Diplomat let all the smoke out

[AMC Diplomat]

I think that bolt goes into the block anyway so it should be OK.
There should also be a ribbon cable ground from the back of the engine to fire wall on pass side and one to the K frame too.

The one to the firewall exists. I haven't seen one to the crossmember/k frame. Looks like something to add to the list

 

[Aspen500]

It was hard to see exactly where it was attached in the photo. Should be fine where it is, since the bracket bolts to the engine.

No need to ground the k-frame. I was referring to the body ground near the battery, smaller wire in my pic, in addition to the braided strap mentioned.

 

[Duke5A]

It really should bolt to the engine. There also needs to be a body ground, which is normally a smaller wire from the battery terminal, attached to the inner fender.

At the very least, another cable from the bolt you used, run to the engine. Can never over ground an electrical system.

View attachment 49771

What's the story with that fuse box?

 

[Sub03]

x2
I thought that was the original location for the engine ground.
That's the way I did it anyway, used the bolt on the left cylinder head. Just remember to clean the spot with some sand paper for good connection.

 

[Aspen500]

That's the high amp fuse panel from an Audi TT. I modified it to hold high and low beam relays and also use it as a power junction. Main power goes to the buss (silver nuts), through flat fuses to the main harness. The one without a fuse is only a junction point for the starter relay to starter wire.

The positive cable is a repop for (IIRC) a b-body, which doesn't have the big white connector on the main body feed wire so,,,,,this was my solution. Plus, I had easy access to the panel from one of the shops (when I worked for Audi) "parts harnesses" from TT's, of which there were half a dozen or more of, and some think Ford's have wiring problems! LOL

 

[AMC Diplomat]

That's the high amp fuse panel from an Audi TT. I modified it to hold high and low beam relays and also use it as a power junction. Main power goes to the buss (silver nuts), through flat fuses to the main harness. The one without a fuse is only a junction point for the starter relay to starter wire.

The positive cable is a repop for (IIRC) a b-body, which doesn't have the big white connector on the main body feed wire so,,,,,this was my solution. Plus, I had easy access to the panel from one of the shops (when I worked for Audi) "parts harnesses" from TT's, of which there were half a dozen or more of, and some think Ford's have wiring problems! LOL

View attachment 49778

Slick. I thought that looked familiar. I've got a Golf GTI in the fleet.

 

[Aspen500]

Yep, pretty much the same panel in the same place, on top of the battery.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

There are two ground wires to engine. One is a large one going straight to the battery:
View attachment 47012
Sometimes the connection to cylinder head gets rusty, so take the time to remove the bolt, wire brush the terminal (as well as head and da bolt) and reattach to cylinder head. Sometimes the battery terminal needs cleaned. Sometimes the battery cable (negative) can go bad over time (or corroded, etc.).

On back side, there will be a secondary ground cable (pink arrow):
View attachment 47013
These are often left disconnected after engine repairs (or missing). Most of our cars, this is a bare braded stainless-steel cable (like this one). Again, sometimes the cable needs to have ends cleaned (for rust or corrosion) or when reattached to a fresh engine, one might need to scrape off engine paint to get a good ground (just like above).

When Chrysler built these cars, they attached the negative battery cable onto engine, then painted the engine (so part of cable got painted) - just to make sure there was a good electrical connection.
View attachment 47014
White arrow.

BudW

I'm throwing this quote in here in case someone else comes across this. Looks like I guessed my way to the correct ground location. Now I'm even more mystified as to why the previous owner used the stud on the manifold.

 

[Aspen500]

I'm throwing this quote in here in case someone else comes across this. Looks like I guessed my way to the correct ground location. Now I'm even more mystified as to why the previous owner used the stud on the manifold.

The PO did it like that because he was an idiot and had no business even opening the hood.

I could write a book on the stupid things people did that worked on their own car but probably didn't know a spark plug from fuse panel and really should have kept the hood shut. Forty years as an auto tech, and I've seen it all One of the worst things a tech can hear is "he's been working on it himself". That translates to he's f***** it up bad and gave up so now it's here. First thing is to undo everything they did, and start from scratch. Seen it a thousand times. Good part is there won't be 1,001!

 

[AMC Diplomat]

I'm gonna have to dig out the fusible links next. Because I'm beginning to wonder if this thing cooked its wiring before and that they did something stupid to repair it. The starter that was in there was some reman and looks newer. Same with the alternator.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know a damn thing. I'm just someone who has owned a lot of used cars in my life and I like to work on them in my driveway.

 

[Aspen500]

You for sure want to check they dudn't repace a fusible link with a regular wire. I mean, that's fine IF a fuse is added for circuit protection in it's place of a fusible link.

My pet peeve was seeing wire nuts used in a mobile application, like a car. Wire nuts are for stationary systems, such as a house. Man, I'm just a crabby guy today, aren't I? LOL

 

[Justwondering]

I was out at the local yard and picking through a 86 5th avenue hoping to get some of the wiring harness... GAG me with a Spoon! There were several wire nuts over on the left side of the engine and there were several purposely cut wires on the right side of engine (near the fire wall).

I took absolutely nothing from the engine bay.

Did score a very nice antenna and the beauty ring.
Side mirrors with all the silver on them so they actually work and most of the 'chrysler' writing on the back.
The 3rd light pedestal in the back (tan instead of gray but I can fix that).
The glove box -- I have no idea why I took that other than it was easier to get the side mirror wiring out.
And a couple of the 'cushions' from the inside rear bonnet where mine were busted.

And yes, the passenger side front window was being held up to regulation height by using a scissor jack jammed into the bottom of the door.
Idiots.
JW

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Well, to provide some resolution to this thread, especially for who ever stumbles across this on the interwebs in the future, I've had the car out twice now since I replaced the cables and the starter and checked the wiring. So far so good. The obnoxious fan clutch makes the fan loud but the car isn't overheating and there's good air flow in the engine bay. It wasn't overheating before. I want to make sure I'm not getting anything I the engine bay up to a temperature where it will want to melt. I'll still be posting lots of questions though as I'm sure something else is bound to go wrong on this thing. Thanks for everyone's help and input!