Another thread, another stupid question:


Where does this connector go to? Its a ground on the chassis, next to the transmission. I cant figure out what it is supposed to connect to. Im not seeing any wires for it, given its short length it appears its intended for grounding the tranny but i see nowhere to hook it up. Also another dumb Q; Where does the main battery ground go to? IE; the fat one that runs from the neg battery terminal to the chassis, and from the chassis to (???) I didnt label it when i pulled my motor because i figured it would be very self evident but it appears that isnt the case lol. Based on its length id assume it gets bolted down with the trans mount, but i figured id ask to be certain. As always, much appreciated.

 

99% sure its just an additional ground for the tranny. I replaced the starter on my brother's car recently and it was just hanging out not grounded. Didn't affect his car in any way I don't think as he already has a larger 8GA wire from trans to battery or frame (can't remember off the top of my head). I ended up placing that little connector to ground pin just because of my OCD lmao

Main battery ground goes to the motor. Went out to grab a picture for you. Its down below the right side of the front VC. It's the bolt right in the center of pic.

 

Main battery ground needs to go to chassis/frame. Block to chassis using the same grounding location as battery is how my factory grounds terminate. I'm building 1/0 power and ground cables as we speak. With 1/0 I'll be grounding: Block to frame, battery to frame, transmission to battery (nearest location to the starter), and alternator to battery. With 4AWG I'll be grounding: Engine harness grounds x2 on timing cover to chassis, starter to chassis, transmission to chassis, firewall (body) to frame.

I'll update this post with a picture of the block and battery grounding location for you today.

 

Thanks guys. So the neg cable doesnt seem to reach my block. Best I could get with it was bolting it onto one of the coolant log bolts, im assuming this should be ok since its made of the same material as the block and is attached to it but if im wrong feel free to correct me. You can actually see it in the bottom right of the last picture of this post.

However, more questions for you gents:





^^^ what the hell is this connector for? Cant for the life of me figure out where it goes to. Its located basically just above the trans bellhousing, it splits off from the harness that leads to the fuse box + relays on the driver side. As you can see in the pic it has 4 wires. Is this an unused auto trans connector or is it for something that Im just not seeing?

I also had to replace two of the connectors on my harness because they were brittle and self destructed when i disconnected them, and no longer would click into place. Unfortunately I was too hasty and forgot to double check which way the wires are orientated on the connecter, as in which terminal is which.


^^ this is the VIAS solenoid. I obviously get which wire on the harness is ground and which is power, but which terminals on my connector are which?



^^ This is the coolant temp sensor. Same question - which terminal/wire on the connector is ground and which is power?

If anyone knows off the top of their head or is willing to pop there hood and check these for me I will be infinitely grateful. Pretty much my last hiccup with this damn swap, hoping to have this thing turning over by tonight. Thanks guys.

 

I'm going start charging you for this!

VIAS solenoid; EC, Pg. 690, 691
Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor: EC, Pg. 209, 210

As for the rogue harness connector, I have no idea. I would start with a trace using the Engine Room Harness diagram, EL, Pg. 464 and go from there. It does not appear to be an engine harness connector, however. So most likely an Engine Room Harness connector. Let me know what you come up with.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to get a photo of the battery and block grounds for you. It was dark when I got home today. I'll try again tomorrow, but your water pipe location looks ok (I would still prefer mine on the factory location).

Put simply, the battery lead grounds to a location on the frame just between the battery and the block. Look for an empty threaded factory hole. With a separate lead, but using the same grounding location as the battery, is the block ground. The factory location on the block is directly underneath bank two head. Sand the ****e out of the terminals and mounting locations. Having too much contact with grounds will never be a bad thing, having too little will.

Make sure you get first crank on video! And I'd like to see your cam angles when you get a chance to put together a log.

 

At this point with all the snags ive been running into I wouldnt even mind paying haha. Thanks for the FSM info, i actually already read through those pages a few times and it turns out the info I needed was in there afterall. In my defense its very easy to miss. As for that harness, still cant figure out what it possibly could be for. Probably going to just leave it unplugged and see what happens until someone tells me otherwise.

 

You're still way ahead of me! My Alternator will be here Saturday. It only took them a freaking month to build it. I'll have the new motor mostly assembled on Sunday. I finished the engine wiring harness today, it's 100% reconditioned, IVT leads lengthened, inverters wired/soldered up (proper work, here), new split loom and Tesa tape, what a pain in the ***. Glad that's over. That was a messy job! Looks good though. Whilst on a mission to pull axles and drop the tranny last Sunday, I pulled pass side axle then moved to driver side where I noticed a nearly rounded off castle nut on left LCA. That was enough for me to call it. Had hoped to drop the tranny and have the motor pulled but didn't feel like fighting a castle nut. I've seen worse, but there are quite a bit of shenanigans going on under this car. Enough to make me want to find the last person that worked on it and shoot him. This car didn't even come with any of the splash guards underneath the engine. Those will be a requisite here in FL. I don't need some random puddle taking out a $700 alternator. Luckily though, the car has just about zero rust.

Anyway, my old motor is still in. Was going to have it out last Sunday but ran into this snag. I'm ripping out and replacing all suspension components soon anyway. I may just continue taking my time and get the suspension parts on order and work on the motor in the meantime. I was shooting for an end of October finish date but that just isn't going to happen. I need two more weeks. And that's only because I work 6 days a week. That, and I'm stuck between S Techs and Megan springs.

 

It doesn't seem to have any dirt or corrosion on it. If this is the case it was definitely plugged in to something.

 

 

I went out and looked at my harness and engine since its all torn apart and still in the damn engine compartment. Although there were two which were similar, I didn't see a plug type exactly the same as the one in question on my engine harness. Can you at least tell me from which harness it originates? That break in the split loom with exposed wires in your photo looks strikingly similar to the break in both of my engine harnesses, however. It is near where the loom is anchored and makes a sharp turn and goes off to the MAF connector, leading me to believe it is an Engine Harness Connector. Let me know or post more photos.

It rained and tornado-ed here in Tampa today when I woke up this afternoon (I work nights). So I didn't get to snap any photos for you either of the grounds or the harness. I'll try to get to it tomorrow.

 

 

Getting close! I'll be playing the "where's this thing go?" game soon myself. Looking to get mine dropped in this coming weekend.

 

what a wonderful thread. i'll be looking at beefing up my grounds soon.