Is it necessary to ground the alternator? Seems like a dumb question, but I've been thinking this over for weeks now after hooking a nice ground strap from a bolt on the alternator (not the charging post) to the body of the car. Here's what my power/ground situation looks like:


Thanks!

 

 

The starter is grounded to the engine, and the engine is grounded to the battery.

 

That's what I was thinking too...the more I thought about it. Is it hurting anything to have the extra ground strap there? I'll take it off if needed...

 

the more ground wires the better throughout a chassis IMO. You can never have too many if you are running many electrical components.

 

the ls1 uses a small ground that runs from the side of the block (just behind the alternator) to the chassis. If your motor doesnt have that ground strap anymore, i would put a ground from the alternator to the frame.

 

Good deal guys. I've got a hefty ground strap from the passenger rear head area to the body along with the one I mentioned on the alternator. "Ground straps" are surprisingly hard to buy around here...forget about going to an AutoZone or O'Reilly's - they don't even know what a ground strap is!

 

i just buy 12" long battery cables that have lugs on both ends.

 

No man, that's WAY too much extra weight for the front of your car, you'd better take it off...

 

If it's that much - maybe I ought to add more! Have you seen my wheel gap?

 

Like others have said, go ahead and add as many ground straps as you want. The more the better.

On my 87, I didnt have a strap from the back of the head to the firewall. I had wierd voltage surging and my lights would dim under WOT... On my 86 I added a strap back there, and put on new straps everywhere else. I have one from behind the alt over to the chassis rail. Now I have great charging, no surging, and no light dimming.

I got my straps from advance auto..in the help section. They're pretty nice straps for a few bucks.

J.