Need for rocker cover to be grounded??

[95civic]

Im with you claymore, Im no electronic wiz but I cant see any reason why it would be needed - insulated surface, simple as that. Isnt that basic electronics?

[aaronng]

why would honda do this & not to the stud which is connected to the head????

Because this is stronger than grounding to a stud on the head (which we regularly snap when putting the rocker cover back on).

K,L & R's all have individual coil packs dont they aarong? different setup to b series?

Doesn't make a difference with regards to the ground. I have a daihatsu with a dizzy, and that doesn't have a ground on the rocker cover too.

[CRXer]

LOL I did tell you want me to show them the PM wouldn't want you to feel left out.

Check the join dates noobie and we are doing this for your benefit because you can't understand simple electrical connections.

As to your photo thanks again for proving my point you can put that ground anywhere that touches the engine block and be grounded so what were you trying to prove?

And most of all YOU KEEP AVOIDING THE QUESTION where is the power source for the rocker cover please take your best shot at it now that I have instructed you that induction can NOT take place in an insulated surface what is your latest uninformed theory. And try to keep on the subject at hand with some data or facts and not try to change the subject.

sorry clay,didnt read the PM,till after i saw the thread,so i did feel left out

huh???? whats join dates got to do with anything.

have u lost your glasses `again clay????
that photo clearly shows to anyone that knows the bseries valve cover,that the ground point shown,is disconnected from the block by a rubber gasket & rubber washers on the studs.
disconnect that ground strap from the cover,put your multi across the cover & block, & u wont see zero ohms,..........not even 1,2, even 5 ohms.......if u do,u really shouldnt overtighten your gasket like that,fix it or buy a new torque wrench.

clay,ive already extensively typed out my theories & i cbf doing it again,but to anyone whos interested.......in brief,its to bleed any static buildup on the cover,whether it be sourced from the leads or the timing belt/cams or both.

where have i changed the subject btw????

its your turn to prove to me that a static charge CANNOT be induced into an insulated CONDUCTIVE "surface".

[CRXer]

why would honda do this & not to the stud which is connected to the head????

Because this is stronger than grounding to a stud on the head (which we regularly snap when putting the rocker cover back on).


Doesn't make a difference with regards to the ground. I have a daihatsu with a dizzy, and that doesn't have a ground on the rocker cover too.[/QUOTE]

the point is ,why is the valve cover which is not electrically continuous to the block be grounded by honda from the factory.

does the daihatsu have the same setup,ie DOHC,same leads position,timing belt or chain,etc?

[bennjamin]

this is a great discussion guys....much upon the vein of "Do GROUNDING kits work?"

The answer is something along the grey - compared to a black or white definition.
That is , IF current grounds are not sufficient then a grounding kit placed in OEM locations maybe beneficial. Otherwise its overkill......right ? lol.


anyway imoff so keep this clean please

[dsp26]

i've been zapped by the plastic dizzy cap of all things twice when i didn't have the factory ground connected that CRXer posted... i doubt it's a fluke/coincidence

1) first time was coz i forgot to bolt it back on.
2) second time was coz i had painted the rocker cover and there was a paint layer on the contact point... which i sanded off after getting zapped again.

[aaronng]

the point is ,why is the valve cover which is not electrically continuous to the block be grounded by honda from the factory.

does the daihatsu have the same setup,ie DOHC,same leads position,timing belt or chain,etc?

I'm not saying that the valve cover is not electrically continuous. I'm just saying that some manufacturers decide to ground it, even if they already have a ground running to the block, which is electrically connected to the head through the studs, which is in turn electrically connected to the rocker cover through the studs on top of the head.

And there are other manufacturers that don't. Daihatsu is a 1.3L, with 4-cyl DOHC with VVT, 4-valve per cylinder, dizzy, timing belt.

[FastFwd]

I with you clay i dont see any reason for this being here. In my first rebuild of my motor i removed it and custom made my own grounding kit. Industrial 0 Gauge wire with gold plated connectors, I've only got two, one connected from the chassis to the gearbox and the other from the chassis to the intake side of my head on the right. I didnt notice any difference to be honest i dont even know how the grounding kits work performance wize.

I originally did it because i used to have a massive stereo in my car which caused a few grounding issues so i did this.

[CRXer]

crikey,im late for class & no note from my mum....

ohhhh.....now i get the whole date joined/noobie noob thing..........i merely presumed u would of put this in the noob forum to teach me a lesson.........this net thing sux when u have to explain everything 2,3 times.........

claymore,i really cbf writing an article for u covering all your questions,there is prob freely available info all over the net on this shit,try googling eddy currents,static charge problems in belt driven machinery,EFI systems & associated EMI problems,electromagnetic induction,equipotential bonding,what else have i forgotten...........even blow the dust off your old textbooks u might find it in there.

like i said to u many times,im not gonna /nor do i have the facilities to reverse engineer my engine & tell u exactly why honda did it,but ive put some suggestions out there,maybe theres something else that i have overlooked.

the question remains,which seems to confuse u as to why u would make a connection to something that didnt form a circuit.............why did honda do it??????

one thing ive learnt is u generally dont question why someone designed a grounding/shielding/equipotential bonding system,unless u want to walk away from an installation leaving behind the very real chance of extreme hazards right thru to niggly little problems that can cost a fortune in time & equipment to set right again.btw claymore the term "ground" doesnt only imply a return path for conventional current flow in a circuit,like u persistently seem to think.

even the designers get it wrong sometimes,but seriously??????? ...............we are talking about honda here................we are talking about one of their pet production engines in its time...............

u really think the amount of R&D that went into the Bseries,that when they cast up that little tag off the valve cover for the ground connection...............that one of the designers didnt think..................hang on one second?????......this ground point is not continuous to the block?????????.........oh dont worry about it,we will just connect it there anyway for good looks.

as i have said 1000 times,the valve cover IS NOT continuous to the cylinder head on the Bseries engine,so why do they ground it??????

give me half hour or so,i'll prove its not continuous,its only 8 bolts,brb.............

[CRXer]

ok,so some of u might understand now that the valve cover is not electrically continuous to the block (btw,i didnt say for all engines,im just talking about this one for now).

also some of you might understand now,that not all things are grounded just to complete a circuit & to make something work,there are lots of things involved in any electrical installation that need to be grounded/bonded/shielded/whatever in order to prevent undesirable side effects,there are lots of things that u could disconnect certain parts of the installation & everything would still work....but for how long? & how well would it work...how safe would it be?........

[hisoka]

according a CSR electrician of 30 years, i dunno if iam saying this right. but it seems to be there to stop a static charging which can create alot of problems. He said other shit but i dont wanna say it incase i say it wrong

[DLO01]

The earth strap to the rocker cover IS meant to be there and does serve a purpose. As said the rocker cover is totally insulated so it 'may' seem stoopid to put an earth on. However earths are not 'always' put there as a -ve path for a power source. They are also put on poles, structures as a "saftey measure".

For example: If a stray wire/spark plug lead has fallen off/rubbed through and somehow made electrical contact with the rocker cover, without an earth strap the cover is now live! If someperson comes in contact with the cover then they become the earth connection and will get a Zap. Has anyone been zapped by a spark plug before? its not going to kill someone, but it does hurt.

Another example is on the railway. The posts that hold up the overhead lines. They are all earthed/bonded to earth. The same senario but more serious. If the overhead lines come in contact with the pole (22kV) through physical contact or broken down insulator then the pole becomes live. Without a earth connection it would be fatal to the touch.

So yeh, if you do disconnect it, engine will run as normal, no probs what so ever. Its there only as an earth for stray currents.