Battery relocate ground question.

[Fett]

Are there any signs to look for that would indicate a bad ground? Or better yet, if you don't have a "good enough" ground could you have possible problems in the future?

In haste I was forced to "finish" my battery relocate today, in order to fix a fan problem. I didn't have the time to run a proper ground, the way I originally intended. So as of right now I have the negative cable running from the battery to a clean spot on the metal trunk bracket. It is clear of the hinge arms and is not interfered with. I have my original ground from the engine block moved to a clean spot on the inner fender, pretty much where the back of the battery would sit against. I also have a ground from the back of the head to the fire wall, and I have a ground from the block to the frame rail on the right side of the motor. Basically I have three ground cables running from the engine to the body, and I have my negative battery cable running to the body.

Everything is all fine and good, everything works as it did before, no issues that I can tell. So I am kind of at this point where I don't know if I should even bother running a ground cable from one of the engine bay grounds all the way back to the ground I have in the trunk. I mean if everything is fine the way it is, I would rather leave it alone. But if I am going to have potential issues in the future, I will go ahead and run the full length ground cable from front to back.

 

[347HO]

You are all good!
I will always suggest running as many grounds to chassis as possible and within reason of course.
In your case, I suggest but it's not mandatory to have as much surface area on each terminal end to be in contact. For example, don't use an 8gage wire and then use a puny terminal end (6-32 screw) to bolt it to the chassis.

 

[Fett]

All my engine/chassis grounds are all 2 gauge wire with soldered lugs. I hit each location with a wizz wheel to clean the surface and bolted them down tight.

 

[jrichker]

Rear mounted battery ground wiring. Follow this plan and you will have zero
ground problems.

One 1 gauge or 1/0 gauge wire from battery negative post to a clean shiny spot
on the chassis near the battery. Use a 5/16” bolt and bolt it down to make the
rear ground. Use a 1 gauge or 1/0 gauge wire from the rear ground bolt to a clean
shiny spot on the block.

One 4 gauge wire from the block where you connected the battery ground wire to
the chassis ground where the battery was mounted up front. Use a 5/16” bolt
and bolt down the 4 gauge engine to chassis ground, make sure that it the metal
around the bolt is clean & shiny. This is the alternator power ground.

The computer has a dedicated power ground wire with a cylindrical quick connect
(about 2 ½”long by 1” diameter. It comes out of the wiring harness near the
ignition coil & starter solenoid (or relay). Be sure to bolt it to the chassis ground
in the same place as you bolted the alternator power ground. This is an
absolute don’t overlook it item for EFI cars
Note: The quick disconnect may have fallen victim to damage or removal by
a previous owner. However, it is still of utmost importance that the black/green
wires have a high quality ground..

Picture courtesy timewarped1972

Crimp or even better, solder the lugs on the all the wire. The local auto stereo
shop will have them if the auto parts store doesn't. Use some heat shrink tubing
to cover the lugs and make things look nice.

 

[Tstang90]

nice info