[drowned12]

In preparation for upgrading and adding some grounds in my engine bay, I was trying to get at where the tranny ground meets the chassis, but it runs underneath the battery shelf.

Long story short, it seems there's a couple of bolts underneath the shelf bolting it to the rest of the chassis that I'm not sure how to get at. Has anyone had to remove this tray for any reason (CAI install maybe?), and if so what was your strategy? I'm wondering if I need to drop the splash guard and get at the bolts from underneath, but that's a bit of a PITA.

 

[Stu71584]

its in the service manual. check the transmission removal section.

 

[gen8fanatic]

There's 2 bolts underneath the shelf. You just have to loosen them. No need to pull them all the way out. It is a pain. I had to pull the air induction tubing coming from the top center of the radiator out of the way to loosen them.

 

[sp3ak]

Why are you adding grounds?

 

[drowned12]

There's 2 bolts underneath the shelf. You just have to loosen them. No need to pull them all the way out. It is a pain. I had to pull the air induction tubing coming from the top center of the radiator out of the way to loosen them.

That's good to know. I was able to see 1 of the bolts under the tray, but the other one I couldn't even find and I was worried that there would be no way to unbolt it without dropping it.

Why are you adding grounds?

Adding-to-improve. Circuit is only as good as the weakest links, which includes the grounding points. So by adding some extra grounds I effectively make that half of the circuit better / more efficient. Most places I measured .2 ohms resistance between the engine and the battery negative. With a max theoretical output of 130A from the alternator, .2 ohms resistance would equate to 3380W of wasted power. It's claimed to help with headlight dimming and other voltage droops as well.

The plan is to:

• replace the battery -> chassis ground with 1/0 awg.
  
• Adding an extra 1/0 ground to the tranny that directly connects to the battery (in addition to the one that connects to the chassis). Depending on my mood, I might try to replace the existing one by removing the battery shelf.
  
• Creating a 1/0 ground between the air intake manifold and the battery (there is no ground at present). The fuel injectors are grounded to this part of the engine.
  
• Adding an 4 awg ground between the left engine mount and the PS pump bracket (effectively another chassis ground). There's always a 12awg or 10awg chassis ground there.
• I think there's another engine ground that connects underneath the alternator, but I'd have to remove the alternator to find out and I'm not to enthusiastic to do that again. I might just add a 4awg ground to the alternator mounting bolt (which grounds the alternator case) and call it a day.