LS430. No mass cable connected to alternator

[HansImmer]

Hello,

car is LS430 FL 2004 RHD.

I have replaced the alternator. The earth cable is missing on the old alternator. Guess that is unusual. How can I install a new cable? Where has the other end to be fixed? At the car body?

Picture shows attachment for cable on bottom of alternator (yellow arrow) and black earth cable (?) (red arrow).

Will the alternator charge the Battery without that earth cable?

Lexus workshop sent me picture 2. 

Thanks a lot.

 

[The-Acre]

Hard to tell from the picture but I would have thought the alternator would be earthed when it's fixed in position. If there is a separate earth cable needed then any bolt/screw in the body will surely do.

[HansImmer]

Hello Phil.

Thanks for your answer. I took this DIY to change the alternator:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-3rd-gen-2001-2006/751873-alternator-replacement-2005-ls-430-a.html

"6. Remove the 10mm bolt holding the ground cable."

"Picture 3: Ground attach here"

The following picture is showing the connection of the ground cable. Maybe it can be connected to the car body (?)

[Herbie]

3 hours ago, HansImmer said:

Picture shows attachment for cable on bottom of alternator (yellow arrow) and black earth cable (?) (red arrow).

I'm a bit confused here because you say that you have the cable (red arrow in your fist photo) and somewhere to put it, (yellow arrow) so what's the problem?

That last schematic shows the ground cable with an eyelet connector, a stay bracket, a bolt and the alternator. If you start at the bolt and follow the dotted line, you'll see that the bolt goes through the eyelet connector and bolts to the stay bracket, which in turn is bolted to the alternator - and the picture below seems to confirm that.

[HansImmer]

Hello Herbie,

i have the green marked parts and miss the red marked ground cable.

[Herbie]

Ah right, okay then.

In that case, just buy an earth strap and bolt it to the alternator as shown, then bolt the other side to a suitable place on the body and I think that'll sort the problem out.

[DruLS]

As Herbie has said, any ground strap will do if you can't find an OEM one. The alternator will already have some ground through its mount as the engine block is grounded to the body, but best to have a direct one also. It would be easy enough to pick up a new piece of wire and add a couple ring terminals to it. Just make sure you're using a thick gauge copper cable, not a cheaper aluminium one. I've seen Halfords sell pre-made grounding straps so worth a look to see if any they have would work. Failing that, look at car audio companies. They always have a stock of terminals and different guages of copper cable, especially big audio instals often require the upgrade of this grounding strap in question.