I thought I was going to wrap up this dang HG job tonight but I've hit another snag. When I got my heads back from the machine shop (a while back), some of the bolt holes had junk in them left over from the hot bath. I was able to clean out the holes for the rocker arm assembly with brake cleaner and some gun cleaning brushes.

Well now I've ran into the same issue with the wiring harness bolt on the back of the drivers head. Because everything is re-installed I'm having an extremely hard time even reaching the bolt, much less spraying and cleaning it.

So my question really is, can I just leave this bolt out. I know its for the wiring harness, I assume to ground it. Is there another option I could ground the harness to if I can't fix this bolt issue? Any ideas?

 

If you are worrying about grounding, you can extend it and ground it to different part of the frame. Im guessing its the ribbon wire thats connected to the engine to the frame, right? Or, get a battery extension cable to reach to a different grounding post.

 

Will the bolt start and turn one or two turns? If so that is probably enough to hold it and you can either use washers to take up the extra length or get a shorter bolt. And like LR03NJ I am guessing you're talking about the braided strap, not actually but we would call the wiring harness. If so it is very important as the primary ground connection from the engine. I recall hearing stories of others not connecting and having big problems when the electricity first its way somewhere else.

 

No I was actually able to get the flat ribbon cable hand tightened. The bolt Im referring to hold a clamp-like section of the wiring harness to the block. Maybe it's not a ground then. Here's a pic:

 

I've torn into motors that have had the bolt missing, Im pretty sure it does not have any grounding properties. With that said I wouldn't let it go, my OCD which seems to only apply to Rovers would keep me up at night. If I had my trans go out down the line I would be blaming it on the loose harness behind the head.

that is a tough bolt to get to, good luck.

 

I refused to utilize that clamp/bolt again. Its not a ground and only serves to locate the harness....which self locates itself against the motor/tranny. I would leave it off and not look back. I would even remove the clamp so that you can maneuver the harness later without it snagging on anything.

 

+1 100% not a ground. It's called a wire loom clamp and they come plain or insulated/coated like > LOOM CLAMPS VINYL COATED from Aircraft Spruce

If this clamp look like the pic (neg battery cable DI) then you have a ground.

 

Agreed with Abran.

this bolt is reachable. I think I used a flex head wrench

 

Yeah. Chill.

My upstream O2 sensors are "free range" because it is easier to access them if they are not mounted as they were from the factory. That said, the left-hand side eventually came in contact with exhaust manifold and I was almost screwed but thankfully it was only the loom that got melted. I now have it zip tied out-of-the-way. But in your case there is no critical need to have the harness bolted to the head.

 

Thanks everyone. I moved on and got everything except the upper intake manifold re-installed today! I somehow lost that gasket and have to wait for a new one. Sooo close...