What does the ground wire going from the front strut to the body actually do. I noticed it broken on my wife Dodge neon and it appears to have been broken for some time now but hasn't caused any issues.
Ground wire to front strut
- Thread starter cassidy
- Start date
- Status
Possible to avoid wheel bearing arcing. Google it, kinda weird when I found out about it.
More info:
http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163662
Replace the ground wire to prevent premature bearing failure.
More info:
http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163662
Replace the ground wire to prevent premature bearing failure.
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Maybe to help ground the ABS sensor?
probably not, as my neon has this wire,(on ONLY the drivers side front strut), and is not ABS equipped.
Maybe to help ground the ABS sensor?
probably not, as my neon has this wire,(on ONLY the drivers side front strut), and is not ABS equipped.
Last edited:
My saturn only has it on its passenger side strut, which is opposite the battery. The battery has a big ground wire to the trans bellhousing and a 10 ga one to the driver's inner fender.
Any wheel bearing arcing would have to go through the ball bearings in the strut mount, so IDK about that...
If anything it might help something like ignition noise, being on the opposite side of the engine.
Any wheel bearing arcing would have to go through the ball bearings in the strut mount, so IDK about that...
If anything it might help something like ignition noise, being on the opposite side of the engine.
Simple enough. Just fix it or you may overtax other grounds circuits.
Cassidy, i've wondered this myself, i'll cross post to Dodgeforum.com, and see what i can find out.
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Maybe to help ground the ABS sensor?
probably not, as my neon has this wire,(on ONLY the drivers side front strut), and is not ABS equipped.
Hmm. Mine only has the one from the valve cover to the passenger side strut tower.
Does your ECU have a high frequency whine sometimes? Maybe someone was trying to stop that with a better ground from the wiring harness ECu area?
Mine still has all four original wheel bearings, and they have seen some serious abuse. Maybe the wheel bearing static thing is for super dry climates?
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Maybe to help ground the ABS sensor?
probably not, as my neon has this wire,(on ONLY the drivers side front strut), and is not ABS equipped.
Hmm. Mine only has the one from the valve cover to the passenger side strut tower.
Does your ECU have a high frequency whine sometimes? Maybe someone was trying to stop that with a better ground from the wiring harness ECu area?
Mine still has all four original wheel bearings, and they have seen some serious abuse. Maybe the wheel bearing static thing is for super dry climates?
Do you get a shock when you go to close the door after a drive?
Odd part to have.
Last edited:
Kestas
Staff member
The wire is likely a grounding wire to prevent current from running across the bearing races. Bearing electrical damage at a car corner happens more commonly if a mechanic forgets to reattach the grounding strap to the engine. The most famous case was the early Omni/Horizon models when they first came out. The grounding strap was prone to fail from corrosion. The recall fixed it with a triple grounding strap.
I've seen lots of industrial bearings fail from current leakage across the races. They have mostly been in electric motor applications. In my career I have only seen one case where current leakage damage was from static electricity.
I've seen lots of industrial bearings fail from current leakage across the races. They have mostly been in electric motor applications. In my career I have only seen one case where current leakage damage was from static electricity.
If this were an issue why not ground through the rubber brake line? There's a metal layer in there somewhere to make it stiff, right?
The control arms and swaybars are rubber isolated. The tie rods go into the steering gear but that could be on bushings too. There's sometims a nylon cup in a TRE but there's a spring in there too that should conduct well.
Tires with carbon black are supposed to let static out, but sometimes this gets compromised especially with LRR designs.
The control arms and swaybars are rubber isolated. The tie rods go into the steering gear but that could be on bushings too. There's sometims a nylon cup in a TRE but there's a spring in there too that should conduct well.
Tires with carbon black are supposed to let static out, but sometimes this gets compromised especially with LRR designs.
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Maybe to help ground the ABS sensor?
probably not, as my neon has this wire,(on ONLY the drivers side front strut), and is not ABS equipped.
Hmm. Mine only has the one from the valve cover to the passenger side strut tower.
on second thought mine might be on the pass side too, been a while, since i was in the wheel wells, but i do remember it only being on one side, not both.....
and so far what folks are saying @ dodgeforum is pretty similar to here.
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Maybe to help ground the ABS sensor?
probably not, as my neon has this wire,(on ONLY the drivers side front strut), and is not ABS equipped.
Hmm. Mine only has the one from the valve cover to the passenger side strut tower.
on second thought mine might be on the pass side too, been a while, since i was in the wheel wells, but i do remember it only being on one side, not both.....
and so far what folks are saying @ dodgeforum is pretty similar to here.
There is no metal running in a normal rubber flex brake line.
This is interesting. Our cars don't have these at all, except for the front of my Peugeot where there are brake-wear sensors.
In my GM cars, I've always had to replace the hub/bearing assemblies fairly early. Might a grounding wire prolong life?
In my GM cars, I've always had to replace the hub/bearing assemblies fairly early. Might a grounding wire prolong life?
Kestas
Staff member
That depends on why it failed. If you open up the failed bearing, you should get clues as to why it failed... at least to the trained eye. Electrical damage has a unique failure pattern.
That said, for all the hundreds of warranty return automotive wheel bearings I've looked at in my career, I have yet to see one that came back with electrical damage.
That said, for all the hundreds of warranty return automotive wheel bearings I've looked at in my career, I have yet to see one that came back with electrical damage.
I did a Google image search for "bearing failure due to electrical arcing" and saw a few pictures. I've never seen that pattern before on regular bearings.
But now I'm curious enough that I might try to tear open any non-warranted failed hub/bearing assemblies I encounter in the future.
But now I'm curious enough that I might try to tear open any non-warranted failed hub/bearing assemblies I encounter in the future.
- Status
