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Grounding System with Explorer Engine Swap

John Griswold

Full Member
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
210
Loc.
Medford, NJ
Finally back to the project after 8 months. Body is back on frame and ready for new Centech wiring harness and EFI Guys Explorer EFI harness. As I get ready to start back on this electrical portion I was thinking about the whole grounding system. I have been looking at some grounding kits and was wondering how others have grounded everything. What particular jumpers have you used from where to where and what special considerations are need for the computer?
Thanks for your help.
 

904Bronco

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
6,697
Loc.
San Martin, CA
You are going to get a lot of different answers....

Batt ground to Block, 2G. I use Military spec Batt terminals and make my own cables.

Run the same sized cable from the block to the Frame.

Then I run a 10G wire from the Neg Batt terminal to the body. I reuse the green grounding stud from the Explorer (metric) and mount it to the re-enforcing plates for the heater on the firewall. (More metal to tap into)

I have also done 10G from the Batt to the rad support to the grounding point for the headlight.
 

Steve83

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 16, 2003
Messages
9,359
Loc.
Memphis, TN, USA, Earth, Milky Way
The best "grounding" system is to NOT rely on "grounding", which uses the powertrain, body, & frame metal as the electrical power return. It was a cost-reduction concept in early electrical power systems (utility power distribution used the actual dirt of the ground, which is where the term comes from), but with the cost of quality Copper wire today, and with the added loads & low-current signals of modern electronics, grounding is now only done for radio shielding (RFI).

Look at how the original Explorer harness return (negative, "ground") wiring was built, and mimic it. Personally, I prefer to USE the modern donor wiring harness, instead of something aftermarket. Ideally, you'd have a heavy Copper wire running through the vehicle (no bigger than the original Explorer negative battery cable), with progressively-smaller branches coming off it going to each electrical device. Nothing would rely on any connection to old steel for electrical power - Copper all the way to & from the battery terminals. A few of those small branches would hit the body & frame just to prevent RFI, but never to carry any significant current. Only the block needs a heavy ground for the starter, alternator, & its truly-grounded devices, like a few of the sensors.
 
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