Engine grounding help

[Scores]

Hey guys, I messed up bad. I broke the engine ground strap bolt in the oil pan flush off. I'm panicking pretty badly, because I think this is going to be a pricey job to fix.

Any ideas of how to get the bolt out of the pan? There is little to no room (had to fabricate a shallow socket)

Is there anywhere else I can ground the engine?

Or I my only option to drop the pan and drill it out?


Please help

[pbonsalb]

There are a few places to ground the motor but not all are easy to get to. When my ground broke, I temporarily made one from the engine lift eye on the top of the motor to the factory ground point next to the coolant reservoir. I used some battery cable as the ground cable.

[Scores]

That's very good to hear, I was getting worried I would have to drop the oil pan. Hopefully I can find a safe alternative ground spot

[pbonsalb]

It needs to be bare metal. I had to remove the lift eye and sand it to bare metal. Paint interferes with the ground. The more you look the more places you might find. You can buy replacement ground straps at auto parts stores. If the ring terminal is too big, you can use a bolt with a washer.

Probably you can drill out the broken stud. But be very patient about that. It must be done carefully.

[Throatpunch]

U can attach to alternator directly to chassis from there

[Throatpunch]

If u have a Dremel u can create a small slot on the broken bolt and then use flathead screw driver to remove it

[W Cole]

An Easy out seems like it would work just fine?

[Scores]

The only problem is the lack of room, I'll try the Dremel method and see if that works. A drill with an easy out wouldn't have enough room

Ideally if I could find another grounding point that's permanent, I would just forget about the bolt and move on. Any ideas on another ground point?

[pbonsalb]

Any hole on the engine block or accessory bolted to the block can work. You just have to look carefully to find ones you can get to. Might not find any empty holes. Might have to remove a bolt to attach a ground cable. My temporary one is still in place a year later and I will probably leave it as an extra ground.

[Scores]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Any hole on the engine block or accessory bolted to the block can work. You just have to look carefully to find ones you can get to. Might not find any empty holes. Might have to remove a bolt to attach a ground cable. My temporary one is still in place a year later and I will probably leave it as an extra ground.

This is exactly what I'm looking for! Thank you so much! I'm going to do the exact same

[pbonsalb]

It’s ugly. Most would rather have a ground that is out of sight but at the time, I could not quickly find an easy place underneath. There probably are some. Remember clean metal works best (even though the bolt is going into the block) so grind off any paint.

[Scores]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

It’s ugly. Most would rather have a ground that is out of sight but at the time, I could not quickly find an easy place underneath. There probably are some. Remember clean metal works best (even though the bolt is going into the block) so grind off any paint.

It worked great! Thank you!

Turns out the route of my initial problem was the starter after all. Changing that tomorrow. $450 later...

[pbonsalb]

Don’t feel bad. I changed the battery, alternator, and starter before I found the bad ground.

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Any hole on the engine block or accessory bolted to the block can work. You just have to look carefully to find ones you can get to. Might not find any empty holes. Might have to remove a bolt to attach a ground cable. My temporary one is still in place a year later and I will probably leave it as an extra ground.

did you have to take the plenum off the put the cable on to the engine side? or if there is a smarter way to not needing to remove it.

thx

[pbonsalb]

No, but it was a tight space to work in. I might have used a box end wrench on the socket rather than a ratchet; I can’t remember and recently sold the car so I can’t go look to see if that refreshes my memory.