I don't like to go under the car anymore, but my semi-inept mechanic/handyman will be here monday so I'll have him replace the ground strap(s). Reason is that I'm getting erratic voltage and erratic starting on the 85GSL which leads me to think it's a cable problem, so I'll start with the ground cables. But darned if I can find where they are in any of my manuals, but there must be something between the driveline and the body since all the rubber motor mounts and bushings insulate the driveline from the body.

Anyone know where they are, offhand? Or, better still, a picture?

 

from battery to the driverside side wall (strut area) then to the long-bolt that holds the starter.

 

That long mounting bolt? I don't remember the strap, tho I've R&Red two starters.

 

It's not a ground strap but the ground that wacky is refeering to. The only ground strap that I have seen on our cars is at the muffler. The mounting support bolt at the rear of the muffler has a small ground strap that goes to the chassis.

 

Wacky is right....negative from the battery goes to the long starter bolt to ground it....without it my car wouldn't crank or start for **** when I swapped trannys.

 

You will need to add these. It's best to replace all the cables from the battery as they are 20 some odd years old. Add an additional one from the alternator (ground) to the chassis. You may also look into replacing the entire wire from the starter.

 

Here are the pictures you asked for, that loop bolted the body down under the brake pipe is the chassis ground. It is hard to get to if you still have an AC and power steering installed. The upper box with the three looping wires are the fusable links:



I spent a little extra (not much, about $15 at autozone) on a gold plated positive battery cable end, not only does it not corrode, it also has additional ports for hooking up the extra hot wire cables that you find on the 84/85 GSLs. The ground is an inexpensive brass coated cable end, but they make those in gold too. I think adding these ends gives you an even better set than replacing the entire set of stock cables (at much less expense) since the connectors at the other ends of the cables are usually in good shape and just need cleaning:



No picture of the starter ground, but it is straight forward, just a heavy wire that ends in a loop terminal that goes around one of the starter mounting bolts. If you've had any oil leaks in the oil cooler area this is going to be a greasy messy job however.

Good luck!

Ray

 

Thanks guys!