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Should I keep the 2nd ground wire to the engine block ?


Steven

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Just 3 days after a 2 hour flight in my 2008 CTLS I got back to the plane and it wouldn't start.  The panel lights came on when I flipped the master switch, but when I turned the key to crank the engine there was just a loud click and everything when dead and stayed dead.  I figured a weak battery and that the click was the starter solenoid engaging causing the current draw to weaken the battery further.

 

I came back a few days later armed with a voltmeter and a charger.  The lithium battery was showing around 12.8V and I charged it to 14.3V.  The same thing happened though - click and the panel goes dead.  The engine never cranked.  Yet the battery still read 14.3V.  So I tried a jumpstart with an auto jump starter and that went fine.  The engine started immediately though when I disconnected the jump starter (from the jump start cable by the front wheel) the panels went dead till I flipped the generator switch on and everything came on.  So at least the generator circuit was ok.

 

My next step was to check if the battery ground was bad by clipping a jumpstart cable from the negative lead to the engine block.  Like magic everything worked great.  So I knew I had a bad ground from the battery.

 

I'll have my mechanic resolve the bad ground wire from the battery but I don't know how complicated that will be.  The wire goes to some sort of wiring relay hub on the firewall and I don't know how it gets grounded from there.

 

Should I also have my mechanic install a permanent 2nd ground wire directly from the battery to the engine block ?  Or will that cause complications or potentially hide other problems ?  Is it ok to have 2 ground wires ?  It's nice to have such a simple easy to see connection and my engine started immediately when I created it with alligator clips on a jumper cable.

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"2nd ground wire directly from the battery to the engine block ?  Or will that cause complications or potentially hide other problems ?  Is it ok to have 2 ground wires ? "

 

I second ground won't hurt a thing and may be helpful. many of us already have them. Direct to battery is no issue.

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Great, thanks for the feedback.  I like the idea of having a 2nd ground.  It's simple enough that I can do it myself.  What gauge of wire should I use ?  Should it be automotive type wire with special insulation to protect from engine heat ?

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