Ground to aluminum?

[CB7 Fanatic]

Can you ground to aluminum? I always thought you had to ground to steel. I'm redoing my engine harness and want to hide all the ground wires that I can. Thanks.

[jhoff]

nope you cant

[CB7 Fanatic]

That's what I thought...so why does Honda do it all over the place from the factory? One example off the top of my head is a ground to the thermostat housing (on the H22 anyway).

[Flatline]

i believe the block and head are aluminum alloy.
Alloy meaning not fully aluminum. but the VC could be iron.

[d112crzy]

i believe the block and head are aluminum alloy.
Alloy meaning not fully aluminum. but the VC could be iron.

This.

The entire block/head are aluminum. The ecu is grounded to the thermostat.

Yes you can ground to aluminum.

[foamypirate]

Why the hell wouldn't you be able to ground to aluminum? If it conducts, you can ground to it.

[TypeG]

all metals are conductive.

VC is cast aluminum. later.

[Old School]

I really get tired of all the BAD information posted all over this forum.

Of course you can ground to aluminum. Pretty much all aluminum you encounter is alloy because is pure state it is to soft.

Anything that conducts electricity can be used as a ground. Aluminum is a good conductor but has some problems with corrosion in certain cases.

For automotive purposes it is completely acceptable.

There are coating products available to keep connections free from oxidation. I use the spray battery terminal protector, spray it in a can lid and use a small brush to apply it to the finished connection.

Just be sure the connections are clean and tight and you will be fine.

jhoff_cb7 is a recent offender but is no worse than MANY others. Bad info is everywhere.

[johnl]

Old School is correct, the only issue is aluminium oxide because it's not a good conductor. Just make sure the surfaces are nice and clean (both the aluminium surface and that of the electrical connector). Make sure any steel connectors are plated and not bare steel. If the location of the ground is likely to get wet (more than rarely) then it might be a good idea to protect the ground with a coat of paint.

[jhoff]

jhoff_cb7 is a recent offender but is no worse than MANY others. Bad info is everywhere.

this is what i was told
nothing i can do if i get bad info and pass it on

[r3n3]

Think about this, I had to have my power cut off by the Local Light company. I was there staring at what he was doing at the meter and he told me that the main 220v line coming in to our houses is aluminum the side on our premise is copper. Sure enough I notice the service side line is silverish as oposed to our copper "premise" line.

[Old School]

this is what i was told
nothing i can do if i get bad info and pass it on

Really?

[C91BLX7]

Gah.

[r3n3]

LOL!!!!

[r3n3]

More useless shit to clog our brain's....!!!!