Often, various electrical/electronic problems with our trucks eventually turn out to be the result of poor or deteriorated grounds at various points.
Often, engine bolts are used if they happen to be close to the point we need to ground some new piece of equipment, or perhaps one of the existing body grounds DC uses for existing grounding.
MANY of the bolts used on our engines are ANODIZED, or use a coating that totally PREVENTS voltage/current flow - here's a pic of one of those bolts from my '02, showing what happens if an ohmmeter is used to test for current flow thru that coating:
Note there is absolutely NO deflection of the meter pointer - NO current flow!
Here's another pic of that SAME bolt, with the probes moved to an area of the bolt where the coating has been removed with a wire brush:
NOW, there is a full-scale deflection, zero resistance - just what we want!
This particular bolt was used to secure the ground return for the grid heaters on my '02 24-valve engine:
There's a LOT of current flow at that point, and a GOOD electrical contact is needed for proper operation - after wire brushing the resistance coating from the thread area and underside the bolt head where it contacts the ground lug, prior to reinstallation, I applied a liberal coating of anti-oxidant paste at all contact points to KEEP the contact functional:
The sheetmetal grounding points deserve attention as well - I normally lift all the factory installed grounds up, take a Dremel tool to grind the paint away, exposing bare metal - then use the same paste to preserve the improved grounding point. Here is one such point, with the added large braid I've added to the existing one for better high-current flow - I did the same on BOTH batteries:
Consider that MANY devices on our trucks include circuits that have very low resistance - in those circuits the addition of a mere FEW ohms resistance can make a SERIOUS change in overall circuit value - with potential radical or damaging results in vehicle operation - and erratic or intermittant contacts poorly done or suffering from the elements and old age can do the same...
Linear Mode
