Thread: Bare ground wire bad?

Lol just a quick question for you guys. Had a problem with my ground due to the insulation around the end of my ground melting into the wire because of the engine heat. I am talking about the ground that goes to the block. I have done the 'big 3' wire upgrade with all 0/1 gauge and am wondering if there is a way I can insulate the end without it melting, or if I even need this bit covered? Any ideas? Here's a pic



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lolol. shrink wrap tubing, that ****s gonna tarnish

Is shrink wrap good for high engine heat? Because we are talking about a wire that sits overtop of the trans and within a few inches of my manifold. :/ gonna be damn near impossible to find that large of a size too...


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I dont see a problem with it. I have no clue how you melted it like that anyway, thats excessive heat

you need to cut that bare wire off, then solder a new eye loop at the end and shrink wrap it.

then add wire loom over the wire to keep the heat off it .

I just cut it back yesterday. I tried wrapping it in black tape as a long shot to see if it still melted and no luck as I figured. Finding shrink tubing for 0/1 gauge will be interesting tho lol would wire looming even help though? It's only right at the tip where the looming would end, and isn't it just plastic that could melt anways?


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use tin foil and metal zip ties then, after the wire is fixed

Over top of the insulation as normal then? Would that not be about the same as a bare wire since tin would conduct like anything else?

And as for excessive heat, car hasn't been running hot at all. I sit a bit below half on the gauge


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wire loom will work. maybe you need a longer cable so it loops from the right side more to the ground bolt. avoiding the manifold more.

just a FYI, the main engine ground, the large one, it dont have to be on that stud. it can be any where that is solid metal on the block, side of a head, would work well. by the coil bracket. nice and short cable now.

Tin foil would be used as a heat shield, wrap it around the wire/wire loom that is to be melted

I had plenty of cable, but it only lets me bolt it on facing towards the front of the car. And Idk much about what solid or not on a cars engine, where would be the next best place for a good ground?


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best ground is the shortest distance possible, find a nut/bolt on the block that has the shortest distance and walla

What should I look out for when looking? I know some grounds are better than others, but is it the same as long as it's against the block itself?


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coil bracket bolt would do it. sand off any paint on the bracket, and bolt it on.

id think you could follow the lower rad hose to the coil bracket area.

oh, if you take the eye loop in a pair of vice grips, you can bend the eye loop so its wire will lead straight and not have a bend into the manifold.

like this.

Yeah I guess bending it might have helped a bit. But there's a good amount of heat everywhere in general there.

I'll have to find the coil bracket tomorow maybe. Thanks for the help!


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All the stock grounds never melt. And that should be a good 6 inches or more from the manifold heat shield.

Well the wire I have in there now is physically softer insulation. It is designed for battery to trunk applications where you need it to be flexible among other things. So maybe it is in the wire itself, maybe it's because i didn't angle it straight up. And I could take a picture, but I'd say the bolt itself is 2-4" from the heat shield at least offhand. It's sure a pita to undo when it's hot


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Well by the looks of it you have a bit of extra wire, I'd cut it close to the insulation enough to get it in a ring terminal, crimp and heat shrink tube the wire and over the wire part of the terminal and try routing it like the stock wire if not further from the manifold. Heat shrink tubing is really tough against heat. I use a soldering iron to shrink it with smaller wires, and direct contact with something hot enough to melt metal (soldering iron) doesn't immediately affect the tubing.

Could somebody with an l32 take a quick picture of the stock wires for reference? It's been almost a year since I switched lol I beleive it just came from the bottom loom and therefore pointed directly upwards to the bolt. Which would be ideal if the ring would let me do that -.- I have to go out sideways


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I just removed that same ground wire on a L26 today at work...Would have taken one if I knew you needed it lol. It may be the same for the L36