How many grounds

how many grounds

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  • this thread is stupid who cares

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skep419

skep419

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Bored at work. Thinking I should add some more grounds. How many and where do you have them.
 
Engine to chassis. Battery to chassis. I also like to ground all other circuits to chassis. You can't have too many that's for sure
 
I have one to radiator support and one from firewall to engine. No problems with the electrical system. Still using dash Amp meter and after a few minutes needle sits in the middle with no fluctuations, till at idle with lites and heater going fluctuates very little, car is 74 Duster. Waiting for warm weather to start working on installing all the gauges, temp. oil & voltmeter.
 
Anywhere and everywhere you can think of putting one. I must have put in close to 20 grounds on my car
 
Battery to Radiator core suppot. Engine to Firewall. Cylinder head to chassis at a ground buss on my fan controlller. And, of course the negative battery cable from head to battery. The more the merrier though....
 
Do like new cars - many all over the place. They typically have welded studs, which is far better than sheet-metal screws. Some of this started as they put more plastic in cars, but also saves on warranty claims.
 
Main ground off batt to engine block, smaller ground off batt to core support. Another ground on pass side from block to fender apron or firewall.
 
I ran a bunch of grounds, I even did one from the batt to the steering coloum were all my grounds for dash attach. I also added air, power windows and locks so I wanted to be damn sure everything was grounded well.
 
I just got finished removing my old gas tank. A long time ago I remember reading posts where people talked about a ground from the tank so the sending unit could complete a circuit to the gas gauge. I didn't see any extra grounding on my tank.

However, as I look at new parts for the tank, it looks like there is a metal clip called a "grounding strap." My guess is that it clips to the sending unit outlet tube, spans the neoprene connector, and then clips to the steel fuel line that goes to the pump. That line is very connected to the frame.
 
g413,
Yes, that fuel sender ground strap is often missing. I think it is made of spring steel, so may rust away. Even if not, it may have an erratic electrical connection to the tubing. It is in series w/ the level sensor, which varies ~10 to 90 ohm, so needs to be <1 ohm to not affect the signal. Of course, the designers only cared if it worked for the 3 yr warranty period, by which time most buyers in those days had sold the car and bought the latest model for that new-car look - squarer body, front beak, square headlamps, ... I vaguely recall some new senders have a male spade on the outside to clip a ground. On similar note, some models (B & C bodies?) have a rubber isolator on the steering column and need a ground jumper or the horn doesn't work.
 
MSD says ground each head to chassis too. Its cheap. remember many engines are supported by rubber vibration isolators. I had a mechanical tach cable go up in smoke on a Honda as it was the only ground from the motor to the chassis! Seems I missed the ground strap when I did something to it. Lots of smoke, little damage.
 
pishta said:
... I had a mechanical tach cable go up in smoke on a Honda as it was the only ground from the motor to the chassis! ...
Click to expand...
Ditto. I had the dash cluster pulled forward once in my 1985 M-B when I cranked the starter. The speedometer cable started smoking. WTF? It had the thick ground strap from transmission-block bolt to frame. I removed it, sanded both sides and coated w/ silicone grease and no more smoking speedo cable. Another time, a new alternator didn't fix the "no charge current" in my 69 Dart. I clipped a jumper cable from alternator frame to BATT- and "viola" got charge current. I sanded the bolt-up points on the original alternator and the bracket and it then worked too. Later Mopar alternators added a stud for a case ground. Aluminum oxide (white powder) is a great electrical insulator. Many 1960's houses w/ the new aluminum wiring burned down.
 
all good advice but do not ground battery to an aluminum rad or or heads or you can create electrolisis
 
Hey guys, don't mean to bring back an old thread but I found this from a search and learned that I need more grounds on my car!

Also want to ask since I have aluminum heads on my engine, where would be a good spot to bolt the negative cable for the battery? I have a Magnum block I could probably use one of the threaded bosses for the newer truck engine mounts? Also for the other grounds (engine-to-subframe, engine-to-firewall etc.) what size and type of wire is sufficient?
 
Just attatch it using the threads in the aluminum heads, my negative cables have been on mine for about 6 years and havent had any issues
 
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Steering column ground?
:popcorn:
 
71DodgeDemon340 said:
Just attatch it using the threads in the aluminum heads, my negative cables have been on mine for about 6 years and havent had any issues
Click to expand...

I'm just going to attach it to the block for a cleaner look, shows off the engine a little better. I already have a 12-ga wire for engine-to-firewall, also going to do engine-to-subframe probably in 10 gauge.

@skep419 I'll have to double-check but I'm pretty sure my car still has the steering column ground. I do have the first-year collapsible and locking steering column so it might be a bit different.
 
That stupid fuel tank ground clip was never a good idea. There is nothing to really ground the fuel line, against the rusting body, especially as these girls "would have been used" back in the day in some rust belt areas.
 
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