[DeTomaso] Techno question: the negative ground battery cable

Mike Drew mikeldrew at aol.com
Sun Sep 20 00:04:46 EDT 2020


Chuck,

Grounded to the ZF? That seems really dumb. 

It’s helpful to run a third ground from one of the starter mounting studs to the chassis, using one of the bolts for the engine mount. This in addition to the stock ground d from the back of the ZF, and the one from the battery to the ground stud in the front trunk.

Most people don’t realize that this is a two-ended stud. The ground cable attaches on one end, and a million ground wires from all over the harness attach on the other end, above and behind the heater box. That gives those ground wires a direct path to the battery, a good thing. 

I would suggest undoing the ‘improvement’ inflicted on that poor car.

Mike (whose Pantera at one time had four grounds, the fourth being from the back of a cylinder head to the spreader bar because why not?)

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 19, 2020, at 19:13, Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net> wrote:
> 
>    Dear Forum,
> 
> 
>                   I am an electrical ignoramus.  I am working on a
>   friend's Pantera and I noticed that his battery negative cable does not
>   connect to the ground stud near the back of the battery.  A previous
>   owner cut a hole and routed an new cable all the way back under the car
>   to ground it the bottom of the ZF.
> 
> 
>                   The car has not been functional for about twenty five
>   years and my friend has mostly resurrected it.  He tells me that with
>   about five hundred miles of driving his dash board instruments and
>   lights seem to work fine.
> 
> 
>                    Is it important to run a short cable to the ground
>   stud in addition to the apparently functional new ground cable directly
>   to the ZF?
> 
> 
>                                    Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
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