Improve Electrical Conductivity

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14th July 2016, 09:44 PM
LandRoverGhost

Improve Electrical Conductivity

I would like to share an improvement I did with my Range Rover P38 ( 1996 model ) and soon will do with my 'new' Patrol 1989 model.
I noticed in the RR that the EARTH wiring made a weird circuit : from battery to engine to a single point at the chassis. With that much electrics going on I thought 'lets see what happens if I make a few 'short-cuts' ... no not + on - ... you get what I mean. So I made a dedicated Earth wire from battery to ignition pack (8 coils in that RR ) , one to the main fuse box under the bonnet and one to the sub-fuse box under the drivers seat. Don't ask how many fuses that RR has ... you'd faint.
The result: improved fuel economy !!! Most likely got a better spark due to better voltage on coils. Improved responsiveness of the climate control ( a common RR problem) , all regulated with motors, brighter lights of all switches etc.
It is not hard to imagine that when a vehicle gets older the resistance in the original Earth wiring increases. The dedicated Earth wiring circumvents that. make sure you make good lugs ( soldered ) and make good contact to the various points.
I'm sure a similar action will improve something in our Patrols.
Good Luck !!

J.
14th July 2016, 10:12 PM
4bye4

Thanks for that mate. As you will see on the forum, GU's in particular are very prone to earth issues. I for one would agree that all sorts of weird issues can often be solved by new earths. I have run an earth wire from the earth terminal on the battery through the firewall and terminating on an 6 m bolt. I run all the earths from additional equipment, radios, meters and accessories back to this terminal. I also try to as much as possible to run earth wire to lights etc rather than relying on the chassis earth.
14th July 2016, 10:20 PM
Bigcol

the single biggest fault with a GQ or GU is the Earthing

my GQ I had earth straps from:
Gearbox to chassis
Engine to chassis
Battery 1 to chassis
Battery 2 to chassis
Body to chassis

thats over and above what is on there normally

on my GU, I have only got as far as

Body to chassis
Gearbox to chassis
Battery 1 to chassis
Battery 2 to chassis

have yet to find a good spot from the motor to chassis..........
15th July 2016, 09:21 AM
LandRoverGhost

good on you , I think car manufacturers never caught up with Earthing properly after the first spark plug was installed over a century ago ;-)
15th July 2016, 10:22 AM
threedogs

I found on my tojo that each part of of the 4x4 had its own earth, like front of engine bay,,,engine bay,,firewall,,,cabin etc and etc
Running extra earth straps is a great idea. You can buy them any length you want from most speed shops
15th July 2016, 10:17 PM
dom14

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandRoverGhost

I would like to share an improvement I did with my Range Rover P38 ( 1996 model ) and soon will do with my 'new' Patrol 1989 model.
I noticed in the RR that the EARTH wiring made a weird circuit : from battery to engine to a single point at the chassis. With that much electrics going on I thought 'lets see what happens if I make a few 'short-cuts' ... no not + on - ... you get what I mean. So I made a dedicated Earth wire from battery to ignition pack (8 coils in that RR ) , one to the main fuse box under the bonnet and one to the sub-fuse box under the drivers seat. Don't ask how many fuses that RR has ... you'd faint.
The result: improved fuel economy !!! Most likely got a better spark due to better voltage on coils. Improved responsiveness of the climate control ( a common RR problem) , all regulated with motors, brighter lights of all switches etc.
It is not hard to imagine that when a vehicle gets older the resistance in the original Earth wiring increases. The dedicated Earth wiring circumvents that. make sure you make good lugs ( soldered ) and make good contact to the various points.
I'm sure a similar action will improve something in our Patrols.
Good Luck !!

J.

Well done mate.
Thanx for uploading this information.
This will help me and many others to do something useful in spare time and improve the vehicle mechanics by improving
the electrics.
I see and hear it all the time, that, many seemingly mechanical problems turns out to be electrical problems.
16th July 2016, 08:06 PM
GeeYou8

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandRoverGhost

good on you , I think car manufacturers never caught up with Earthing properly after the first spark plug was installed over a century ago ;-)

I think that they have tried to avoid earth loops which can sometimes cause problems in high tech stuff. A 4x4 should not be that sensitive, but they probably wire them the same as cars that are not subjected to the same corrosion causing elements and vibration like a 4x4.
Graham
16th July 2016, 08:13 PM
4bye4

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeeYou8

I think that they have tried to avoid earth loops which can sometimes cause problems in high tech stuff. A 4x4 should not be that sensitive, but they probably wire them the same as cars that are not subjected to the same corrosion causing elements and vibration like a 4x4.
Graham

Earth loops shouldn't be an issue on 12v stuff. Usually only low voltage electronics that are that sensitive. Could affect the engine management though I guess.

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