TEST YOUR ENGINE BLOCK GROUND USING THESE THREE METHODS
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Thank you all for tuning in to Super Mario Diagnostics!
Today we are going to review some tests we can perform to check ground supply to your engine block!
I hope you all enjoy, like, share, comment and subscribe!
For a list of great quality training, visit: trainedbytechs...
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I have used all these methods. And I’ve also incorporated the jump box method. I go out to a car it’s got a slow crank or no crank I hook the jump box up to the jump points still no crank or slow crank I move the negative to the engine block car cranks pretty much confirms it for me.
Excellent how to test video, thanks.
My jumper cables have never let me down on the ground test. They're 20 ft long, solid copper, 2 ga. that I paid 70 bucks for over 25 years ago. Just checked, they've only increased in price by $100.00 or so. Funny story, found a bad engine ground by accident. Was testing no start on old big car LTD with a fender mounted solenoid.Customer had replaced solenoid 3 times, so I'm test lighting it with test light to bat gd and happened to lay test light on engine. IT LIT UP., Sometimes IT'S OK TO BE LUCKY RATHER THAN GOOD.
Yeah the modern ones are made of chinesium (copper glad aluminum wire). Total garbage. You are smart to hold onto those 100% copper jumpers
ive been working on cars for years and eletrical has always been a hardspot for me. espically in understanding it.. but they way you just presented that was awesome and very easy to understand thank u keep on the good works and teaching brother
I resemble that remark. Lol
I just recalled in the Apollo 13 movie, how they systematically tested each electrical item and circuit to achieve a specific voltage.
Kinda crazy.
I am a novice mechanic. I worked in the business in the 90,s. I am humbled by your knowledge. I now work in the high voltage industrial field. Thanks, I learn everyday.
I made the same career change lol
so its common for you to encounter 3 phase
Explained very simple for everyone one to understand. Keep up the good work.
What about as a first test to connect a test lamp from B+ to the engine and watch for if it lights up, how dim it is or not lit at all?
I wonder what that would have done probably dim to no light like you said. Bit if it was bright what would that mean
I AM NOT THE SHARPEST PENCIL IN THE BOX , BUT I THINK THAT MEANS YOUR ENGINE IS PROPERLY GROUNDED .... ALMOST THE SAME AS IF YOUR TEST LIGHT WAS ON B+ AND THE NEGATIVE BATTERY POST ......
@@abramturley2572 If it is bright the engine is properly grounded. If you connect the test lamp directly to the alternator housing you know the alternator and the engine both have good ground connection.
@@gregscheyd4131 Yes, bright light on the test lamp is what it means. Also if you connect a test lamp directly to the alternator housing you know the alternator and the engine both have good ground connection.
on cheap jumper cables test you can always use both cables providing ground (red and black parallel ) lol good work
Wow that’s an obvious but needed bit of info for the next time I do this! Funny I never thought of this!
I actually did this too, to no avail
Good one.
@@SuperMarioDiagnosticscan you please help me ive been playing up the butt and no one can fix my car 2011 Chevy Malibu 3.6 engine staryer replaced alternator replaced twice battery replaced twice and today i was stuck on the road for 5 hours, no family small town and the jerk who said he fixed my car would not answer my calls ended up walking with my special needs son i dont understand ive paid so many people to fix my car amd still its not starting ugh no ones honest anymore van you please look up where a bad ground would be im lost there no where else to bring my car small town life sucks! Ive been on UA-cam looking and cant find anything the lights go high then low then i die out all 3 parts are good that i mentioned helppp
I've been a tech for 30 years and have seen a lot of young school trained kids come and go , these basic testing skills are either not taught or emphasize well in school. Its not sexy like BMW or Mercedes training so I'm sure it has less impact than basic theory and testing that can be applied to every make and model.
I would venture to say that more than half of working techs use inadequate testing when it comes to starter motor diagnosis. Something repetitive like that should taught as a standard algorithm, a check list method that avoids skipping steps. Done correctly it takes less than 5 minutes with basic tools, provided the posts on the starter are accessible. Rather than focusing on too much theory, students need a rapid cookbook approach that avoids shortcut disaster.
Great info! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT DUNDER MIFFLIN NOTEPAD! That's hilarious 😂
I was with the wife at the mall and she went into a store called box lunch. And there it was
A friend had a Cadillac that was running terrible with all kinds of electric issues. He was about to sell it not running right. We got on the phone. His wife was working the key. I had him ground the engine with jumper cables. I could hear it smooth out over the phone! A new ground cable had it running fine.
This is funny. almost 50 yrs ago that was my first diag and i didnt find it. a ford tech stopped by station n 2mins ltr told me what it was. Sweet video.
Thanks for teaching me something new this morning. In the mid west, those grounding straps become chicken noodless in just few years.
Specially GM trucks
i replaced the head gasket on a Sentra i bought really cheap. the final moment, i hopped in the drivers seat and turned the ignition. the car cranked but did not start. After a few more cranks. i took out a spark plug and it was completely dry, no gas smell either coming from the cylinder. I checked for a spark, no spark. later that night......oh yeah the grounding strap that attaches to the back of the manifold....went out the next morning and connected......the car started right up 👍👍👍👍
In all my years or decades better said have never seen the test light method, makes since...
Really good information here!
THANKS!!
Great stuff. Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks for watching!
When you write about load on a Dunder Mifflen note pad, I feel compelled to say, “That’s what she said”.
“Load”
Ive got ,2 volts meter check on my 87 Bronco II, Relay kiks 12v on output STATIC test....., NEW Starter,( tested GOOD B4 bg home at store) battery checked by PRO, it ALSO STARTS my Dads 92 stepside, ...................i AM onlygtg 3.3 volts on TRIGGER for solenoid, ( Pulled off n checked on start) ALL i get is the solenoid CLANK on start.. ..I can jump Bat POS to TRIGGER..n it STILL wont start......................... I can JUMP Batt POS to OUTPUT to start.. n it wont start.................
not all bad wiring looks as bad as that ground strap, on my hyundai elantra the ground strap was effectively broken, you couldnt tell visually, and voltage drop testing seemed to pass, until you had multiple accessories working and the car was warm. electrical problems are sneaky, so thats the benefit of the jumper cable, it will let you see bad wiring eve if they look just fine visually. cheers bro thanks for the upload
Good of you to share your knowledge and we appreciate the work u put into the videos
Really good information Mario! Thank you for sharing brother!
something everyone needs to know. thanks.
Thanks for this video. Great info! Found many bad grounds with jumper cables!
In modern gasoline spark ignited vehicle applications, there are several circuits that use the engine block ground as a return path back to the source (conventional current), with the source being; the alternator (when the vehicle is running) or the battery (Key on ignition off, starting and sleep current). In reference to this video, the focus is on the engine block ground, however, in actuality we are interested in the complete circuit path, that is, supply from and return to the power source.
In regards to maintaining older vehicles, we find that corrosion degrades electrical connection integrity, with the failures normally occurring in places where the copper cable strands are crimped to a lug or eyelet but the strands are not sealed and exposed to the elements (especially bad in the USA salt belt states).
For example, you could have a Battery POS top post lug crimped from the factory with a folding cable crimp, where in the same space allowed, could have used a barrel style Battery POS lug and done a hex or circular hydraulic crimp. In both cases, dual wall heat shrink could be use to help seal the connection. But many times what you find from the factory is a folded crimp without any heat shrink. Basically, bare copper strands and lug ears crimped, open and exposed to the elements.
In reality, we are interested in checking proper operation of the overall circuit integrity and not just one connection in the circuit like the block ground. However, the block ground gets the focus because it usually fails first due to corrosion, but not always. You could have a battery lug fail first, but this is usually easier to diagnose if the battery is located under hood where you can easily inspect the health of the lugs and posts.
The tests for voltage drop at high current are really just an indirect way to measure connection resistance (assuming the cables are undamaged). Mario does have access to a Pico scope, so he could actually use a current clamp and voltage input to measure the complete circuit resistance for a specific test. Like starting or charging. If we look at the starting circuit, we have the battery (source) and the starter (load) in the circuit, as well as all the cable and connections. So, you could measure the current with the current clamp from the battery, while at the same time, measuring the battery voltage at the battery posts. From this you could use a Pico math channel to calculate resistance V/I in real-time.
But, with this advanced test what is a good dynamic resistance value? What is good and what is bad and by how much. Well, you would have to measure some known good working vehicles and get some base values to compare it to. This dynamic resistance test is attractive though when you have easy access to the circuit source (battery), for testing the overall circuit, which will include the block ground. You just clamp on the current clamp, attach the voltage channel alligator clips to the battery, and start the vehicle, then review the waveforms and math channel calculation all time aligned.
Good dynamic resistance value=0 ohms.
I am currently looking at a potential ground cable issue from my battery to the motor, to the frame, the ground strap you did and checking the positive cable connection to my 2010 tahoe fuse panel. These are notorious for bad cable corrosion inside the jacket. My vehicle is doing crazy stuff on the dash with guages, nav drops out, locks up down, poor power, etc. Seats wouldn't move, you name it.
And I must say, I've been a industrial electrician for over 30 years working with 480 down to 24 volt controls and I simply didn't think to apply the voltage drop method across the metal frame / motor like you did for that situation and with the test light, not just a meter. I find automotive wiring to be a field of its own, with all its own set of quirks. I'm going to get the test light I thought I would never need, because of the quick visual you displayed which my digital multimeter simply might not catch!
Absolutely great troubleshooting information!!! 👍🏻
Replace engine ground strap and make a new ground wire point to the wire harness on the passenger side of that engine should be installed. Computer ground & engine ground is the issue.
@@jlrockafellaIt wasn't a ground issue after all, and ended up being the vehicle suspension module was rotted out and shorting out my CANBUS network. As soon as I removed the suspension module and connected the network end resistor it has work fine.
Absolutely the best ground related video on youtube and/or the internet. Very thourough and informative! Thank you for your knowledge. Priceless!!! I've just confirmed that I've had a ground issue from day one of no start no crank. I purchased a new stsrter and after avoit 20 starts it had a no crank no start. I then replaced the starter thinking that it was a faulty starter and low and behold after about 5 starts I get a no crank no start issue again. I quickly assume that the starter is faulty and that the after market aeket company is sellimg me a faulty starter...however, I jacked.the car up to inspect the ground strap and it broke off into 2 pieces!!! I replaced the strap and got crank and start. After about 3 starts I got another no stsrt no crank and again i stsrted thinking about the starter being faulty...However, I opened up the car and got to the stsrter and did tests again...oh and I g
Forgot to mention, the starter they sent me initially works when I did a bench test outside the car with a charged battery!!! So I do the same bench test with the second stsrter and it is working fine! I cleaned the engine where the starter connects with a wire brush for a nice clean contact point for a good ground connection to the starter...the car started!!! Then after about 5 starts the car again had a no start no crank!!!! I did the jumper cable method by connectimg nother ends to the valve cover side of rhe ground by the passenger side under the hood and low and behold it started again!!! Point of my madness and trauma is that I never knew these fuckimg ground wires/straps could be such assholes and pains in my ass!!! Please check ALL THE GROUND STRAPS grounding the engine. FML.
Hi. I have a 2013 Hyundai Sonata 4-cyl that has good battery and new/good stater but nothing happens when key button is pushed.
Nothing will power up except the button's little dim light as I'm pushing it.
Any ideas where to start? Thanks!
Thanks for posting this up. I just measured from ground post to positive wire and got 12.3V. From positive wire to oil filter housing also 12.3V. Does this rule out my ground strap? On my 2008 528, I just started to have intermittent longer cranking start issues. At one point I did notice that my break pedal did not depress all the way down prior to cranking. Very strange. Thanks again.
I always prefer the voltage drop method 👍!!
A battery jumper cable from engine block to frame doesn't necessarily mean a bad jumper cable. Could be that the starter frame is not making a good contact with frame ground (high resistance ) giving you a slow or no crank. Clean all cable and starter connections. And yes check engine block to frame ground strap connection and for corrosion.😮
I had that same issue I thought it was a starter, put one in didn’t fix it found after the ground was green like that. Live a learn. Also I did oil filter housing on a 3 series took it on a road test came back shut the car off would not restart the ground strap was all green horrible coincidence
Thanks to your videos I learned alot about electrical on my vehicle thank you🎉 got that same ground light works wonders 🎉
Couldn't follow explanation. I think easier way to explain it is, the current is taking path of least resistance which is the test light which is in parallel, normally the big battery cables and ground straps would be the path of least resistance bit since the path has resistance its choosing to follow the test light instead
It's a joy to watch your thorough, simplistic explanation of your diagnosis of problems. Keep them coming.
Question -- instead of making all these tests to the ground on the fender of this BMW, can you connect your tests directly to the negative battery post instead? I assume the only reason he has to use the ground by the fender is because this BMW has the battery in the trunk. Not like most cars that have the battery under the hood. Can someone please confirm. Thanks Mario for making this video. Great info!
Mario had a similar situation but with the customer over my shoulder looking, but what I used was my TOP DON . Was on twin engine crane first went to the cables ends for pony motor connected top don and did battery test failed , next followed 43 feet of battery cables found a master cut off switch connected top don both sides with of the post and TOP DON found high resistance on the B side . Less than 40 min and permanent fix completed Sooo this issue was going on for weeks new starter new batteries and it was intermittent problem but with the TOPDON. Saying FAIL. The customer did not challenge the road call fee and repair bill and THANKS to TOPDON we gained a new customer
Ok Im in Denver Colo how do obtain your services! I have a grouding issue in a old 87 Chevy
Hi there I now this is a weird question to ask but wood it mark a battery go flat all the time if it’s not grounded I’ve gone through tow batteries so far
My 2014 Ford Transit Connect the starter just makes a little sound then stops battery is fully charged when the starter makes a sound the engine does not crank. Previously, the van was running then it stopped moving forward I revved the engine numerous times trying to get out of traffic went through the gears the van would not move I then cut it off and now it will not crank.
Mario would your thermal infrared camera show the high resistance across that engine ground strap when cranking? Probably not as well as the test light or the VOM.
Why the test light does not act as jumper cable? And light bulb get blown!
I got a 2002 f150 5.4 new alternator new battery. The battery runs down with trunk running are not running. I'm lost on what to do next.
That is why I trashed all those cheapo jumper cables and keep a solid copper thick gauge one.
Where did you connect the jumper cable to? (Near the oil filter)
My vehicle sometimes lose the power and an engine light come on and off start blinking is that bad grounding most of the time it's fine just sometimes happen
Liked it 👍🏼👍🏼 . Thanks for sharing your knowledge !
Very educational video, this was a very nice test to do for confirming the ground issue on SAAB 9-3TDi, (that often suffers from bad grounds from engine to chassie). Thanks for another great video.
As always, great thanks Mario
Im from South Africa iv an escort can't seem to start after i put new engine in can it be the bad earth
Honestly - you are wonderful and your explanation of the problem was easy and uncomplicated. Thank you
I enjoyed your stuff , its easy flowing and very easy to grasp.
You seem to know your stuff my man. Thanks.
This video I needed a year ago when my sisters ground strap rotted away. This car had issues starting in the cold for years and then in the middle of summer It just quit. When my mechanic gave me the strap I pulled it apart in my hands, the whole thing was green inside and out worse then the strap you have in this video. I tried to get the car going as it wasn’t home. One thing I thought of doing but forgot to try while I was there was the jumper cable for an alternate engine ground. I’m glad you showed that it doesn’t work 100% because I thought if I remembered to try that it would have worked and have a tow and several hours.
Can you use a multi meter instead of a test light?
Wow not person mentioned the dunder mifflin note pad
Great video as always, thanks for sharing!
This is great....we can NEVER get enough examples of testing methods....AWESOME STUFF!!!!
Nice clear video, subscribed now
Another great video…thanks!
THANKS MARIO ,,, GREAT VIDEO !!!!!!!!!!!
its called a open on the ground.
Good information and explanation.
This is the best video I’ve come across diagnosing bad grounds, and Ive never had this issue before on anything. I was never shown for situations like this. Been Fighting with a 2008 Impreza. Cleaned the engine to body ground after replacing a cooked battery, cleaned the terminals, and started up, no cels. Came back hours later to show my friend, and it wad All crank no start. All the cels. Either the MAF sensor, the pig tail, the wire from the MAF to the comp, or the corroded negative terminal is to blame (super ugly looking but no build up and not cracked). I’ll go back and check the grounds and batt posts later on, wish me luck!
Had an 11 volt drop on the positive battery cable to a starter on a 2020 ram 2500 the other day. I cleaned the connection at the starter and still had about a 500mv drop.. I chalked it up to probably being about normal since it was a 6.4L and the truck started every time after.
AS Usual... Outstanding!!! Thank you! Super Mario! You have A Way of Teaching, that is SO Easy to understand! 2 Thumbs UP, Liked and Subscribed!
I just bought a Cadillac DTS... for $800 because it had a bad engine ground... the owner and mechanics, it took me a while to figure it out, I had those issues on Jaguars all the time.... so as soon as I purchased one, I installed extra engine block grounds...
My 2007 335i won't start just clicks but once I put the jumping cables on my car my car will starts up and runs until you turn it off n just does the clicking n it's n the shop n mechanics telling me my engines locked I think he wanna screw me over
Very nice quick field reference.
Biggest 👍many thanks
I have bmw x6 e71, I have changed the starter 2 ground cable ! But sometimes when hot it no crank no start , it starts after a few tries
I don't know what the exact problem is
I have an 86 prelude si , battery light is on . Will take a jump and turn over but dies shortly after. ?s: does my battery need to be fully charged to accurately test my alternator? ( I am jumping my battery just enough to get another jump) . I've cleaned all my grounds that I could find. Any help will be most appreciated
thanks for the info. i have the same problem. at first i suspected the issue was with starter. took off starter and bench tested it worked fine, and installed it back in. i contacted negative jumper cable from ground stud to engine block and tried to crank and got at least slow crank. should i be getting voltage reading on multimeter from positive post to engine block? Thanks 🙏
My problem im having is voltage drop once the car starts to warms up, brand new battery and brand new alternator, previous battery tested good, replaced the alternator with a reman at first, because the orignal failed a test, some how finagled fhe parts store to get me a new Duralast gold, and still having voltage drop after it wams up. Its a Honda, alternator control and Eld have been disabled through a tunning aoftware. Next is grounds and wiring at the harness side of things. Cars starting to piss me off. Belt tension is tight at the alternator.
Very informal save me lots of money and time the whole time I had a bad ground on my 2013 BMW X5 550I change the starter twice still no crank after seeing your video try the jumper cable method start it right up thanks thumbs up👍😁
Its the same principal of reading voltage drop across a fuse. Just much higher current… and the ground wire became the fuse…
The jumper cable would have burnt me because I woukd figure they would be better than have the ground straps I see that function. Gives me the motivation to make a shorter high quality set. Thanks my man , good video !
There is to much resistiance in those cables is all .there for one to long which is likely part of the issue and two there two thin.length creates voltage drop and two thin of wires creates ohms(resistance ) heat is a biproduct of it .
Thanks for the video. Great tip
But how did that cable brake? Old, eaten by a rat? 🐭
Corrosion
Guys the home handyman carries the cheap jumper cables around in his car which helps when you are in trouble but a technician should be carrying a set of jumpers that he feels proud to have in his arsenal. Have a good set specially made up that lasts a life time and more. I did.
A VERY LOGICAL SIMPLYFIED EXPAINATION DIRECT TO THE POINT. WELL, PRESENTED. THANK YOU, MARIO,
Great explanation and ways to check. This is the best video ive seen explaining a easy but definite way to understand a huge problem.
Thank you for your knowledge and video's USA 🇺🇸
Thank you Mario your explanation is simple and right. You are super
Excellent video well explained thanks ! 🙏🏻😉👍🏻
hello i have no start problem on a N20 engine bmw f10 with immobilizer code , I was wondering if you can help diagnose remotely, and of course with a pay service thank you
Email me @ supermariodiagnostics@yahoo.com
Valuable info yet again. Thank you. I am just curious as to what forced you to check for engine ground.
Probable he is seen before and the light test is easy to do. GM trucks hate the salt too!
Probably poor / no crank
Yes been there before. Always a good test to rule out early
@@SuperMarioDiagnostics Sure,.....I will keep that in mind.
Love your test light! Is it something available for us to buy or is this custom?
Good video 👍
I should have said those are stock Buick rods. Love your channel!
Thank you
Thank you for your thorough explanation it will help me alot!!
Could you use a 100 amp carbon pile battery load tester instead of the starter
scottys vlog is simpler easier to follow
Kilmer? Lol
Thanks for the video. Very impressed.
Muchas gracias, me va a servir mucho de aprendizaje.
Excellent tutorial Mario. Thanks!
Thanks for the refresher/reminder. ck,wisc.
Thanks for the video.
Here's how I conceive the bad ground: the high resistance at the bad ground causes the voltage potential (under load) at the engine block to be higher than that at the battery ground causing the testlight to light when connected from battery ground to engine block. This is basically the same as you explained on the paper.
🤔
@@gussingh3948 Are you undecided? I wrote that so someone can correct me if I happen to be wrong.