Grounded Throttle Body?

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:14

I realize the throttle body is already grounded to a certain extent, but quite a few people have said they feel better accelerator response if they ground the throttle body from one of the TB mounting bolts to ground (either the grounding plate otrr negative terminal).

Has anyone tried that locally? I will probably give it a try here soon, but wanted to get peoples impressions.

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:14

I do remember a thread about that on here a long time ago. It's worth a shot, very cheap and easy to do.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:14

I have read a variet of wires being used to go to ground. I don't see needing to do anything larger in size than the 12ga we used for the other electrical work, do you? I like the wire we picked up at the auto store better than the HD variety I had, so I'm going to check out radio shack to see what they have. Will run through the battery box, around the battery, to the ground on the driver side fender.

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:14

12ga would work fine. You can ground it right to the body of the car where there is a clean ground.

posted in chat:
you could start with just cleaning all the grounds on the motor with as dirty as your motor is, I bet it would help. Get a good brass wire brush, unbolt the grounds and give them a good cleaning .

AuroraAxela · Postby **AuroraAxela** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:14

A lot of the talk on Mazda3Forums about this ground their 3's directly to the battery... I don't know how much difference that would make.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:14

AuroraAxela wrote:A lot of the talk on Mazda3Forums about this ground their 3's directly to the battery... I don't know how much difference that would make.

For the most part, I think ground is ground. I just don't want a lot of wires going to my battery terminal(s).

SecondGenPAt · Postby **SecondGenPAt** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:14

I know we talked about this when we were chasing those noises, which got me thinking.

adding an extra ground should do exactly nothing, other than give a placebo effect. Unless...
1.)the stock ground wire is too small for the actual electrical load of the throttle motor and thus converts some amperage into heat that would otherwise be used by the motor.
2.)the stock ground goes through some type of connector or control unit where electromotive force is lost.
3.)there is some type of interference on the throttle body circuit or ground wire.
4.)poor engine or battery ground
5.)heat soak of the wiring creating the same effect as #1
6.)when this mod is done, people have inadvertently cleaned a connection, fixed an air leak, or cleaned the butterfly causing throttle response to improve.

That's my contribution.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:14

Pat,
apparently the ground for the throttle body is part of the wiring harness and is only a small wire. So by opening this up, I believe that is where people are seeing the results. If nothing else, it is only an additional wire. I plan to do this when I change out all of the convoluted tubing and clean up the wiring (aesthetics).

Thanks for your insight.

chickenwafer · Postby **chickenwafer** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:14

You can measure if you actually need an extra TB ground wire by busting out the trusty multimeter, setting it to your resistance (Ohms) setting, and then touching the leads on a good chassis ground and then the TB ground location. If it's anything over 0.5 Ohms or so (technically ground is 0.0 Ohms) then it's worth doing.

Otherwise, I can all but guarantee it will make no difference. I know on the RX-8, a grounding kit actually DID make a difference, since some of the factory chassis grounds (and most engine grounds) were over 1 to 2 Ohms. When I did a grounding kit I noticed a slightly difference, mostly in headlight and radio performance as well.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:14

quote from m3forums thread

" Throttle Body Ground
« Reply #104 on: July 26, 2004, 11:59:29 AM »QuoteAfter reading those positive comments I went and checked the resistance between throttle body and ground. 6 Ohms, i.e. no "clean" ground. So I ran a 12ga wire from TB to battery negative, got a clean ground after that.
Impact? First I thought none, since then I've gone through rush hour and it seems to me that the response is more linear/smoother. RPM drop during shifts has not changed on my car , but acceleration, and deceleration, are now smooth enough that no rider wonders about my foot itch any more.
Great stuff!!"

chickenwafer · Postby **chickenwafer** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:14

6 Ohms is CRAZY, not even near a good ground. If it indeed Ohm's out like that, throw a good gauge ground cable on it and it will make a difference. I know the RX-8 has a similar issue.

SecondGenPAt · Postby **SecondGenPAt** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:14

directly measuring Ohms is not the best way to measure this.

A much more accurate way (with quality multimeter) is to measure the voltage drop of the ground side under electrical load.

Red meter lead back-probed into TB ground wire

black meter lead on battery negative post (not the terminal)

step on the pedal smoothly so you get full butterfly rotation.
the lower the voltage, the better.
If you have a high reading, move one meter lead to the next accessible connection and repeat until you find a low reading, you have now found where the high resistance starts.

*this can also be done to the positive side as well.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:14

All of that is above my pay grade Pat. I have a cheap multimeter and cannot do throttle and look at the meter simultaneously. Heck, I hardly know how to use the thing. I got it basically to check batteries.

SecondGenPAt · Postby **SecondGenPAt** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:14

we need to set aside some time for it then because now i'm curious..

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:14

ground test meet?

Grounded Throttle Body?

Grounded Throttle Body?

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