Fastening ground cable off of batt.

[matt_shover]

Replacing my ground/negative cable due to too much corrosion. There is a 10mm bolt that fastens the ground side of cable on the car itself -- however when I loosen this bolt it spins freely and I am unable to get to the nut in back.

I thumbed through the manual looking for diagrams or tips - with no success.

Hints, tips, or tricks much appreciated!

Regards,

-Matt
91 Black/Ivory

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Hey Matt,

I may be dremel time. At least to get the nut and cable off. Sounds like corrosion (maybe electrolysis) rotted the stud which was probably either swedged or tack welded to the body.

I have not seen this attachment point, is it behind the blower or near the bottom of it?? Maybe time to find a new good strong place to mount a stud too.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[matt_shover]

Thanks for the reply, Larry! Indeed I think you're right... I don't think I have access to this bolt from the front and I suspect some corrosion as the ground cable actually did look OK.

Oddly enough, the ground cable snapped off on the end around the small (10mm head) bolt. I tried a different 10mm bolt right down from that and got some initial ground but, when I tried to turn over, lost it (all power went off). I'm trying to look in the manual where it is I can hook ground up to. I'll try a few different points and report back on what I find.

-Matt

 

[matt_shover]

Well -- trying another location didn't pan out. I think I'm stuck with that particular one. I'm going through the passenger compartment side to try to come up with a solution. Looks like a bit of stuff to remove first.

I'll keep everyone posted in case someone runs into the same problem.

-Matt

 

[matt_shover]

Allright -- let's close this thread out:

-If the "nut" behind comes lose, use a different location along the body. I assumed that this part of the body did not conduct and there was perhaps something inside to ground to. This is not the case. When I tried a different location on the frame I assumed that I would be able to ground off of the nut/bolt (not the body itself) and therefore didn't ground off any of the paint. That was wrong.

I may just re-tap the original hole -- however I think using a different bolt hole along the firewall is a safer option.

Just for the record, there is no way to access behind where the original grounding nut/bolt is. The nut behind is welded on (except on mine -- it's rather loose now). I just put a bit of good ol' duct tape over the head of the bolt it so that it doesn't rattle around. I tried accessing from underneath the dash to no avail.

To get more room, try unbolting the blower (very easy). This ground point is behind/below the blower.

-Matt