Transaxle ground strap - is this really the only engine ground?

[jimf909]

[4Gears4Tires]

[jimf909]

^^^ You're not asking the right question. The hp gains are easy, but incremental gains are always greater with red cables. Independent lab tests have shown that purple cables leak electrons.
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- Jim

[jlrftype7]

[Dwighia]

I also wanted to add an additional ground wire from my starter to the frame. However, as stated previously, the bolt on the starter is 1/2-inch. This presents a problem when all the battery/ground cable at the local flaps never exceeds 3/8-inch. So my solution was to take a piece of copper pipe and smash it flat. I then drilled 2 appropriately-sized holes. I then bolted the scab to the starter bolt and the cable. Thanks to others on this thread, I found a nice place to bolt the cable to the frame in the engine compartment.
Works for me.
Hope this is helpful.
Dwight
'84 1.9 stock Vanagon Camper

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'71 Ghia Sedan
'68 Ghia Convertible
'84 Vanagon
If you dismantle a VW engine and reassemble it enough times, will you end up with enough extra parts for another engine?

[Sodo]

[Vana Guy]

[slo356]

[BrownLoaf]

Did this upgrade last weekend. Off the shelf 14" 2/0 awg cable from Whatcom Electric and Battery in Bellingham. This is on an early van that still has the original undersized 2 awg positive wire. The difference in starter speed/tone with the new ground is noticeable and inspires confidence.

I grounded from the lower starter stud to the hole in the firewall in front of the air intake. This is the same ground point I use for grounding the LH/RH heads and case to the body (in addition to the stock ground from the LH head).

The 14" length is just right to route down and under the coolant hoses and has 2-3" clearance to the exhaust. I may add split conduit later but want to measure the temperature of the cable and see how much radiant heat it picks up from the exhaust. I expect it to be okay.

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83.5 Vanagon Riviera WBX 2.2 "Brown Loaf"
87 Vanagon Syncro Tin Top WBX 2.1 "Bubbles"

[Sodo]

I recently had the opportunity to look at a recent Smallcar conversion.
There was no "engine ground".
I suspect HUNDREDS of Smallcar conversions have no engine ground.
This is NOT good.

Smallcar conversion owners should restore the engine ground. An ideal location is from the manifold, direct to the chassis.

We were clued into this by noticing an electrical contribution to the phantom "4th gear erosion" problem inside the gearbox. It could take 10 years ?? for new (transaxle) groundpaths to degrade, and by then, VW has ended their responsibility. Then another 20-30 years for us antiquers to connect symptoms to the cause.
That's where we're at, right?
We're not OEMs, it takes awhile for us😎 but better late than never.

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Basically, the electricity is produced within the engine/gearbox unit.
Many owners are ADDING electrical load (big LiFePOs, 400 watts of headlights) at a time when the unit grounding has been significantly degraded (for YEARS).

Gotta get that electricity OFF the engine/gearbox unit without degrading the engine/gearbox unit.

I have big headlights and LiFePo so I grounded the alternator and starter directly as well.

---->Simple DIY project!
The aftermarket should offer a complete grounding upgrade kit (starter + alternator) and instructions.
There's lots of customers with LiFePo, 400Watts headlights and old transaxles.
Smallcar should offer a kit too.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Gnarlodious]

What is the ground path taken through the 4ᵀᴴ gear? When you crank your engine, why is 4ᵀᴴ gear even in the ground path?

I’ve noticed undue pitting on the CV joint balls, especially suspicious on low powered diesels.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[Sodo]