turnmybassup
Veteran Member
I cleaned the grounds on my B4 this week and took some pics for anyone that may not know fully what they're doing/getting into
1. Pop the hood and look at what you're working with
2. unhook the battery cables and unbolt the battery hold down plate (I believe it was 13mm, you'll need a long socket extension for this)
3. Carefully pull out the battery, try not to hit the ends of the batt cables and see what's down there. Mine was pretty dirty thanks to an oil leak and an exhaust leak that had been let to fester
4. You'll find the first ground on the firewall side of the battery tray. Mine was COVERED in goop. I believe this is an 11mm
5. Remove the nut and pull the cable off, clean it up really well with degreaser/cleaner, then hit it with a dremel or a file to get the metal to show it's true colors. Fortunately mine didn't have any corrosion or anything, so I just cleaned it off and moved on
6. Pull the ground that attaches to the motor itself. It's connected to trans where it meets the block (13mm)
7. Now do the same that you did in the above step.
It is easier to pull the entire cable first and clean it all outside the car, but it can be done either way.
Now let's turn attention to the terminals. If you look inside you'll likely find this
What I did was used a dremel with the small circular sandpaper bit on it and just went inside and smoothed it all out. Try not to make any odd shapes to the termincal itself, keep it as straight as possible and then you'll get something like this
On the battery itself you likely have this, or worse
You will need either the dremel and a patient hand or the battery post terminal cleaner, they're like 2 bucks at harbor freight/anywhere
and using that will make it look like this
Then just put it all back together and enjoy having a clean grounding system!
I also disconnected the smaller ground from the terminal itself and cleaned that part but that's just me being picky. Now is a good time to add additional grounds if you were so inclined.
Let me know if there is any wrong/neglected info here, I hope this is helpful to someone somewhere.
1. Pop the hood and look at what you're working with
2. unhook the battery cables and unbolt the battery hold down plate (I believe it was 13mm, you'll need a long socket extension for this)
3. Carefully pull out the battery, try not to hit the ends of the batt cables and see what's down there. Mine was pretty dirty thanks to an oil leak and an exhaust leak that had been let to fester
4. You'll find the first ground on the firewall side of the battery tray. Mine was COVERED in goop. I believe this is an 11mm
5. Remove the nut and pull the cable off, clean it up really well with degreaser/cleaner, then hit it with a dremel or a file to get the metal to show it's true colors. Fortunately mine didn't have any corrosion or anything, so I just cleaned it off and moved on
6. Pull the ground that attaches to the motor itself. It's connected to trans where it meets the block (13mm)
7. Now do the same that you did in the above step.
It is easier to pull the entire cable first and clean it all outside the car, but it can be done either way.
Now let's turn attention to the terminals. If you look inside you'll likely find this
What I did was used a dremel with the small circular sandpaper bit on it and just went inside and smoothed it all out. Try not to make any odd shapes to the termincal itself, keep it as straight as possible and then you'll get something like this
On the battery itself you likely have this, or worse
You will need either the dremel and a patient hand or the battery post terminal cleaner, they're like 2 bucks at harbor freight/anywhere
and using that will make it look like this
Then just put it all back together and enjoy having a clean grounding system!
I also disconnected the smaller ground from the terminal itself and cleaned that part but that's just me being picky. Now is a good time to add additional grounds if you were so inclined.
Let me know if there is any wrong/neglected info here, I hope this is helpful to someone somewhere.
)
