Grounding Wire

[69Ford]

I Bought a negative cable from battery to engine block. It came with a wire about 12 gauge attached. Last night I spliced in piece and ran it to the screw holding on the voltage regulator. Well I'm no expert but my truck never ran as well as I thought it should just thought I needed a carb kit. Took it for a drive this morning Runs better than ever no hesitations. Could this ground really do that.

[Ranchero50]

Yep, your engine should be grounded to the cab of frame and those grounds often get lost or corroded.

[jimmy828]

Good info i can use!!

[hillcountryflt]

I recently replaced my grounding cable - went from engine to a bolt on the firewall. But would not the bolts attaching the engine to the engine mounts serve as grounds as well.

[69Ford]

Your engine moves around quit a bit and with rust and corrosion just using the engine mounts as grounds will cause faults. Many years ago I wired a trailer and put the ground wire to a good spot on the trailer. Only because a guy I worked with told me ground is a ground and it will work fine. I was burning out trailer light bulbs like crazy and they were blinking. It was grounding through the hitch. You need a good mechanical connection. That's what made me interested in wiring. I replaced the ground wire from the engine to the fire wall also.

[68RGR]

If your engine isn't properly grounded, the ignition system may not work correctly because the voltage to the ignition system can be reduced by the poor ground. The bad ground acts as additional resistance in the circuit and there will be a resulting voltage drop. Let's say the bad ground was adding just one ohm of resistance to the circuit. If one amp flows through it, there will be a voltage drop of one volt. This means the ignition system will see only 11 volts in a 12 volt system. As the current increases (like at higher RPM), the voltage drop will increase proportionately. So, just when you need more energy from the ignition system, it will be starved of power.

The same principle applies to all electrical systems - Lights, blowers, trailer brakes, etc. All need good grounds to complete the circuit back to the battery in order to work properly.