Camikaze

i have a 84 firebird, with a 74 pontiac 350 in it. everything is good on it but when i get out of the car i always get a big static shock. the big painful kind. i don't know if it's some kind of drain/short or if it's just the seats. it has cloth seats with some velvety seat cover on it. anyone else had this problem before? thanks

gunner53227

Check to make sure that your ground connections are good.

paulo57509

The problem is most likely a combination of the seat covers rubbing against your clothes creating static electricity. You have to stop wearing those polyester leisure disco suits.

Try this: After you open the door and before you step out of the car, put your hand on the metal part of the door or the A-pillar. Keeping your hand in place, step out of the car. Your hand will already be grounded when your foot hits the ground. No sparks.

87_Injected

The same thing has been happening to me alot since I got my 87 over a week ago.

Camikaze

all grounds are firmly connected and good

But the ladies love my disco suits.

I'll try what you said and hopefully sparks don't fly.

thanks guys

Camikaze

Paulo you are a genius! tried your suggestion and it works.

acole88

you can put a ground strap on the car. those are what you see hanging off the bottoms of some cars at the back. they work.

paulo57509

You're welcome. And you're much too kind. I'm actually pretty stupid.

I usually wear a cheap polyester fleece coat that rubs the fabric seats in my '92 Lumina. It took me a few years to figure out the hold on to the door frame trick.

Now I like to get out of the Lumina without touching the car body. I hold my keys and slowly move the tip of the key to the car body. My biggest spark to date is about a 1/4" gap between the key and the door.

Camikaze

lol...i might have to try the key spark sometime while i still have the velvet seat covers.