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**My review on the Flex Innovation Grounding Kit Review for Mz3 2.0/2.3**
Rating: 5/5
Price: $30-$50 from Flex Innovations compared to 100+ for buddy club/HKS grounding kits
Installation Time: 10-20mins
Tools:
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Extra: Marine Brass Battery -, +, Terminals (AutoZone $4.00)
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Ok onto the install!
1. Disconnect the negative/positive battery terminals completely. (If you use marine brass battery terminals if not just disconnect positive and zip-tie it somewhere down so that it doesn’t re-touch terminal.
2. Ok, so here is a general idea of how it is going to work, it consists of the letters A-F, starting from (A) thru (F) using the smallest grounding wires from small to big.
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3. It is best that you separate the wires as the image shows below, as some may seem as the same size but obviously are longer, your kit should come already prepped as showed below.
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4. Using wire one (shortest) you will connect it to the chassis at the bracket for the low pressure air conditioning line using the 10mm socket, then ground the other side onto the plate attached to the engine on top of the existing grounding point. (Pic below)
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5. For the second smallest wire, you are first going to connect it as well on-top of connection “B” that should be touching the end of “wire 1”, and from that starting point at connection “B” you connect the end of it to fuel rail bolt “C”.
“WIRE 3” Connects to points “E” and “D” it is located on the side corner of the engine where there is another plate. Again there will be to wires connecting at this location so don’t tighten the bolt all the way yet. Point “D” is located on the driver said fuel rail mounting bolt. ****For 2.0L engines I models the connection point is different, the top right mount for the engine cover screws off from underneath, and there is a that you connect the ground wire thru and screw it back on tight)
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“WIRE 4” When connecting wire 4 make sure you are connecting the end of the wire that has the larger sized terminal to point “E”
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“WIRE 4 & 5” are routed through the side hole of the battery box and NOT the hole facing the front of the car. There are MUTIPLE large holes existing in the battery box. If they do not fit when you do this then you have put them thru the wrong hole in the battery box. If need be improvise and you’ll be fine.
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FINAL STEP: In the next step you will remove and install the small nut for the negative battery terminal. Please be careful and don't connect the positive and negative battery terminals accidentally with a solid metal wrench. I used a rubber handled socket wrench and no extension bar. You may also use gloves to do this, once you have connected the terminals to the NEGATIVE PART OF THE BATTERY ground it to the bolt holding in your throttle body on the top right, once this is done go back and re-tighten everything up nicely.
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If you took the cables off the battery than you re-set your ECU, which now your car will need to re-learn fuel maps, and may have a rough idle let it sit for about 5-10 min's to learn its idle point, please do not blame the grounding kit if your car acts like this just let it sit and it will adjust now your done enjoy!
My side notes after this install was done: Ok, well first off the reason I bought this grounding kit is because my 2004 2.0L sedan had a CEL with a code of p2188, which is running rich in idle. After some extensive research I found that 2004’s have a bad MAF ground wire. I read that the MAF ground wire runs thru ECU so I was to chicken to cut solder and reconnect. So a fellow member told me that a grounding kit can fix that problem if a short is the case, then a grounding kit will put everything on the same level, meaning everything will be grounded properly. So after I installed this I turn the car on and instantly the CEL turned off, at first I thought it was because I took the battery cables off and the ECU was re-thinking, but I did this many times in the past and it would always come right back up. In this case it didn’t, so I went and drove around the block and the throttle response was significantly better! The p2188 code symptoms’ were very sluggish on take off and would feel like some serious power loss; whenever I would shift it would pause in speed then continue. I have driven with the grounding kit now for 2 weeks and it has not come back and those symptoms’ are gone completely! The throttle is honestly very noticeable once this FLEX Innovation kit is installed. I highly recommend everyone to do this to their car, even without the code. A good ground on a vehicle is vital especially if you have a full kit that guarantees a great ground! I give flex innovations grounding kit a 5/5 for easy install and great quality!
Rating: 5/5
Price: $30-$50 from Flex Innovations compared to 100+ for buddy club/HKS grounding kits
Installation Time: 10-20mins
Tools:
Extra: Marine Brass Battery -, +, Terminals (AutoZone $4.00)
Ok onto the install!
1. Disconnect the negative/positive battery terminals completely. (If you use marine brass battery terminals if not just disconnect positive and zip-tie it somewhere down so that it doesn’t re-touch terminal.
2. Ok, so here is a general idea of how it is going to work, it consists of the letters A-F, starting from (A) thru (F) using the smallest grounding wires from small to big.
3. It is best that you separate the wires as the image shows below, as some may seem as the same size but obviously are longer, your kit should come already prepped as showed below.
4. Using wire one (shortest) you will connect it to the chassis at the bracket for the low pressure air conditioning line using the 10mm socket, then ground the other side onto the plate attached to the engine on top of the existing grounding point. (Pic below)
5. For the second smallest wire, you are first going to connect it as well on-top of connection “B” that should be touching the end of “wire 1”, and from that starting point at connection “B” you connect the end of it to fuel rail bolt “C”.
“WIRE 3” Connects to points “E” and “D” it is located on the side corner of the engine where there is another plate. Again there will be to wires connecting at this location so don’t tighten the bolt all the way yet. Point “D” is located on the driver said fuel rail mounting bolt. ****For 2.0L engines I models the connection point is different, the top right mount for the engine cover screws off from underneath, and there is a that you connect the ground wire thru and screw it back on tight)
“WIRE 4” When connecting wire 4 make sure you are connecting the end of the wire that has the larger sized terminal to point “E”
“WIRE 4 & 5” are routed through the side hole of the battery box and NOT the hole facing the front of the car. There are MUTIPLE large holes existing in the battery box. If they do not fit when you do this then you have put them thru the wrong hole in the battery box. If need be improvise and you’ll be fine.
FINAL STEP: In the next step you will remove and install the small nut for the negative battery terminal. Please be careful and don't connect the positive and negative battery terminals accidentally with a solid metal wrench. I used a rubber handled socket wrench and no extension bar. You may also use gloves to do this, once you have connected the terminals to the NEGATIVE PART OF THE BATTERY ground it to the bolt holding in your throttle body on the top right, once this is done go back and re-tighten everything up nicely.
If you took the cables off the battery than you re-set your ECU, which now your car will need to re-learn fuel maps, and may have a rough idle let it sit for about 5-10 min's to learn its idle point, please do not blame the grounding kit if your car acts like this just let it sit and it will adjust now your done enjoy!
My side notes after this install was done: Ok, well first off the reason I bought this grounding kit is because my 2004 2.0L sedan had a CEL with a code of p2188, which is running rich in idle. After some extensive research I found that 2004’s have a bad MAF ground wire. I read that the MAF ground wire runs thru ECU so I was to chicken to cut solder and reconnect. So a fellow member told me that a grounding kit can fix that problem if a short is the case, then a grounding kit will put everything on the same level, meaning everything will be grounded properly. So after I installed this I turn the car on and instantly the CEL turned off, at first I thought it was because I took the battery cables off and the ECU was re-thinking, but I did this many times in the past and it would always come right back up. In this case it didn’t, so I went and drove around the block and the throttle response was significantly better! The p2188 code symptoms’ were very sluggish on take off and would feel like some serious power loss; whenever I would shift it would pause in speed then continue. I have driven with the grounding kit now for 2 weeks and it has not come back and those symptoms’ are gone completely! The throttle is honestly very noticeable once this FLEX Innovation kit is installed. I highly recommend everyone to do this to their car, even without the code. A good ground on a vehicle is vital especially if you have a full kit that guarantees a great ground! I give flex innovations grounding kit a 5/5 for easy install and great quality!
