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Tahoe & Suburban DIY and Useful ThreadsThis section is for DIY writeups, FAQs, and other useful threads. If you would like something posted in here, please contact a moderator.
so basically the big 3 is when you use a thick gauge wire to (beef up) your 3 main electrical points. the battery to the alternator power wire, the engine to chassis ground, and your negative battery wire to the ground point. did mine today and now my voltage guage is on the higher side of 14 rather than the lower. and my voltage on my audio capacitor also reads a higher voltage so this deffenately works. i will have to use 2 posts because i can only upload 5 pics per so bare with me. step on i start off with a roll of 50ft 0ga wire (i got a 50ft roll but you can do it 5 times with that much) buy 6 2guage wire ring terminals and slip it over the exposed end of the wire, then crush it with a hammer and tape them together with electrical tape. measure how much you need (pic2 is how your alternator wire should look.) pic 3 you remove the bracket that the wrench is shown on. pic4 connect the one end there.pic 5 connect the other end behind alternator on the post with the stock wire. look at next thead (sorry new to this)
DO NOT....I REPEAT DO NOT CRUSH A CRIMP TERMINAL WITH A HAMMER, not only is this absolutely the worst possible way (literally doesn't get worse) you run the risk of damaging your charging system your better off leaving it oem. This weakens the structural integrity of the connector which will cause more resistance which causes more heat, with an already weak connection will almost always fail prematurely. Use a pair of vise grips or even a bench vise but for the love of g....(your silverado) no hammer. By far best way would be solder which with this type of connection can be done with Flux, solder and a lighter. 2nd place -crimper, crushes the connector and wire in a V or W (w.e letter u compare it to) essential holding the wire with a mix of pressure and FRICTION. 3. Plyers or vise (make sure you get enough but not to much pressure)4th. Slotted screw driver - no idea how you'd do this, but essentially being that it's impossible, it's better then a hammer 😆 sorry was trolling for an alternator pinout for an 08 silverado 4.3 to 5.3 swap n don't wanna see people killing the rado...or worse burning it. I have absolutely seen this dozens of times, it might work...most likely will fail, best not to try. Doing a simple millivolt drop test while hot will tell you all you need to know.
Last edited by Chase Kuhl; April 19th, 2021 at 4:08 PM.
Beefing up your grounds and positive +12volt lines can be a great idea but only if your vehicle is designed correctly. On my 2009 Avalanche LT, following this example could lead to an under hood fire or the instrument cluster yelling about a battery problem. Why? because running a +12 wire from your battery directly to the alternator bypasses the mega fuse (175 amp) which can lead to a condition my master electrician father used to call "minimum torque.... maximum smoke". Never a good idea to bypass a safety device. From the output side of the mega fuse to the alternator? sure but a direct connect, not so much. So how about the ground side? The primary ground wires run through a current sensor that is monitored by the BCM. Bypassing this current sensor module would "probably" be ok UNTIL the original ground wires failed. If they did, your vehicle would probably run fine but the BCM would report a battery charge or other problem that would cause you to troubleshoot the wrong parts. Get a wiring diagram and visually trace your wires for path and condition before you add anything.
Ok so you just answered pretty much what I was on here looking for. But by wiring it properly as you stated, would I also need to up grade the fuse as well? I'm taking my time to build my sound system properly and plan to later on down the road adding an amp to my door speakers and such. But that's a topic for another day. I'm just trying to figure out that when I do the "big3" if the fuse will need to be upgraded. I've seen big 3 done with fuses in the line same as what you would run to the amp. So I said all that to simply ask if I need to upgrade the fuse that my Tahoe already has stock to avoid any issues and such.
I might add if soldering connections (which would be my choice) do not use acid core solder. Used to work in an electrical lab and my boss would always say " If I ever find acid core solder here, someone is getting fired!"
I will bring this one back from the dead, I have a question for those that have done this upgrade. This is for my 2005 chevy express 1500 which should apply because it's the same motor.
I want to order some wire but I am away from my van and can't measure. How long were the wires you ordered to do this upgrade? Seems like 4 feet for each wire run would be enough but would like to confirm before I order.
Can bad ground cuz a knock sensor to have low current? I ask cuz I changed my knock sensors 4 time and still get low current code for knock sensor 1. It's making my 2004 Chevy Tahoe 5.3l Z71 eat up gas like crazy and runs like poop.
April 19th, 2021, 4:04 PM
Don't do it!!plz no hammer - amateur alert
