Grounding questions
You PROBABLY are OK, but I'd feel better if the ground was hooked to the "same metal" as the battery. That is, the battery is grounded to the frame rail which is welded to and part of the main unibody. So I'd think a better place would be the front frame rail, or even the firewall
BUT
You can easily CHECK this
Pull the coil wire, and ground it to the block to disable the engine, and protect the electronics
Make a clip lead long enough to go from one end of the car to the other, no14 is plenty large.
Clip one end of the lead to the battery ground bolt in the trunk. Run it up front and clip the other end to your meter. Clip the remaining meter probe to your engine block.
Set the meter to read low DC volts (or autorange) and crank the engine while watching the meter. You are hoping for a very low reading, the lower the better. I'd say if you show less than .3V (three tenths of 1 volt) while cranking, you have a good ground. If you can, move the clip lead (may need a helper) to stab right into the battery post, and recheck. You should not see much rise
You can also check the voltage drop on the positive harness.
Clip one meter lead to your starter "big" battery stud, run the clip lead back and hook the other end (IF YOU CAN) directly to the positive post. Again, you are hoping for a very low reading, .2--.3V (three tenths) or less, and measured while cranking the engine
MORE than this with either test, means you have too--small cable, or bad connections somewhere.
One thing I've done "in the trunk" for the 3-4 cars I've been involved with was to ground to TWO points, which provide more surface area. On one car, I found a nice little copper strap (scrap) about 1/4" thick x 1" x 2" long. I ground the trunk clean, and silver brazed this copper into the trunk.
Also what helps is to use Burndy style two--bolt terminals--- again more surface area
Like these with the two mounting holes, and I see they make one with FOUR holes!!
You PROBABLY are OK, but I'd feel better if the ground was hooked to the "same metal" as the battery. That is, the battery is grounded to the frame rail which is welded to and part of the main unibody. So I'd think a better place would be the front frame rail, or even the firewall
BUT
You can easily CHECK this
Pull the coil wire, and ground it to the block to disable the engine, and protect the electronics
Make a clip lead long enough to go from one end of the car to the other, no14 is plenty large.
Clip one end of the lead to the battery ground bolt in the trunk. Run it up front and clip the other end to your meter. Clip the remaining meter probe to your engine block.
Set the meter to read low DC volts (or autorange) and crank the engine while watching the meter. You are hoping for a very low reading, the lower the better. I'd say if you show less than .3V (three tenths of 1 volt) while cranking, you have a good ground. If you can, move the clip lead (may need a helper) to stab right into the battery post, and recheck. You should not see much rise
You can also check the voltage drop on the positive harness.
Clip one meter lead to your starter "big" battery stud, run the clip lead back and hook the other end (IF YOU CAN) directly to the positive post. Again, you are hoping for a very low reading, .2--.3V (three tenths) or less, and measured while cranking the engine
MORE than this with either test, means you have too--small cable, or bad connections somewhere.
One thing I've done "in the trunk" for the 3-4 cars I've been involved with was to ground to TWO points, which provide more surface area. On one car, I found a nice little copper strap (scrap) about 1/4" thick x 1" x 2" long. I ground the trunk clean, and silver brazed this copper into the trunk.
Also what helps is to use Burndy style two--bolt terminals--- again more surface area
Like these with the two mounting holes, and I see they make one with FOUR holes!!