No ground found. Please help!

[tripp]

I'm trying to install an amp and sub and it's been years. I have everything run and cannot locate a ground spot anywhere and am going crazy //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rage.gif.0ad8a6e5565b5fddce406566fdd05149.gif.

My car is a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer.

I've tested my power cable to the negative terminal of the battery and get over 12v and get nothing from any bolt in the trunk, seat bolts, etc. I've sanded paint from bare metal in the trunk and also nothing.

I noticed on the first bolt when I had sanded the paint that there seems to be another sheet of metal also painted under the visible metal. Is this just the way some cars are designed, and is keeping me from finding a point?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

Any options or suggestions would be appreciated.

Click to read more...

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

If it comes down to it you can run a line straight to the battery.

but bolts to check are

-seat belt bolts

-bolts that hold the actual seats down..

etc.. they need to be through the frame though

 

[tripp]

The seat belt bolts gave me nothing, while I got 0.1v constant from the rusty seat bolt. I will try sanding heavily on the seat one.

Is this just how some cars are made? I remember being able to ground to just about anything in my cars in the past. I'm now concerned maybe it means the battery isn't properly connected to the chassis.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

Are you sure that you had the fuse in the power cable while you were testing for ground(assuming you have a fuse which you absolutely should)? or were you using another 12+ volt source

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

Are you sure that you had the fuse in the power cable while you were testing for ground(assuming you have a fuse which you absolutely should)? or were you using another 12+ volt source

I can put money on this

 

[The HACKER 10+ year member]

Check the cars main ground to the frame maybe you got bad connections, or there eroded or what not.

 

[patotay 10+ year member]

try the bolt where you put the rear strut

 

[tripp]

As my original post said, I get plenty of power moving when tested to the negative terminal on the battery.. so no my lead was not missing a fuse, and yes it's fused. Give me your money fasfocus.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif

No points found still, so I will be checking the battery->chassis connection and going from there.

 

[TaylorFade 10+ year member]

As my original post said, I get plenty of power moving when tested to the negative terminal on the battery.. so no my lead was not missing a fuse, and yes it's fused. Give me your money fasfocus.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif
No points found still, so I will be checking the battery->chassis connection and going from there.

Wait... how did you test your power lead and the negative terminal? Is your DMM lead like 15ft long? Or is the power wire not run in the car yet or what?

If your battery wasn't grounded correctly, this would not be the first time you noticed it. There are about 57 points that would at least give you a reading. Not all of them would be suitable for a ground, but it would at least close the circuit.

 

[finkster 10+ year member]

It cant be that hard. I mean brake lights and **** are grounded to the chassis.

try a strut tower in the rear or like kyle said make a ground run to the battery, but that's going to cost more obviously for a potentially easy fix.

 

[x1le 10+ year member]

Wait... how did you test your power lead and the negative terminal?

that's what I'm saying. You're probably using your DMM incorrectly.

The only way I've used a dmm to test for ground is to set it to ohms, put one lead on the negative battery terminal and the other to the suspected ground and find a point with the least amount of resistance.

 

[QuikSilverRS91 10+ year member]

Use the Ohm setting on your meter to determine ground strength, not the DC Voltage setting.

Mitsubishi does some weird **** with their grounds. 100 bucks says if you ground it to any one of those grounding spots you've been testing it'll be fine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

maybe your meter is on the ac voltage setting instead of dc?

 

[ltr450racer690 10+ year member]

just got to the battery neg, you know it works and your not worrying about finding a good ground, thats what i use on my subaru, it might be a unit body thing?

 

[patotay 10+ year member]

there will some problem if there no ground from the chassis,your brake lights,radio,lamps etc..check the negative to chassis