[dman2123]

my 90 crx has been acting up. before yesterday it had a no start problem i would have to bump start it then it would be fine for awhile. my temp gauge would geek out my radio would go on and off periodically. so yesterday i changed the battery ground. it is grounded to a bracket on the body then it is grounded to a bracket. does this need to be grounded to both? well after changing my cable my car wont start still and when i bump start it i can drive it but once i push the cluth in it turns off. what do i do. any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[stick]

The battery needs to have a ground cable connecting it to the frame of the car. The engine also needs at least one ground cable connecting it to the frame as well. If you have no ground from the engine to the frame, you won't be able to start the car. (The starter needs to be grounded to work, and the engine ground is it's ground line).

 

[toxiclows]

sounds lke you have a serious ground problem... clean both batt terminals and the other ends of them as well where they go to the starter and to the chassis ground.. . . . also remove and clean all other grounds one on the right side of the valve cover, one going down to the thermostat housing on the left side ans one by the battery.. . . clean em all and let us know how it goes. . . .hondas freak out with out proper grounding. . .

Chris

 

[dman2123]

i replaced all grounds and it fired right up with no freaky problems as of yet. the grond from the battery was grounded in 2 places. one on a bracket to the frame and also one a bracket above starter. what is the purpose for this.

 

[downest]

The frame is the body ground, notice the valve cover one and various other small grounds are attached to the frame. The other one on the clutch arm is the engine ground, the ECU ground is on the back on the thermostat housing.

 

[bobski]

the grond from the battery was grounded in 2 places. one on a bracket to the frame and also one a bracket above starter. what is the purpose for this.

The proper ground points should be a direct connection from the battery to the frame rail below the battery tray and then from there to the clutch cable bracket on the transmission.
Electricity travels in a loop from a power source's (in this case the battery) positive post to it's negative post (well, it's actually the other way but positive to negative makes more sense). The car body is made of metal... Metal conducts electricity - meaning electricity can flow through it. Connecting the negative terminal of the battery to the car body, allows you to simply connect the negative wire of whatever device you're running to the body of the car instead of running an extra wire all the way back to the battery. This is known as "grounding" the device.
I think the term ground came into use because the neutral conductor in A/C house wiring typically leads to a heavy rod driven into the ground outside the house. The earth itself acts as the return conductor between a power station and home.
Anyway, you need the engine ground wires because the engine isn't bolted directly to the car. The weight of the engine is carried by rubber mounts which are then bolted to the car. Rubber is an insulator - it doesn't conduct electricity. Connecting the engine block to the body of the car with a ground wire lets you also ground devices to the engine block and not just the car body.
In the case of the starter, power flows from the positive battery post, down the battery cable to the starter solenoid. The solenoid is a sort of heavy duty relay (an electricly controlled switch) that's controlled by the ignition switch. The solenoid also moves the starter gear so it meshes with the teeth on the flywheel. So when you turn the ignition switch to start, the solenoid meshes the teeth of the starter with the flywheel and allows power to pass from the battery cable on to the starter motor. The power flowing through the starter motor causes the motor to spin, cranking the engine. The electricity then passes into the metal casing of the starter. The starter casing is bolted to the transmission, so power passes into the transmission casing (also metal). The transmission casing is connected to the negative battery post by the engine ground wire, so power passes up the wire and back to the battery, completing the loop.