Anyone have trouble with that common ground point under the hood? I was trying to jump start my brother's car not more than 10 minutes ago and it would not work at all on that ground point. Clamped on to the battery and was good to go. Am I doing something wrong? Anyone got some better ideas for connecting jumper cables?

A couple of side points:

It was extra pleasant to try to get the cables hooked up in the dark with no underhood light.

My truck was having issues after I jumped him. The volt meter was low and would come up when I revved the motor. Went back down when I let off. Signs of battery/alternator problems of my own? No problems prior to this.

Thanks,

Greg

See www.gmdieseltech.com for the underhood light that GM forgot to include. I think you might have an alternator problem; better take the truck to the dealer for diagnosis.

On the 01 & 02's they painted the backside of the bar where it bolts on to the engine piece. Take it off & scrape the paint off to make contact & it will work. Not sure this was a problem on 03 but worth a look.

Hmm, I've jumped a lot of trucks with my pickup and not had any problems using the ground bar and the red positive box...

All of the trucks suffer from painted brackets. Remove the ground point and clean the paint off both sides where the 10mm bolts attatches it.

Its also possible the ground sleeve pressed on to the postive cable connection box bracket may not be making contact. Thas a mickey mouse elctrical mechanical connection. A douuble start washer on that 10mm bolt might help to. Think I'll do mine tomorrow because I give people jump starts frequently here in the summer. The hot weather is murder on batteries.