Enhancing Grounds [WAS: starter replacement reminder]

[Mark Rosenkrantz]

Solid wire has NO place in any vehicle (airplane, boat, car, etc.).  I don't
think that was really the suggestion.

Always use a high quality ropelay construction wire for these applications
and you'll never have issues.  No need to source an open braid.  If you're
super worried about long term corrosion, you can use a marine grade tinned
wire.... but this is overkill.  A good quality wire won't allow much wicking
of moisture.  In fact, coming from the VW 16V world where even on a stock
car you needed to change the primary engine wiring, on my personal GTiVR6, I
upgraded the wiring in early 1996.  I still service the car (which has
always lived in upstate NY) and it's never had any issues due to corrosion
or flexing.

Mark Rosenkrantz

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 11:08 AM, urq <urq at pacbell.net> wrote:

> There's no question that validating and enhancing grounds is one of the
> first things on the list when dealing with electrical issues in an Audi,
> especially as it gets older, but ...
>
> ... you didn't mention where you replaced the braid ... if you're talking
> about near the engine mount, I hope that you replaced the engine mounts
> with
> solid blocks at the same time.  The ground "braid" is called that for a
> reason ... a solid copper wire will not last nearly as long as braided
> cable
> and I would strongly recommend not adopting this change.
>
> As far as current carrying capacity at "DC" there isn't going to be any
> difference between solid and braid.  The braid is considerably more
> flexible
> and will not work harden and break as quickly as a solid conductor will.
> This can easily be demonstrated by taking a length of solid bare wire and
> one of braided wire of the same gauge and bend them back and forth to see
> which breaks first.
>
> Another thing to beware of with heavy gauge solid wire is that crimping
> terminals is not as effective.  If you do use heavy gauge solid wire, I'd
> recommend soldering to ensure a good electrical connection.
>
> While there is no question that braided wire should be used anywhere the
> wire will be flexed or vibrate over time, I use braided wire for just about
> any automotive application.  In fact I just added the direct grounds to the
> tabs on the tail light panels on the urq a couple weekends ago ... and I
> used 10 gauge braided wire ...
>
> Steve Buchholz
>
> -----Original Message-----
> After being driven crazy trying to figure out the intermittent electrical
> problems with my first Audi ('81 4000) I finally was able to  solve
> everything by adding extra ground wires (If you have an electrical  problem
> ......It's the brown wire..dah!). My list of problems was long but the  fix
> was
> easy. Wire brush all major ground connections. then...
>
> 1. Replace the braided Ground with a new  (solid wire)  ground.
> 2. Add a 2nd ground from the battery to the starter bolt.
> 3. Add a #10 wire from the battery to the major interior ground post (next
> to your left knee cap)
>
> Years ago I made a bunch of $ buying non running Audi's & VW's and
> installing about $20 worth of ground wires.....presto! It runs.
>
> Starting with my '88 80 Q  I haven't had a ground problem, but  then, I
> live in a salt free environment ....which helps.
>
>
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