[sasilverbullet]

Okay, here's the first in the series of howto's for where the ground points are, w/pics.



Here's the reference diagram:



   



The first one is ground point III. It's to the rear of the driver's side shock tower. To access it, you have to remove the fancy plastic cover that's held on with two 10mm plastic nuts.



Once the cover is removed, you'll see the ground point:



   



You'll need a 10mm wrench to remove it. I sanded the two washers and the connector. And I took a wire brush to the threads. Cleaned it up, and re-assembled. I don't have any dielectric grease around, so I just liberally applied wheel bearing grease after assembly.



   



Ground point VI. This is in the battery area, near the negative battery terminal.



   



You have to remove the other plastic cover to get at it. It's a 13mm nut. Once removed, I did the same clean-up and application of grease.



   



More will be coming!!!! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Greimann]

Good show! We'll move this to the DIY section.

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[Cloud9...68]

Thanks for doing this; it will be VERY helpful for people taking on this job in the future. But I have a question: When should we clean up our cars' ground points as sasilverbullet is doing? I've never heard of this being a common maintenance practice before, but that certainly doesn't make doing it wrong. Is this something that should be done every, say, 5 (or 10?) years, regardless of whether the car is exhibiting any symptoms, or is it best to follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule and do it only when symptoms start to appear? And what types of symptoms would be indicative of marginal ground? Thanks.

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[NeedPorscheSpeed]

Thanks very much for sharing that with us, Michael! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Greimann]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' date='Jul 16 2005, 12:23 PM']...  But I have a question:  When should we clean up our cars' ground points as sasilverbullet is doing? I've never heard of this being a common maintenance practice before, but that certainly doesn't make doing it wrong.  Is this something that should be done every, say, 5 (or 10?) years, regardless of whether the car is exhibiting any symptoms, or is it best to follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule and do it only when symptoms start to appear?  And what types of symptoms would be indicative of marginal ground?  Thanks.

[right][post="7446"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

Certainly it can't hurt anything to clean ground connections on some kind of schedule. Once every 10 years seems reasonable, but I can't say I have ever seen a recommended frequency on any car's preventive maintenance chart. Of course most cars don't have 10 ground points either!



Typically bad grounds cause very strange behavior of electrical systems. Switches operate in reverse. lights dim, and things just don't work right. It is usually the first thing you should investigate when troubleshooting electrical gremlins.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='Greimann' date='Jul 16 2005, 04:47 PM']Typically bad grounds cause very strange behavior of electrical systems. Switches operate in reverse. lights dim, and things just don't work right. It is usually the first thing you should investigate when troubleshooting electrical gremlins.

[right][post="7449"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Makes sense. Electrical gremlins are one thing my car has been mercifully free of, so it probably isn't urgent. And judging from the condition of the paint and interior trim, I think it's spent most of its life garaged. Maybe I'll go through the grounds as a general precaution when the weather cools off. Any recommendations on a conductive grease that's well suited to the ground connections? Thanks.

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[sasilverbullet]

Dielectric grease - should be available at Radio Shack. That's for the conduction between metal, you use that while assembling the ground. But I'd still put a coating of good old wheel bearing grease on everything after assembled to keep the elements away.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='sasilverbullet' date='Jul 16 2005, 09:05 PM']Dielectric grease - should be available at Radio Shack.  That's for the conduction between metal, you use that while assembling the ground.  But I'd still put a coating of good old wheel bearing grease on everything after assembled to keep the elements away.

[right][post="7456"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Thanks. Were you having electrical problems with your car before starting your project to clean all the grounds, or are you doing it as preventative maintenance?

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[Greimann]

Just to be clear on the technology - dielectric grease insulates. It is non-conductive. It is especially useful where you don't want electricity leaking around spark plug boots or (ok I am dating myself) ignition contact points. Schemer it on the extremities of electrical components to seal out the enviroment, prevent corrosion and seal in high voltage. The idea is to prevent conduction between terminals due to moisture and contaminates.



Conductive grease - like silvery antisieze - is intended for things like spark plug threads, where you want a lubricant, but good electrical contact too.



For the ground points, I would wire brush everything clean and bright, bolt up firmly and spray with an anticorrosive compound like LPS or Boshield.

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[968 Cab]

Good work Michael - just be SUPER CAREFUL when you loosen off GP 9 & 10 - the main grounding cable (heavy 1 gauge wire) a the top of the Bell Housing. If there is a clutch inspection hole for the 968 tranny (just like the 944 tranny's) and it is not taped over - you can almost guarantee that it will gobble up the 10mm nut or washers that hold that ground strap in place. The issue with GP 9 / 10 is that you have steel to alum corrosion over the years and that is a major source of bad grounds on these cars.



10+ years of vibration and moisture + steel to alum corrosion = poor contact, maybe even resistance = overheating wiring. switches, etc. Cleaning these ground points can only help restore reliability to all the electrical systems.

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[apex]

Good tips from all - thank you so much - very helpful! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[perbal]

For those of us who attended the Saturday morning tech session at the 968 Celebration this year, Bob Kovacs, in giving pointers on maintenance spent several minutes suggesting that we clean and tighten all grounding points periodically as they are very frequently the cause of electrical gremlins. By periodically, I think he meant more frequently that once every 10 years, more like once every two years. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Perbal

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[mitch968]

Any tips for accessing the bellhousing ground point? It seems really tight to get in there.

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[Anchorman]

Great stuff!!! Keep it coming - two ground points fully documented, eight to go.

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[968 Cab]

[quote name='mitch968' date='Jul 18 2005, 01:38 PM']Any tips for accessing the bellhousing ground point?  It seems really tight to get in there.

[right][post="7516"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



#1 - DUCT TAPE cover the clutch inspection hole directly below the ground point! (This is on all 944/951 and but I'm not sure if it exists on the 6spd 968 as mine is a Tip)



#2 - use a 10mm short socket on a 3/8" universal and a series of extensions to get a bit of deflection in the drive. Then go to it! Small hands really help alot with these cars....

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[mitch968]

Small hands really help alot with these cars....

That's an understatement. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> I'm having a hard time even getting a good view of the ground point, let alone putting a socket on it and avoiding dropping the bolt. I just picked up some magnetic socket inserts, so I guess they'll come in handy here.

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[apex]

"if you can see it, you can't reach it. if you can reach it, you can't see it"

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[mitch968]

"if you can see it, you can't reach it. if you can reach it, you can't see it"

<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Seriously, would it have killed them to make the ground point a bit more accessible? Gotta love it.

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[chris]

great post!

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[flash]

i'm still stunned that they failed to observe basic wiring and grounding practice - ONE GROUND POINT!



at some point, i will probably be changing all of that and re-routing all the ground lines to a single point

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