Category Archives: 1981 VW Rabbit Project

A few days ago, I decided to completely replace the main ground lines in the rabbit.  As you saw, they were  very old and yucky.  Probably not doing me any favors.  Wasn’t sure where to go for this kind of thing, so I called up the local auto store, and they only had this gauge wire in 100 foot lengths, no good for a cheap project.

I decided to check out home depot, and you can buy 4 gauge for about $2 a foot, and the connectors for a reasonable price.  I bought about 12 feet to redo the battery to frame, battery to transmission, battery to engine, etc.

I found out later that you can buy a complete earthing/grounding kit online for around $20.  Probably should have looked more before I jumped into Home Depot, but my solution is pretty cool too.

So, this hasn’t solved the no-start problem, but at least I can rule out the main grounds.

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of inspecting the “ground” wires that goes from the battery to the frame, and the wire from the battery to the transmission and engine block. They weren’t too pretty.

This clamp has seen better days.

Ground cable to frame with paint.

Ground cable on floor, very corroded!

I’m not sure whether or not to replace the 30 year old ground cable, I think it would make good sense from what I’ve read on the forums I’ve been scouting.  They say good ground connections can make a big difference.  And they really do, when I took out the main ground to transmission/engine cable, I was unable to get any response from turning the key in the ignition.  I’ll look around and see what my options are for a replacement.