Hi, I was on the Autozone web site looking for an aftermarket ground strap as my car has not been running right. I saw an ignition coil ground strap and realized i dont have that on my 88gt. Where does it go? if anyone has a pic id be very grateful! You guys are the best!

quote Originally posted by TeamPontiac88: Hi, I was on the Autozone web site looking for an aftermarket ground strap as my car has not been running right. I saw an ignition coil ground strap and realized i dont have that on my 88gt. Where does it go? if anyone has a pic id be very grateful! You guys are the best!

Technically you don't REALLY need one. The ignition coil is grounded to the side of the cyl head which grounds the engine, which SHOULD be grounded to the chassis through it's own strap.

I don't really know what to call it... so I hope electrical engineers won't laugh at me too hard.

You have this block I suppose, which surrounds the wrapped wire. The bracket which holds the coil down bolts to the side of the engine block, so it's grounded by that. I suppose you could install an additional ground strap from the block... but there's no real benefit to that. It's pretty well grounded to the engine. What you could do is add an additional ground strap from the chassis to the engine.

In old style ignition coils... like you see on older carbureted cars where the coil is a cyl... the negative post typically gets grounded right to the chassis. But, the Fiero doesn't use that kind.

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Todd,
2008 Jeep Patriot Limited 4x2
2002 Ford Explorer Sport 2dr 4x2
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: You have this block I suppose, which surrounds the wrapped wire. The bracket which holds the coil down bolts to the side of the engine block, so it's grounded by that. I suppose you could install an additional ground strap from the block... but there's no real benefit to that. It's pretty well grounded to the engine. What you could do is add an additional ground strap from the chassis to the engine.

That "block" made up of steel laminations around which wires are wound is known as the "core". This term applies to any kind of transformer, inductor, solenoid, whatever.

Unless the coil is defective, the core will not be electrically connected to anything. Grounding the core will accomplish nothing.

The way the Fiero is wired, no connection to the coil should ever be grounded.

Thanks for info. I had suspected that, but wasn't sure.

The funny thing is that somebody gave me a hard time once, because when I relocated my ignition coil, I used an aluminum mounting bracket instead of steel. They claimed that since aluminum doesn't conduct electricity as well as steel (and supposedly the coil was grounded through the bracket), I could have problems with weak spark.