67 Camaro headlight grounding issue
 

Hello,

I have a ground issue with my headlights. Please help. I have LED headlights that flash/pulse when I turn them on. I attached gator clips to the driver side head light ground wire located on the core support to the lower control arm nut, and the headlights turned on as they should. The problem is, when I touched the lower control nut, the gator clip would spark at the nut. Is this normal? Where else can I run a “good ground”? Should I drill a hole in the subframe?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

It does sound like a ground issue. The radiator support and body sit on rubber or urethane mounts. Since you jump the ground to the control arm that appears to be the problem. I would leave the ground where the factory had it and add a ground wire from the radiator support to the chassis/frame. You should also make sure you have good grounds from the engine to chassis and body to chassis. They make ground wire kits specifically for this, or you can make your own wires. Make sure the mounting points are clean bare metal. Proper grounds will eliminate many electrical issues on these cars.

My buddy used a kit that wanted all of these grounds made. His car is EFI and a lot of extra electrical systems and he's never had an issue. Many consider it overkill, but I figure I'll give you the info anyway.

4 AWG Ground Cable – Battery Negative (-) to Frame, 2.5 ft.
4 AWG Ground Cable – Bell Housing to Frame, 1.5 ft.
8 AWG Ground Cable Assortment:

Battery Negative (-) to Body
Frame to Core Support
Rear End Housing to Frame
Bell Housing to Firewall
Cylinder Head to Cylinder Head
Cylinder Head to Frame

Everything else working perfectly. I’ll probably add a ground to the chassis/subframe. Since the engine is grounded to the subframe, why not add a bolt and wire to the frame.

Jody,
In reference to the factory radiator support where the ground currently is, am i supposed to stack star washers between the ground wires that share the common ground?

Helps keep things snug, but as long as it's a good clean metal on the support and wire ends you should be fine. Those star washers are good at keeping things from loosening up.

Helps keep things snug, but as long as it's a good clean metal on the support and wire ends you should be fine. Those star washers are good at keeping things from loosening up. They also tend to dig into the metal for a good ground in cases where corrosion/paint/etc, is present.

Sounds like the core support is not properly grounded. Connect a ground wire from the negative post of the battery to the core support. Also remove and clean your headlight ground wire connections.

I would, but the battery is in the trunk.

Then connect the core support to the engine block. What is your battery grounded to? The frame rail or did you run a cable up front?

My battery is grounded to the chassis in the rear. The engine block is grounded to the frame rail.