ok i just bought some stillen ground wires, even though i could have made them, but i had some spare cash and i really wanted to see what the difference in the stillen wires were. Well they came today and i was a bit angry with the packaging, it came in a smashed up box and actual product casing was also pretty beat up, but everything seemed in order so i opened it up and started installing. I pulled each wire out of the plastic and looked them over...this is were things get bad. The terminal on one of the wires just falls off...i only have standard wiring tools, no heavy duty crimper or gold terminals, so i got screwed with that wire. So i install the rest and everything is going fine. Im screwing in the last bolt near the upper part of the plenum and snap....the screw head just comes off. There was no resistance on the screw, and i wasnt forcing the socket at all, it just snapped off. After some screaming and throwing i just gave up and installed the rest of the kit and cleaned up my garage. So this is my warning to everyone, im sure i just had bad luck with the kit, but id really suggest getting your ground wires made, or make them yourself. O and btw the ground points were different than the ones pictured on this forum, but i doubt its any different in performance. On the bright side i instantly noticed a difference in the car performance but the fact that the screw was still in there bothered me all day...i hurt my G :'(

 

If a bolt on the plenum snapped then you should get it replaced. If it's not torqued down evenly (since a bolt is missing) you could warp it, have a vaccum leak or possibly suck in some dirt from any gaps.

 

Typical Stillen Crap.

Lou

 

Stillen = thumbs down

Does the Stillen kit use 4 gauge or 8 gauge wire?

 

Send it back and get a kit from <font color=red>Gordgee</font color=red>.
'Top Drawer' quality, and not as expensive.

The bolt will have to be drilled out and should be done in case of a leak.

<font color=red>GSM</font color=red>
<font color=red>GSM</font color=red>
<font color=black>Silverstone Coupe</font color=black>

 

What kind of performance gain can one expect?

04 G35 Coupe Silver M6 - stock for now ...

 

In your mind or in reality????? : )

2004 G35 Coupe/OB/Graphite interior/Premium and aero package/Popcharger/Z tube/Hotchkis sways/Tein H-tech springs/Kinetix plenum/Crawford cats

 

Heres my experience, I installed the Stillen grounding kit last weekend. I purchased mine through Grubbs, shipping box was fine. the Stillen wires were in perfect condition, no problems. I also snapped a bolt but it was the factory engine ground bolt, snapped with ease I was shocked at how easy this bolt snapped, It might as well been made of plastic. I'm curious is the bolt you broke the factory bolt or one of the ones that came with the stillen wires ? I also found the directions confusing at first, but after reading them several times and really looking at and finding the grounding points it was pretty easy. I will say each ground point should have an enlarged photo in the directions so you can see exactly where/what they are refering to. I've only driven minimal miles since the install. I will say the car runs different, better ? Not sure yet.

 

Damm stillen has been really dissapointing lately.. I just got a 5 wire kit from Sun Auto and thought it was gordgee's kit, so now im selling that because of the quality, and dyno results of his kit. I want the 7 wire kit that also helps with the manumatic shifting (tiptronic) .. Anyone want a 5 wire kit in silver?


Martin
2003.5 BS G35
Nismo Aero/Sport Package
Injen CAI
B+G Springs
ADR M-Classic 19's..

 

Well the bolt i snapped wasnt a factory bolt, it was a stillen bolt that came with the kit just some stupid 10mm. It uses 8 gauge wire and connects to a few grounds around the engine bay (2/3 stock ground points, a point on a gold bracket under the intake, and a few corners on the plenum, then all the wires connect to an empty hole above the belts). The kit is installed and i did notice a change, i just bought a high quality terminal and im planning on redoing the grounds today, but overall im not too unhappy i suppose. After seeing the kits that gordgee makes id recommend him, they look high quality and atleast you can really trust him. Overall the stillen didnt please me, especially for 120 dollars. So i dont recommend them, but yea, thanks for all your guys help

 

I'd just return it as defective then order one of gg or make one for yourself.

 

Sorry to hear of your negative experience. As long as they do something though! My biggest fear is that because of a poorly constructed set, someone will post that ALL Hyper-Ground kits don't work and add confirmation to the skepticism that already exists!

As a matter of interest, look at the head of the bolt that you snapped. It should say 8.8 or higher. For a smaller M6 bolt, the grade quality is quite important. It may have been a faulty bolt however, and not typical of the quality.

Stillen uses 8 ga Tsunami cable, however I believe they are actually assembled off-shore to save costs as is typical of many large-scale suppliers. The terminal should not have fallen off if manufacture specs and tolerances are followed. The crimp strength is very important for signal integrity.

BTW, was the kit 5 or 8 wire? I've been told that they now offer 8. I remember last year when ppl used to call Stillen up when they had 5 asking about #s 6 and 7 that were developed here on G35driver, and they didn't know much about the additional wires.

<font color=blue>[i]GroundingGear™ Equipped </font color=blue>

 

Well the kit came with wire categories listed as Left side and Right side (marked with a L and R) The left section had 2 wires which joined into one point (like a V) where each point had a terminal and connected to a factory point within the given distance, the right side had a few wires connected together (W shape) one side to the battery, one of the junctions to a factory ground, another junction to the plenum, and then the last point ends where all the other wires meet up. The last wire piece was a single wire which was longer than the others, this went from the top of the plenum and met with all the other bolts at the front of the engine bay. Hope that clears it up, thats the best way i can describe it. I dont think the actual product is bad, but the seller/shipper. But aside from that id definately recommend a grounding kit of any kind, as long as its good quality, mine just happened to be a little rough.

 

Yes, I know the Stillen kit uses several wires joined to a single lug terminal. Nismo's design is very similar.



The one pictured on Stillen's site looks to be what you are describing and is 6 wires I believe. Several of the local dealerships I supply, chose GroundingGear™ over Stillen based on several factors, including installing and trying the kits to assess the actual results. After trying out the cars thus equipped, many of the staff including a few techs at various dealerships have gone GroundingGear™ Equipped on their own cars![img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

I'm glad it's working for you. There are a few reports of H-G kits not doing anything, but usually it's due to poor construction, wrong choice of grounding points, or a poor running car to begin with (It's hard to predict the H-G's effect on an engine running poorly. It may exacerbate the pre-existing condition). I'm not a fan of kits that use a central grounding block either since the block itself can introduce noise into the system.

<font color=blue>[i]GroundingGear™ Equipped </font color=blue>

 

At least it worked for you! Some don't believe they work at all. I just don't like Stillen's use of 8 ga wire, and some of their business practices. I've also heard that they farm their product line out to the far east to save costs, so their quality control is sometimes suspsect.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by ckg35 on 07/17/04 12:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>