midnightride42

ok i have a 87 N/A automatic
started to do the grounds did a serch and got some good info but still need a bit of help.

ok i replaced the ground to the firewall to the block the one right by the Sub zero resavor. now to follow the main ground wire it is rapped in a big wire gathering that goes on for miles to the bottom of the car and then finally hits the big long bolt. i havent replaced it cause i ran outta time but either way is the alternatro ground tapped into it? soldering required to pu tthem back together. also,
can someone tell me where the transmission ground wire is located? looking at he tranny from below, i see a little black cable coming off it that goes to a harnes then right above it more cabels that go to harnesses. basically the look so samll i doubt they were grounds but watnted to make sure. if someone know which is the tranny ground please let me know what color it is so i can replace it too.


also i keep reading about replacing the ground from the ECU where exactly is that cable going to and how do i go about changing it.

Kenteth

The alternator is grounded by the block. There is no physical ground wire that goes directly to it.

By grounding the block to the chasis, you are grounding the alternator.

midnightride42

hmmmmmm ok i followed ground from the battery and it is a long a** cable that runs down toward the tranny and then up to the bolt near the oilfilter. has a lot of electrical tape around it with other wires wrapped in it. the laternator is also going into that wire highway by surely is just in there for insulations and goes to the posetive on the battery. either way i need to know what wire to look for, for the tranny ground cable and then the one that goes to the ECU or the CPU which ever one it is.
thanks for any input.

wires colors would be nice but pic s would be great and locations too. sence i have a feeling the person before me did some rewireing cause the ignition switch had different colors wires thatn factory.

thanks

WAYNE88N/A

The tranny is grounded via the big cable that you're refering to. That cable also grounds the chassis at a standoff clip bolted to the strut tower. You can't see it because it's under all that tape, but it's there.

The alternator wire you're refering to is a positive cable, not a ground, and splices into the main power harness for the engine bay fuse block. Schematics show it as tapping into the headlight fuse circuit, although I've never physically verified this...

Do not ground the alt body via a wire directly to a chassis point, you're altering the normal electrical pathways of the charging circuit if you do (and, since the ECU is grounded to the potential of the engine block, it screws with it, too). The best thing to do if you want to beef up the alt's ground is to run a bonding jumper, at least 10 gauge, from the alt's mounting hardware back to a housing, wherever you can find a good bolt location (I've got mine bolted to the dynamic chamber, which in turn bolts to the rotor housings). Only if you think that the electrical conductivity has been compromised in your housing-to-housing contacts should you even consider this (like using a shitload of hylomar during a rebuild, lol)...

Can't help you with different wire colors than factory

midnightride42

how about the ground to the ECU or the CPU?

when you say bonding jumper what are you refering too? leaving that wire there and just hooking up another to it? also can i use bolt in the back of the block used to ground other things already ? the one i mentions i have done already?

thanks for the usefull help so far.

midnightride42

the starter ground cable goes into that wire highway as well right? just wante to make sure im grouding the right stuff.

midnightride42

anyone else?