there is a braided ground wire connecting the bottom of the hood on the passenger side to somewhere in the engine compartment. mine is snapped clean off. been that way for a while..

what is this ground for? is it necessary to replace?

thanks in advance for your replies

 

You'll probably need it if you have a light under your hood. Not necessary though.

 

thanks, but there is no under hood light installed on my truck.. (kind of wish there was..

could this ground have anything to do with am radio noise suppression?

 

Due to the motion of air across the top of the hood, static electricity can build up to the point where it will actually attract lightning. The ground strap is used to dissapate the static charge so your truch does not become a lightning magnet.













Just kidding.

 

i wouldn't want to play against you in balderdash.. lol

 

The ground strap on the hood is for EMI/RFI suppression that the vehicles computers will appreciate having in place!!!!!

 

ahhh so .. that's maybe why it's right near to the connection under the
hood for the ECM?

 

anyone else got a theory ? bueller?

 

pawpaw is right. Besides the computers, the strap should guard against spark static in the radio or cb.

 

thanks guys, now i have to find a source for a replacement somewhere..

 

Cant speak to the truck, might be for a light that was never installed. On aircraft all of the control surfaces are grounded to the frame. static electricity will build up on the surface and then discharge through the bearings for that surface creating a mini arc welding effect.

Cant see this happening on truck though, so ground for non installed underhood light(edit: meaning I am guessing for hood light grounding purposes). I cannot believe that the hood is not grounded enough through the springs to discharge any static built up from the nominal air velocity across the hood.

 

Hmmm... I was actually kind of close.

 

You can buy them almost anywhere, auto part stores, radio shack, etc. If you really wanted to be cheap you could take a piece of wire and screw it into each side and it would do the same thing. But honestly I wouldnt worry about it.

 

I might add, and this is just theoretical, but having all the body panels properly grounded can affect corrosion. While in theory everything should be covered with paint, if the hood and the rest of the car have slightly different electrical charges, you could get galvanization in the hinges where they meet. Perhaps having the strap can provide an easier cleaner path for charges to disperse. Just theory, and maybe it makes no difference whatsoever. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

i actually got a little interference today in the am radio... never noticed that before.