Ground Strap Replacement

I've looked around for a write up, but I can't find the one for my year (1996). I have a few questions; the nut that hold the ground strap to the chassis is hard to take off. Is there another step that I am missing? It looks like it's a metal screw. It's stuck so hard that I flexed the firewall. Secondly, is there a better place to put the new ground strap instead of that rear head bolt? I bought an insulated 14 inch negative cable. If I loosen that rear head bolt, would it mess up the torque specs for my head gasket and possible cause a leak?

I just got finished replacing my alternator and starter, but this simple assed project is giving me more problems than the starter and the alternator! Another question I might as well add is, is there a write up or does anyone have any pointers to replace my battery cable terminals? I just bought some "quick release" replacement battery cable terminals and I would like to install them without a SNAFU.

Look to 5-90 (Jon Kelley) for all info along these lines including replacing the ground strap.

www.kelleyswip.com/tech.html

I just bought a cheap ground wire from Walmart. More than adequate for the job. The bolt on mine ended up twisting through the firewall leaving a big hole in it. Easy to fix, but that's what ended up happening with no way around it.

Pelican said:

Look to 5-90 (Jon Kelley) for all info along these lines including replacing the ground strap.

www.kelleyswip.com/tech.html

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Thanks!

DerMeister said:

I just bought a cheap ground wire from Walmart. More than adequate for the job. The bolt on mine ended up twisting through the firewall leaving a big hole in it. Easy to fix, but that's what ended up happening with no way around it.

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Thanks, I was wondering if I had to take the cowl off to access the back of that chassis ground bolt. Now I just had another issue today; the Jeep won't start and the interior lights are VERY dim like there's no power going to them. I check the battery voltage and it reads 12.65 volts. I just replaced the starter in it yesterday and it cranked and started up great and the interior lights were normal and bright. I drove it this morning and it started fine, then I went to the store and turned it off and when I came out it cranked and stalled, I cranked it again and kept my foot on the gas and it finally idled and got me home. I turned it off and waited a minute or two and turned the key to the ready position and it clicked (like a dead battery) and the interior lights got dim. Now I have to figure out what's wrong with this. I had to scrape the top of the terminals to get a reading from my voltmeter. I then checked my voltmeter on a regular battery (AA) it it read the voltage right away, so I am thinking and hoping that the battery terminals may be the problem?

DerMeister said:

I just bought a cheap ground wire from Walmart. More than adequate for the job. The bolt on mine ended up twisting through the firewall leaving a big hole in it. Easy to fix, but that's what ended up happening with no way around it.

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Thanks for your answer, what did you do to fix it? Does it have to be attached to that headbolt or can it be attached to another bolt?

Just yesterday at the yard I removed the nut that holds that ground strap to the rear head stud on a 4.0. You need a 11/16 to get it off. I doubt it will cause the head stud to back out.

Mealticket said:

Just yesterday at the yard I removed the nut that holds that ground strap to the rear head stud on a 4.0. You need a 11/16 to get it off. I doubt it will cause the head stud to back out.

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Thank you, is using an extension the best way to do it? My biggest problem is that bolt on the chassis, is a metal screw or is there a nut holding on?

I think there's room for an ratchet and extension but the one I worked on was on the 2nd bolt from the end and I used a box wrench with a pipe on the end for leverage. I don't know if there is a nut behind the sheet metal on the firewall end. Beefing up grounds/adding redundant grounds as others have suggested is always a good idea,

Mealness

Mealticket said:

I think there's room for an ratchet and extension but the one I worked on was on the 2nd bolt from the end and I used a box wrench with a pipe on the end for leverage. I don't know if there is a nut behind the sheet metal on the firewall end. Beefing up grounds/adding redundant grounds as others have suggested is always a good idea,

Mealness

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Thank you for all of your help.

If you cant replace a ground strap without posting questions, take it to a mechanic, or someone who posseses blue collar strength.

xcm said:

If you cant replace a ground strap without posting questions, take it to a mechanic, or someone who posseses blue collar strength.

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If you can't post without being a douche bag, you should leave and go join Pirate.

A legitimate concern about the ground strap nut on the head bolt. On mine it is a locking nut and even if it doesn't back the head bolt out, they are generally a pain to remove.

A lot of extra threads on that bolt, maybe use a couple of star washers and just add another nut.

I just removed the firewall bolt, which was a pain and cost me some skinned knuckles and a little blood to get out. Cleaned the paint off from underneath the ground strap and re-installed it. My ground strap still looked OK and wasn't rotting or anything. I'm guessing the galvanization on that bolt and the material or the coating on the firewall chemically bond and/or some kind of electrolysis takes place. That sucker felt like it was welded in there.

I typically use a small wire brush to clean the threads on any (and all) studs I'm trying to get a nut off of and spray it with oil before trying to remove the nut.

Battery terminals and battery clamps get cleaned every time I remove them. Wipe them down with solvent, then either sand them or use a 3M pad, wipe them down again (with a fresh paper towel or rag) with solvent and install. I do it every time, the one time you don't clean them up is the time they act up. To small of a job to take a chance and skip that step and have it come back to bite you in the rear.

I plan on adding a ground from my A/C compressor hold down bolt to the fender well. I already swapped in a larger battery negative to the fender well, I actually just added another wire from the battery negative to the fender well. Redundancy can be your friend in situations like this, where the wires and cables are in a hostile environment.

If I could find one, my next battery would be a dual pole type, top battery poles and the side Chevy type poles, which would make adding grounds and tapping power a whole bunch easier.

Maintenance free batteries, in my experience, don't corrode the poles as much as the old acid type. I don't grease the battery clamps and poles, I just clean them once a year or anytime I have the clamps off.

xcm said:

If you cant replace a ground strap without posting questions, take it to a mechanic, or someone who posseses blue collar strength.

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Somebody likely taught you, the only way to get any better is by doing it. We were all newbies at one time or another.

My philosophy about 4X's is, eventually everybody is going to get theirs dirty sometime and things tend to break when that happens. Standing out there in the middle of nowhere and not having a clue what to do or what to check sucks. Most people are a whole lot better off learning in the driveway before they need those skills in a couple of feet of mud, in the snow or in the middle of some desert.

vabeachtennis said:

Thanks for your answer, what did you do to fix it? Does it have to be attached to that headbolt or can it be attached to another bolt?

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Well, I used a ball peen hammer to re-shape the hole a little bit, cleaned up the contact areas with some sandpaper and applied dialectic grease. Then I took a new nut and bolt with a couple of heavy washers and torqued it down. The heavy washers allowed me to really torque it down and helped further straighten the hole left by the original hardware.

I'm guessing the galvanization on that bolt and the material or the coating on the firewall chemically bond and/or some kind of electrolysis takes place. That sucker felt like it was welded in there.

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8Mud, I agree. I recall trying to set it up in a vice and use a breaker bar, but I still couldn't break them free.

xcm said:

If you cant replace a ground strap without posting questions, take it to a mechanic, or someone who posseses blue collar strength.

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LOL, I guess you didn't see the part where I was flexing the firewall. I ask question from people who are more experienced because I don't want to muck things up. For instance I think that the windshield wiper motor is adjacent to the nut on the firewall. Sure the thought passed my mind to just drill another hole and add another strap and use another nut on the headbolt. But again I like to run it through the more experienced minds here.

MT Mike said:

If you can't post without being a douche bag, you should leave and go join Pirate.

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Thanks Bro.

8Mud and DeMeister; I would like to thank you both and all of the other people who have posted this excellent and helpful information.

Update:

First I want to thank everyone for their advice and help.


I did the first step and bought a battery brush and cleaned my battery terminals and the clamps. I reconnected them and their wasn't that little spark that I would get when I reconnected my battery, so I was ready to get a new battery. I opened the door and my dome lights were back on and bright and the Jeep started right away.

Now on to doing the grounds and cleaning them, I guess my little half assed dremel with the wire attachment (maybe it's worn out) isn't as good as using that battery brush.
Thanks again.