Coil Grounding Kit

[yakboyslim]

Recently made myself a coil grounding kit and wanted to share the part numbers I used in case anyone else is interested. This is not at all to ding on EQT - their offering is awesome and fairly priced considering the quality of components they use. I also am not going to explain how to crimp, solder, or heat shrink. If you don't know how to do those there are a million youtube videos to learn, or the aforementioned pre-made kits from EQT.

I ordered from ProwireUSA since they had reasonably small minimum orders and also stocked a non-MILSPEC alternative wire and heat shrink. The stuff they offer is made to similar standards, but not tested to the same MILSPEC. So possibly just as good, but not guaranteed. For me that was good enough, and frankly I don't need my coil grounding wire to outlast my car - and me - but if you do then buy the EQT kit. At reasonably small order size I don't think you could get actual MILSPEC Tefzel wire and Rachem heat shrink under the EQT price.

Parts needed:

• TXL-14-0 TXL 14 GA BLACK - ~4ft (10 ft minimum)
• TXL-8-0 TXL 8 GA BLACK - ~2.5ft (10 ft minimum)
• V25-1/8 V25 1/8" MOTORSPORT SHRINK TUBING - 3.25ft
• V25-1/4 V25 1/4" MOTORSPORT SHRINK TUBING - 1.25ft
• V25-3/8 V25 3/8" MOTORSPORT SHRINK TUBING - 0.25ft
• 19193-0152 VERSAKRIMP 8 GA RING TERMINAL 1/4 BRAZED SEAM - 1x
• TOTAL = ~$45

Then you either need ring terminals to attach to the existing ground wires (1/4 14ga ring terminals ~$7 for a 100x pack) with some hardware from Home Depot. Alternatively you could make a "pro kit" and get replacement terminals to repin the coil connectors. I couldn't figure out the part numbers (will gladly update if someone knows them) so I bought this Replacement plug and terminals from Ebay and just used the terminals. This needs to match the part number on your existing connectors though.

Due to the minimum orders I bought a little more of some things and did two kits, one for my GTI and one for the wife's Alltrack and it came out to ~$40 each. Not bad. I highly doubt mine are near as nice as EQT, but hey it was a fun little craft project, and it might be snake oil but it seemed to improve idle in both cars.

I would say for anyone considering doing this that it is an easy DIY, but kind of high stakes. If my splice starts to become a problem over time somehow it will probably be very difficult to diagnose. If you are confident in your skills go for it, if not just buy one from EQT.

 

[OceanJack]

There's another guy who did his own diy as well. Thanks for posting this!

 

[JerseyDrew77]

Yeah it doesn't cost much to build your own and EQT is way overpriced for their kit.

 

[Maiden69]

Yeah it doesn't cost much to build your own and EQT is way overpriced for their kit.

Well, it is fairly priced given the materials used and quality of the product. If you own a business and offer something at the price it costs you to build it, you will surely bankrupt. You need to charge based on your material costs and overhead. EQT is not an operation running out of someone's backyard or garage. Hell, I made harnesses for the Army and I would probably charge $150 for the harness EQT sell.

Also, EQT use Raychem tubing vs the V25 listed above, which is more expensive and they also use the SCL tubing to seal the splice area, mandatory on any MIL spec harness.

Materials - $45 (above) ~ $60 for EQT materials
Tech Time - .5 hr $20-30
overhead - $40-60 (building rent/power/gas/insurance/etc...)
profit - $??

Going with the minimum prices, profit is $30 for a single harness at EQT prices. They buy bulk so their profit would be around the same I would charge, which is 1.5 the materials + time.

 

[JerseyDrew77]

Well, it is fairly priced given the materials used and quality of the product. If you own a business and offer something at the price it costs you to build it, you will surely bankrupt. You need to charge based on your material costs and overhead. EQT is not an operation running out of someone's backyard or garage. Hell, I made harnesses for the Army and I would probably charge $150 for the harness EQT sell.

Also, EQT use Raychem tubing vs the V25 listed above, which is more expensive and they also use the SCL tubing to seal the splice area, mandatory on any MIL spec harness.

Materials - $45 (above) ~ $60 for EQT materials
Tech Time - .5 hr $20-30
overhead - $40-60 (building rent/power/gas/insurance/etc...)
profit - $??

Going with the minimum prices, profit is $30 for a single harness at EQT prices. They buy bulk so their profit would be around the same I would charge, which is 1.5 the materials + time.

It's just a damn grouding kit, it's not rocket science. There was a guy on Vortex that was building a quality kit and selling it for way less. From what I heard, an EQT employee started harassing him about the kit to where the guy stopped making them. Don't know why he would stop and if it was me, I would've told EQT to fuck off and would keep making them.

 

[StorableComa]

Tefzel and Raychem are overkill. You are not building a salt flat racer, none of your other connections are fully sealed. The wire terminates to a rubber seal and an OEM connection. What is the point of Raychem when dozens of other sleeves and heat shrinks offer the same abrasion, chemical and heat/insulation properties for cheaper? If you had it going to a raychem boot and a Deutsch connector that was all sealed from start to finish.. sure, justified cost. Same with any mil/race spec harness. Might as well over charge for nomex sleeves too cause Mil spec buzzword.

All Tefzel and Raychem are doing at the point is increasing your base cost... which would be much lower if EQT buys in bulk. You can get both of those for TXL/GXL/SXL wire prices when you buy in bulk. If this was a fully sealed harness.. sure, you could justify them, but it's just upsell.

Even with Raychem and Tefzel... it's probably about 30 dollars base cost at their purchase point. It's 6 crimps- 4 terminals, a ground loop and the not insulated butt connector. Use a heat gun and done.

I sell mine for 60ish out the door shipped. Like most things in the VW world it's a VW tax. They upsell and hide part numbers to fatten their bottom line. Same reason 40 dollar MPI injectors go for 100 dollars each with the parts numbers filed off.

Anyhow, TLDR. At their buying power tefzel and raychem cost pennies on the dollar. You can get full race spec engine harnesses made for 400ish.. how is a simple ground harness 130? Don't even get me started on their first edition with just ground loops for 120...

 

[James At EQT]

First I want to say, Props to the OP for a killer write-up! Looks like you put together a quality grounding setup!

This is easy enough for the hobbyist to follow your links and make their own, but maybe a little beyond the realm of an absolute newbie.

There are some hidden costs that aren't mentioned such as the proper tooling and die since you don't really want to use regular "AutoZone" crimpers but I'm sure with enough ingenuity you can achieve a decent result.

In the construction of our product, we use a close barrel splice where the 4 connect to 1 which requires a different die and tool that you may not have, so if you do truly emulate ours then that's something to consider.

Otherwise, no hate from me! Looks Solid.

Also, thanks Maiden69. You're dead on the money with that. Our Profit on each kit is not what people think it may be. As mentioned by you and many others, the cost of our materials is not low, yes.. even buying in bulk. Costs of the materials we use had gone up and none of that cost has been passed onto the customer. And as you said, overhead, operating costs, etc.

If you don't want to buy our kit, that's totally fine. If you do, we thank you for the support as we put the time and energy into developing it. There will be those who say we didn't develop squat but, the whole story about how this kit came to exist is posted to our site and it was actually something I did personally for a local friend to troubleshoot and solve an issue. If you care to read it, the story is posted here; https://eqtuning.com/blogs/technical-write-ups/product-origin-story-coil-grounding-kit


TLDR;
Great job with a DIY! Looks awesome!

A big thumbs up from me.

 

[Ed @ EQT]

Well, it is fairly priced given the materials used and quality of the product. If you own a business and offer something at the price it costs you to build it, you will surely bankrupt. You need to charge based on your material costs and overhead. EQT is not an operation running out of someone's backyard or garage. Hell, I made harnesses for the Army and I would probably charge $150 for the harness EQT sell.

Also, EQT use Raychem tubing vs the V25 listed above, which is more expensive and they also use the SCL tubing to seal the splice area, mandatory on any MIL spec harness.

Materials - $45 (above) ~ $60 for EQT materials
Tech Time - .5 hr $20-30
overhead - $40-60 (building rent/power/gas/insurance/etc...)
profit - $??

Going with the minimum prices, profit is $30 for a single harness at EQT prices. They buy bulk so their profit would be around the same I would charge, which is 1.5 the materials + time.

This guy gets it!
Quality wiring parts are not cheap... even at bulk scale. Material prices have only gone up as well.

-- Ed

 

[Subliminal]

It's just a damn grouding kit, it's not rocket science. There was a guy on Vortex that was building a quality kit and selling it for way less. From what I heard, an EQT employee started harassing him about the kit to where the guy stopped making them. Don't know why he would stop and if it was me, I would've told EQT to fuck off and would keep making them.

You mean when another member said he "thinks" that's what happened Let's not spread unconfirmed rumors/gossip from a 3rd party source

 

[JerseyDrew77]

You mean when another member said he "thinks" that's what happened Let's not spread unconfirmed rumors/gossip from a 3rd party source

It is what it is. Whether it's true or not, who know for sure which is why I said from what I heard. The only way to know for sure is to ask the person, directly, that was making them. At least he was selling the kit at a reasonable price.

 

[Maiden69]

It's just a damn grouding kit, it's not rocket science. There was a guy on Vortex that was building a quality kit and selling it for way less. From what I heard, an EQT employee started harassing him about the kit to where the guy stopped making them. Don't know why he would stop and if it was me, I would've told EQT to fuck off and would keep making them.

Like I said, time costs money... if the guy was profiting $20 for his work more power to him, or probably he was using copper-clad aluminum wire and pocketing an 80% profit? Who knows, you're not going to know what a quality harness is unless you know what you are looking at.

This is the same thing people complain about Jake's exhaust. Why so expensive, you're piecing this thing in your garage... well, because he is using quality materials, doing it the proper way, and his TIME costs money. This is the reason I closed down my detailing shop... no point in explaining 20 million times why my prices are what they are when there are idiots doing a shitty job for less than 1/2 what I charge.

Anyways... you want a cheap kit, I can piece one for $50... soldered, not crimped on. Amazon special wire with the correct terminals, and regular heat shrink, since it is just a grounding kit.

EQT quality... $150.

 

[yakboyslim]

Anyways... you want a cheap kit, I can piece one for $50... soldered, not crimped on. Amazon special wire with the correct terminals, and regular heat shrink, since it is just a grounding kit.

EQT quality... $150.

This sums it all up. For me - I didn't need MILSPEC wires that will outlast everything around them. I have some crimping tools (although not great ones) and wanted a project. I would never put my name on what I made and sell it though.

 

[OceanJack]

Like I said, time costs money... if the guy was profiting $20 for his work more power to him, or probably he was using copper-clad aluminum wire and pocketing an 80% profit? Who knows, you're not going to know what a quality harness is unless you know what you are looking at.

This is the same thing people complain about Jake's exhaust. Why so expensive, you're piecing this thing in your garage... well, because he is using quality materials, doing it the proper way, and his TIME costs money. This is the reason I closed down my detailing shop... no point in explaining 20 million times why my prices are what they are when there are idiots doing a shitty job for less than 1/2 what I charge.

Anyways... you want a cheap kit, I can piece one for $50... soldered, not crimped on. Amazon special wire with the correct terminals, and regular heat shrink, since it is just a grounding kit.

EQT quality... $150.

TBH CCA wire vs OFC in that gauge is a very small difference in cost.

 

[JerseyDrew77]

Like I said, time costs money... if the guy was profiting $20 for his work more power to him, or probably he was using copper-clad aluminum wire and pocketing an 80% profit? Who knows, you're not going to know what a quality harness is unless you know what you are looking at.

This is the same thing people complain about Jake's exhaust. Why so expensive, you're piecing this thing in your garage... well, because he is using quality materials, doing it the proper way, and his TIME costs money. This is the reason I closed down my detailing shop... no point in explaining 20 million times why my prices are what they are when there are idiots doing a shitty job for less than 1/2 what I charge.

Anyways... you want a cheap kit, I can piece one for $50... soldered, not crimped on. Amazon special wire with the correct terminals, and regular heat shrink, since it is just a grounding kit.

EQT quality... $150.

You can't compare what Jake is doing to these grounding kits, totally not the same. A grounding kit doesn't take long to develop while what Jake does to build a whole exhaust from the turbo back takes hours, if not a whole day.

 

[StorableComa]

OEM Spec TXL, GXL, SXL wire. Honestly probably do GXL for the terminal connections with a SXL main gauge branch. It'll last just as long as the rest of your wiring harness, solid stranded copper, cost maybe .25c a foot depending on your source. Solder or crimp if done correctly would work just fine, its a non tensioned ground joint, nothing really special there. Red core Tesa tape, seals and terminals and you're done. You just need to order the repair kit for the repair wire from Micron or whatever, I can post a link later (at least for 4D0, 8K0 you can get but sourcing gets a little less direct, I source both and can sell you some at a decent price you really wanted).

I personally prefer my Fiberglass resin sleeve version, it's only a little more than the Tesa tape (75) for 1200 degree Fahrenheit direct contact insulation.

Raychem is nice, but Raychem is meant to mainly be used in a sealed enviroment. That's what makes it Race spec.. Not just the use of Raychem and M22759/32 or M22759/16 spec wire, you're just using a more expensive tool for the job for little to no benefit IMO. This isn't a sealed boot to a sealed mil or other connector. It's going to a rubber seal and an OEM "sealed" connector. Water and salt intrusion are still possible, the main reasons why people use Raychem in sealed harnesses in the first place is to prevent that... but I digress.

People can spend their money however they like. I'm just saying for the same function in a slightly different form can be had for a much more reasonable cost both to the producer and the consumer while making a decent profit margin for your time. To me this whole argument is like someone saying Beatz by Dre are the best headphones around without even knowing who Sennheiser is. Anyhow, it all comes down to the end purchaser in the end. I make harnesses for MPI, flex, flex splitting, ground repair or replacement, RS3 LPFP complete kits, flex kits and other items just because of current VW tax prices IMO.

Link for 4d0 repair terminals and seals: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077CSTYP5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can source them cheaper, but again that's the easiest and most direct.