1973-1987 Ground Straps

[Squirrely Brother]

New to the forum and I would appreciate any and all assistance.

I picked up a new set of ground straps for my 1981 Silverado, but when I went to the locations I thought they’d be there weren’t any. I’ve looked online, but found examples seemed more random and by personal preference. I figured 1 frame to block, 2 firewall to heads, 1 rear body to frame and 1 battery to frame by headlights. Before I start drilling, I wanted to verify these locations were correct. Part of the reason for new ground straps was my oil pressure gauge was having issues, but had the correct ohms when tested and worked properly when I used a wire as a makeshift ground from sensor directly to negative battery post.

Again, I appreciate any and all assistance and thank you in advance.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Sounds good to me.

I'll try to contribute!

Seems like it's driver cylinder head to firewall, the oil leaking hole in the front of the engine ahead of the fuel pump to adjacent frame (factory bolt) , frame here to core support, battery to passenger fender, fuel tank near filler to body near filler , license plate - mount-ish? to driver frame?

That's five? You skipped the gas tank to body.
Have no fear, one of my associates will be along shortly but my list is kind of great. *blush*

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[Charlie]

 

[74 Shortbed]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Welcome to GMSB. Unless your doing a concourse restoration it really doesn’t matter. I did battery to frame to block. Cab to frame in several locations. Rear harness to frame. Gas tank to frame. Bed to frame. Fuel filler to bed. You can’t have to many grounds.

 

[DoubleDingo]

.... You can’t have to many grounds.

No you can't!! Ground away and welcome to the board!

 

[Squirrely Brother]

Very cool. Thank you, everyone for your replies. I appreciate y’alls guidance and welcome to the forum.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Continuing to consider this thread, I have a need to revise or alter some of my previous statements regarding.

The passenger side engine to frame ground comes FACTORY installed on that cylinder head, behind the alternator or on the bracket.

I am almost certain that grounds are required on both cylinder heads. Previously I made mention of the "oil leaking hole ahead of the fuel pump" or something.
Best I recall, there IS a FACTORY stud down there, but i'm not sure what it's for.
Maybe to secure transmission cooler lines..
There are two threaded holes in the block there but only one of them (the top one) passes through an oil passage of some sort. Not major, it seeps at best. Must have something to do with timing chain lubrication?

Regardless : the point of this "correction" is to force the point that both cylinder heads must have their own ground.

 

[Squirrely Brother]

Thank you, Rusty

 

[Snoots]

Welcome to GMSB. Unless your doing a concourse restoration it really doesn’t matter. I did battery to frame to block. Cab to frame in several locations. Rear harness to frame. Gas tank to frame. Bed to frame. Fuel filler to bed. You can’t have to many grounds.

You can say that again!
The only time you can have too much ground is when you're trying to fly.

 

[75gmck25]

One important ground that causes all kinds of problems is the instrument panel ground up under the dash. The black panel ground wire is connected to a stud on the emergency brake mechanism on earlier trucks, and on later trucks they apparently installed a grounding block (I've never actually seen what what was used).

Many folks find that their instruments are really screwed up or don't work, or the blinker indicator light turns steady when they turn the headlights on, and they are ready to rewire the truck to fix it. However, once you reconnect the panel ground, all of a sudden most of the problems are fixed.

Bottom line recommendation - If you are having electrical problems of any type, the very first step is to fix and reconnedt all the grounds. Sand or grind the connection point down to bare metal, and reconnect. Its always okay to use a larger ground wire than what is already there, such as the braided ground straps, and it will never hurt to add an additional ground.

Another product I've used is called DeOxit, which is designed to remove oxidation from electrical connections. It works to clean smaller, hard to reach electrical connections that cause problems. For example, the contacts on sliding switches (the switch for light on the back of the cab), rheostats (headlight dimmer and volume control), etc.

Bruce

 

[rpcraft]

Continuing to consider this thread, I have a need to revise or alter some of my previous statements regarding.

The passenger side engine to frame ground comes FACTORY installed on that cylinder head, behind the alternator or on the bracket.

I am almost certain that grounds are required on both cylinder heads. Previously I made mention of the "oil leaking hole ahead of the fuel pump" or something.
Best I recall, there IS a FACTORY stud down there, but i'm not sure what it's for.
Maybe to secure transmission cooler lines..
There are two threaded holes in the block there but only one of them (the top one) passes through an oil passage of some sort. Not major, it seeps at best. Must have something to do with timing chain lubrication?

Regardless : the point of this "correction" is to force the point that both cylinder heads must have their own ground.

They are not really required on both heads. Through the process of the bolts connecting through the block connecting to one is as good as connecting to the other, but having said that, there is no harm in using each head to ground to a different point (i.e. one head to chassis ground and the other head to the body ground. I usually go ahead and ground the battery to the motor and the chassis as well but I usually use the braided ground straps on the engine in order to to stay safe around hot components like headers and such.

 

[hatzie]

I try to tie the major chunks of the whole rig together to slow down corrosion.

The battery to the alternator mount and the rad support. The rad support is not stock. I tie the Diesels battery grounds direct to the frame rails and depend on the Frame-to-Block straps to carry the starter current. Hasn't let me down yet.
I usually ground the block to each frame rail near the motor mounts. I think at least one of these is stock.
I also ground the RH cylinder head to the cab near the heater box. I believe that's stock.
The rad support to the frame on both sides.
The inner fender and outer fender to the rad support. None of these are stock.
The fender to the hood along the hinge on both sides.
The rear frame rails to the bed on both sides. I believe at least one frame rail strapped to the bed was stock.

 

[DoubleDingo]

@hatzie says it well, and reiterates the point that you can't have too many grounds.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I try to tie the major chunks of the whole rig together to slow down corrosion.

The battery to the alternator mount and the rad support. The rad support is not stock. I tie the Diesels battery grounds direct to the frame rails and depend on the Frame-to-Block straps to carry the starter current. Hasn't let me down yet.
I usually ground the block to each frame rail near the motor mounts. I think at least one of these is stock.
I also ground the RH cylinder head to the cab near the heater box. I believe that's stock.
The rad support to the frame on both sides.
The inner fender and outer fender to the rad support. None of these are stock.
The fender to the hood along the hinge on both sides.
The rear frame rails to the bed on both sides. I believe at least one frame rail strapped to the bed was stock.

This user may not be present anymore, this forum old, but does anyone have a reason for wanting to add so many grounds? Im not sure I understand exaclty what having so many does vs the necessary ones.