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Hey so I'm addressing some issues I'm having with my Z06, and while doing so I'm rewiring my alternator, battery, and starter. I just wanted to make sure I'm on the right path here and I'm not missing anything.
I ordered a DC Power upgraded alternator and a bunch of 1/0 wire. I plan on running a new 1/0 power wire from my alternator to a fuse breaker, then from the fuse breaker branching off to the battery, starter, and the main fuse box under the hood all with the same 1/0 wire. I don't need to add any fuses anywhere else do I?
It seems the OEM wiring is routed from the alternator, behind the motor to the starter (with a fusible link before the starter), then from the starter to the main fuse box where it is met by the battery wire. I don't see any other fuses or fusible links anywhere in this wiring.
I will be upgrading grounds at the same time as well.
And lastly, I'd like to remove the old smaller wiring while I'm at it, I know some leave that wiring as well.
What are your issues and what year is the car ???….If you are experiencing a starter that is slow to start the engine and you don’t have a million watt sound system your current electrical setup should be fine…I’m confident the engineers selected the right gauge wiring when designing the electrical system…if you know how to voltage drop the starting system I would try that before modifying everything.
My issues started with overheating after doing heads/cam package which led me to order a prospeed fan setup, but before installing that I even noticed significant voltage drop when the oem fan speeds got high so I ordered a high output alternator.
I also noticed the fan plug just barely starting to melt, which is another common issue that should be solved with the prospeed fan since it has a dedicated power wire that runs to the fuse block rather than pulling from the oem wiring harness.
Another issue I had was heat soak on the starter causing it to be very hard to start after driving for a while, which I've seen many people solve by insulating the starter and upgrading the wire to get more power to the starter.
This is what sent me down this path I'm on. No stereo upgrades or anything like that.
And from what I read on here there seem to be MANY benefits to upgrading at least the grounds on this car. Whether it's the bigger wire, or the grounds making clean contact again giving the benefits I'm not too sure.
I would still voltage drop both positive and negative sides of the starting system…since your battery is in the trunk you will need long voltmeter leads or just use some wire that will allow you to go from the front to the back of the car…one lead on the positive post on the battery and the other to the B+ STUD on the starter…crank the engine over and see what it reads…to check negative side from negative battery terminal to the starter motor housing and crank it over…have to ever removed the battery negative ground above the starter ??…I would remove that and wire brush the bolt and the battery terminal and engine block…if the ground is bad your starter will not receive full current to turn the starter and it will turn over slowly …I think many people do not know what the ground does.
These are from Alldata DIY….you can get a 1 month subscription for $19.99 or a 1 or 3 year….you have color redrawn wiring diagrams with which you can highlight one wire and it will show you the entire circuit and the black and white OEM wiring diagrams…also contains all service info too…the OE shows all the connectors in a circuit…most of the professional techs I know use this service vs say Mitchell.
Need wise I would say you'll need to find a rubber grommet that will accommodate the 1/0 O.D wire since you're running it to the battery in the trunk. Not sure how you're gonna route the wiring but heat sleeve for the wiring in the engine bay area wouldn't hurt (not necessary tho).
C6Z "Big 3" wiring
