are insufficient in maximizing the potential use of this car. look behind your battery, and then look down. you'll see a bolt. 1 goes from the battery ground to the frame and then from that spot to the engine. the idea is that we keep that, and just piggy back our wires. same goes for the other side, follow the ground path and attach our own thicker, better wires. by simply looking, you should be able to find the grounding points in our cars.
frame to battery
frame to engine (right side)
frame to engine (left side)
alt to battery
alt to frame

just to name a few.

 

engineers are notorious for wanting empirical data to support suppositions... believe it or not, the statement "a website says so" isn't reason enough. Neither is "my lights seem brighter", "my engine runs better", or saying "it's a fact."

Try proving it, then maybe they'll believe.

 

I'm with 2k2wannabe on this one. This is definitely a voodoo mod. If you have a stereo, it's always good to run an extra ground from the battery, but I don't see how this could make your "engine sound as smooth as silk".

 

I asked a question at the beginning of this thread:
Has anyone hyper-grounded their 2000 Maxima? Apparently
no one has. I have and wanted to confirm my grounding
points on the intake manifold. My observations of the
change in the Maximas driving characteristics is in line
with many others. I'm not here to argue with anyone.
If no one can respond to my question, I will gracefull
leave.

Cato

 

I'm with you cato, it makes sense to me. Sometimes people get what i call "paralysis through analysis" I'm no electrical engineer but I have a pretty good knowledge of mechanics & electronics and plan to make my own. I guess I'll make a final judgement then. Thanks for the info.

 

cato, nobody's asking you to leave. Actually we'd really like you to prove you're right. Anything that shows gains is good and if all it takes is $20 at home depot and it's *proven* I'd try it.

kcowden... it's not 'paralysis through analysis' it's having a way to back up a statement. "Feels", "seems" and "I know" are *NOT* valid ways to prove anything. How about you do 3 dyno runs before, then install, then do 3 dyno runs after and see what happens. Then people will start to swing toward "believers."