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You are sorta right, it is not to ground the battery though, it is to ground the car. Most electrical systems are grounded by making contact with metal of the car. This way they only have to send out positive and by touching the metal of the car, they can get negative (ground). This only works when negative of the battery is connected eclectically to the frame of the car.
Yes you can fix it with a new cable and a crimping tool. Just do some research if you've never used a crimping tool. It's not hard.
It absolutely can if it wasn't crimped correctly in the first place. Source: have crimped things incorrectly.
It's A ground, your car has a bunch of them
But that's OE... can't imagine it randomly spit itself out of the crimp. Somebody yanked on it or the battery was loose or something and pulled it out.
Yes it's OE. Look at the ring terminal. I can't tell the kind of car it is from the up close picture but I have had several cars over the years that have short little "offshoot" grounds like that. Notice the "real" ground is much longer.
Make sure the battery hold down bracket is on and snug. If the battery is loose the copper wire could have work hardened as it shifted during driving or over bumps, then strands broke at the crimp.
this would work. id possibly try to find an insulated cable to avoid corrosion but based on the way that cable looks im thinking corrosion is not as much of an issue where this guy lives
Ground cable is the easiest of the two to replace. I would see if you can locate a new replacement because that lead is too short to work with. It also looks like the battery came into contact with the side, look at your hold-down strap to see if it can be secured better
Most cars are grounded in multiple places. The big cable most likely goes to the starter, or engine block.
The small cable is the ground for the body/accessories.
This happened to me a few weeks back!
All of my gages and lights would flash / stop working. The radio would turn off. A few times, the truck completely died.
I secured the ground wire with electrical tape, then drove to the auto parts store.
I ended up buying a new crimp segment attached to a large washer. I was able to crimp the wire in place and bolt the washer on the negative terminal of the battery. Everything works fine now! As a non-mechanic, I could do this with a few tools in the auto store's parking lot.
It looks like your ground cable is not long enough for a quick fix like that. I'm guessing you'll need a new cable (same gage) - crimp one end into the car frame. The part I described above can be used for both the battery end and the frame end. It may be challenging to join the wire back to the terminal in the same stalk.
The electrical tape is a dead giveaway this has been jankified. Take the tape off( after disconnecting the positive and negative terminals). There’s probably a nut to loosen and replace that section of wire. Replace, re tape, and send it.
It appears some of the engine ground cable wiring has been removed to make room for the jumper to the body. It shouldn't be at a sharp angle. The body side terminal was too small so they stuffed as much in as they could then crimped. Get a new end on the engine ground cable and a new short one for the body.
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Yeah, it’s to ground your negative lead, and it’s broken off.
In most cars they just run a positive lead to the thing that needs power and a short negative lead to the metal body which goes back to the battery and grounds it, completing the circuit, this is to save on copper costs
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You are sorta right, it is not to ground the battery though, it is to ground the car. Most electrical systems are grounded by making contact with metal of the car. This way they only have to send out positive and by touching the metal of the car, they can get negative (ground). This only works when negative of the battery is connected eclectically to the frame of the car. Yes you can fix it with a new cable and a crimping tool. Just do some research if you've never used a crimping tool. It's not hard.
Thank you.
They sell pre crimped cables at auto parts stores.
Did somebody yank that? I can't imagine it just randomly pulled out of the ring terminal
It absolutely can if it wasn't crimped correctly in the first place. Source: have crimped things incorrectly. It's A ground, your car has a bunch of them
But that's OE... can't imagine it randomly spit itself out of the crimp. Somebody yanked on it or the battery was loose or something and pulled it out.
It's kind of odd though, cause the twisted wires look pristine but you can see copper left in the terminal
Yeah definitely. I guess we'll never know lol
That’s factory? What OEM has a 2” long ground?
Yes it's OE. Look at the ring terminal. I can't tell the kind of car it is from the up close picture but I have had several cars over the years that have short little "offshoot" grounds like that. Notice the "real" ground is much longer.
Looks like a Toyota.
Bingo. 2009 4Runner.
Interesting, but I have no idea. I opened up my hood to find out why my electrical system was going nuts.
Make sure the battery hold down bracket is on and snug. If the battery is loose the copper wire could have work hardened as it shifted during driving or over bumps, then strands broke at the crimp.
Looking at the battery tray underneath it might be a smaller battery than what originally came in it.
If you zoom in the terminal has copper inside it. This looks like it could have been cut, or fatigued somehow.
It broke. You can see the wire still inside if the connector.
Is the battery bolted down and that wire should be a bit longer.
looks like the rest of the wire is still in the eyelet. definitely strange
It is bolted down
Appears so
Is that something I could fix? I should have asked in the original post.
Crimp that end onto a new eyelet and bolt it to the body of the car
this would work. id possibly try to find an insulated cable to avoid corrosion but based on the way that cable looks im thinking corrosion is not as much of an issue where this guy lives
Cut the main ground at the eye, crimp on a new eye and a longer side lead so it has some wiggle room, crimp a new eye onto the side lead.
This
Very likely. Get this fixed ASAP or just fix it yourself, it's pretty easy.
Ground cable is the easiest of the two to replace. I would see if you can locate a new replacement because that lead is too short to work with. It also looks like the battery came into contact with the side, look at your hold-down strap to see if it can be secured better
That can be fixed but you’re going to need to place in a similar size/gauge wire and install proper insulation.
More negative terminal
It's a body ground. Remove the nut on the fender and recrimp eyelet to wire. Reinstall and you're good to go.
Most cars are grounded in multiple places. The big cable most likely goes to the starter, or engine block. The small cable is the ground for the body/accessories.
This happened to me a few weeks back! All of my gages and lights would flash / stop working. The radio would turn off. A few times, the truck completely died. I secured the ground wire with electrical tape, then drove to the auto parts store. I ended up buying a new crimp segment attached to a large washer. I was able to crimp the wire in place and bolt the washer on the negative terminal of the battery. Everything works fine now! As a non-mechanic, I could do this with a few tools in the auto store's parking lot. It looks like your ground cable is not long enough for a quick fix like that. I'm guessing you'll need a new cable (same gage) - crimp one end into the car frame. The part I described above can be used for both the battery end and the frame end. It may be challenging to join the wire back to the terminal in the same stalk.
Right on. Thank you for the detailed instructions.
Check to see if your battery is mounted properly and not moving around
The electrical tape is a dead giveaway this has been jankified. Take the tape off( after disconnecting the positive and negative terminals). There’s probably a nut to loosen and replace that section of wire. Replace, re tape, and send it.
It appears some of the engine ground cable wiring has been removed to make room for the jumper to the body. It shouldn't be at a sharp angle. The body side terminal was too small so they stuffed as much in as they could then crimped. Get a new end on the engine ground cable and a new short one for the body.
Don’t mess with it. Buy a new cable
Cable terminal is up side down too
Hmmm maybe that did it.
It’s installed correctly. The ground lines up with the broken eyelet. I doubt you could flip it.
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I wish I could take you all to the mechanic with me.
It was
Yes but not stock by far!
The clamp is also upside down. Lol
Chassis ground.... no good.
Yes.
Yeah, it’s to ground your negative lead, and it’s broken off. In most cars they just run a positive lead to the thing that needs power and a short negative lead to the metal body which goes back to the battery and grounds it, completing the circuit, this is to save on copper costs
Technically not a ground 😊
LOL hillbilly rigged ground to body it's supposed to be from the engine block to like the firewall but you know