Grounds

[deadbeat]

Guys, i was reading posts about grounds on the 2.9, i have a 90 ranger and I read about an orange ground wire that goes to the passenger side of the motor. I went and looked at mine, cant find the wire or any wire that is orange that isnt hooked up to anything. The guy who swapped my motor out left the ground off the drivers side head to the wiper motor. The posts say it comes out of the tfi module, but mine has no orange wire. Any information about this ground and what harness it comes out of would be much appreciated.

[CopyKat]

There is no Orange ground wire

It's an open braided band. it bolts to the back of the Drivers side head and bolts to the stud at the wiper motor.

The negative post on the battery should have a cable that bolts to the frame,Tee's off, and then bolts to the block on the passenger side.

[deadbeat]

2.9Ls have ONE ground strap to the upper intake. It goes on the driver's side near center. There should be NO other ground straps going there. Both heads have and need grounds. One is a strap (driver's side) and the other is an orange wire coming out of a wiring harness. Leaving either of these out will cause driveability problems.



there is also one on the other side, or that is what it said in a bunch of posts I have read

[skippy]

on my 83,the orange wire,ground from pcm lands on the rear of drivers side head on the same bolt that holds the braided strap going up to the fire wall.for 1990 the haynes manual shows this wire to be black.should have an eyelet connector the bolt goes through.mine comes from wire harness going to distributor and goes behind carb to the back of the head.hope this helps.

[deadbeat]

the only orange wire I can find on mine goes into the o2 sensor plug, i cant find an eyelet on any wire. I have a problem with the way my truck runs and everyone in other threads have discussed this ground that I cannot find, I had the motor changed once and the guy did a shatty job.

[skippy]

all the wiring diagrams in my book show a 2.3,3.0 and 4.0 engine but no 2.9.and the ground is black #20 from pcm.i show a orange wire to o2 sensor w/black/lt.green wire to ground.

[deadbeat]

thanks man, youve been a lot of help, i cant find a wire but MakG says there is one there on the 2.9, maybe he can tell me more

[AllanD]

I'll actually have to locate the 2.9 harness that's around here (somewhere)
and look.

Tomorrow or sunday.

It's dark now.

AD

[deadbeat]

alright man, that would be cool.

[deadbeat]

would it serve the same purpose if i just put a ground between the heads?

[Natedog]

... 2.9, i have a 90 ranger and I read about an orange ground wire that goes to the passenger side of the motor. I went and looked at mine, cant find the wire or any wire that is orange that isnt hooked up to anything. The guy who swapped my motor out left the ground off the drivers side head to the wiper motor. The posts say it comes out of the tfi module, but mine has no orange wire...

That would be a BROWN wire grounding to the passenger side head that comes out of the wiring harness near the TFI module....at least on my 87 4x2. However the 87 4x4 didn't have this wire. Not for sure about your 90.

There is no Orange ground wire.

It's an open braided band. it bolts to the back of the Drivers side head and bolts to the stud at the wiper motor.

The negative post on the battery should have a cable that bolts to the frame,Tee's off, and then bolts to the block on the passenger side.

YES.

[deadbeat]

so there could be a brown, does it come out of the large harness that goes over the firewall or the small one that the tfi comes out of?

[Natedog]

so there could be a brown, does it come out of the large harness that goes over the firewall or the small one that the tfi comes out of?

Out of the TFI harness, guess I should have been more specific.

[deadbeat]

I looked into mine yesterday. Turns out mine has a black wire with an orange stripe on it. It is the bottom wire out of the TFI module. I found the spot where someone had broke the wire. I added in the ground.

[Natedog]

Does it run any different?

[deadbeat]

Well, I did two different things. I had a battery that was turning the positive cable end black, so I changed the battery and run this ground wire to the back of the head and the truck runs much, much smoother. I had been having trouble with the engine shaking, but its not very noticable, or hasn't been in the last day and a half. Seems like it really helped mine, now I think I might put a new cap and button on the distributor and see how the ground affects it. But yes, it does run much smoother. But I have a little sputter that you can hear at idle that I think is the rotor button.