battery cable - 2 grounds needed? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Threads
31
Messages
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Location
Steamboat Springs, CO
The negative (ground) battery cable in my 1988 FJ62 is close to death -
it's cracked and fraying where the cable and terminal meet. The
cable has two ground connections - one to the body, just a few inches
from the battery, and the other down underneath the engine
somewhere (I haven't chased that end down yet). Replacement
cables - including the one on the Toyota dealer's computer - show
only the single ground. So, finally, my question: do I need those
two grounds, or can I go with the single ground cable?
 
I would replace both of them. The one down by the engine probably connects close by the starter incase it shorts to ground.
 
re: both grounds

Okay, so it sounds like I need both grounds. Given that even the
dealer doesn't sell a cable with two grounds, how do I do that?
Do I need to patch something together myself?
 
Hmmm, I wonder if I should check mine. A couple of years ago I went with an Orbital and completely new cables. I went with some from Standard, that have the eyes on both ends and switched to the marine style terminals on the battery. On the ground side I skipped the small ground there and just grounded it down low in the factory postion.. No problems at all...
 
the n2nd ground goes to the AC compressor mount I recall, oddly our 88 fj62 didn't have this hooked up...........no issues. Its a PITA to get it hooked up, so I moved it someplace else close by that was easier to get to.
 
Phrog;

Both grounds are necessary. The 12 volt electric system uses the frame and engine block as a common reference point; the outer casing of the alternator is at neg 12 volts and clamps to the block which should be tied to the frame. The common ref point for all other systems is the firewall. The firewall should be tied to the block/frame because the main fuse circuit looks at the firewall for its ground/reference point.

Older cruisers really need a good grounding upgrade to solve weird problems; so, replace the worn out stuff. Look near the shock strut on the frame for the bolt that holds the battery ground.

...
 
The oem ground cable on your FJ62 is one cable with three attachment points (1) the battery, (2) the passenger side fender, and (3) the passenger side motor mount (which I found impossible to get a wrench on).

A great alternative to the oem cables are the cables from Urban Landcruisers:

http://www.urbanlandcruisers.com/products/electrical.html#cables

The cables from Urban are as beefy and as well-made as they come.

As David at Urban will tell you, the left most lower most AC compressor bolt is a good (and reachable) alternative attachment point to the motor mount.
 
I second the Urban Land Cruisers batt cable set. You get to replace ALL of the various cables for about 1.5X the list price of the one main cable from the dealer...and, they're made better. Also, the attachment point for the ground-to-frame, on the motor mount under the A/C compressor IS NOT difficult to get to, at least on my 60. The 62 may be different.
 
The more grounds the better. Lack of ground is a common electrical gremlin that can have you scratching you head for a long time.
 
you can never have enough bonding points. Ground body to frame, engine to the frame and body. More is always better. 01 AWG aircraft wire works best.
 

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