Bought a diesel, have a question

[ankarback]

I bought a Blazer 6.2 -87 yesterday that's going to serve as my daily driver. I have a question thought about the charging system. On my other chevy trucks the ground from the battery is connected to the body in the front of the car but on this one it just seems to be connected to the engine.
Is there a connection from the engine to the body somewhere or should it be grounded the same way as on a gasoline blazer? The reason I'm asking is that the system isn't charging too good only around 12,7-13 volts.

 

[BKinzey]

I think it goes directly to the starter and branches off from there. If your battery cable is long enough I doubt it would hurt to strip a small section and clamp it to the frame.

First I'd check the alt connections back to the battery. It's usually a loose or corroded connection. If that doesn't work have the alt checked by a shop.




Edit to change fender well to frame.

 

[kennyw]

Every gas and diesel K5 will have a ground wire between the engine and battery, typically that ground cable attaches to the alternator bracket. There should be additional ground straps between the body and engine as well, but it shouldn't affect the alternator charging. Only how good your lights and accessories work.

 

[Smitty]

It never hurts to run a few extra ground wires to the system. I'll usually add at least a ground in the following places; engine - frame, frame - radiator support, engine - fire wall, and frame - fire wall. Might be over-kill, but it makes me feel better. It's amazing the weird problems a bad ground can cause...

 

[colbystephens]

mine's grounded to the alternator, and then i grounded my other battery to where the a/c pump used to be... works perfect.

 

[ankarback]

I have checked the wiring some more and found some tiny groundcables to the body. The chargingsystem's probalably ok but the ground to the body is so bad that all the accesories and the voltmeter don't get enough current. Have to look this over. I hate bad electrical wiring.