Well I started out to replace a fuel hose...saw a loose battery ground and went ahead and fixed that and now I have no juice in two new batteries.:confused: Go figure.

Anyhow I read on the forum somewhere that there are a couple of grounds on the rear of the block the go to the firewall...am i remembering this right because i have not been able to find this thread or in the FAQ's. Does anyone know the location or have a photo or something? I think I see one of them on the passenger side but isn't there two of them?

What could have caused the drain of battery juice...i didn't arch anything.

Your are in luck I just shot these pics as part of a review I'm working on of the Heath balance flow kit.

On mine 2 gnds at back of engine, heavy braid strap on water port blank off plate(see pic, blue tube is Heath balance flow), and lighter gauge say 16 on last stud of intake pass side , and main gnd is on 1st stud of intalke pass side

Thanks a bunch!!! This forum is the best!

The rear ground has a bracket on it that looks like it holds the transmission dip stick. Does this come right up and out so I can take off the other nuts and clean the stud. Or is this a problem?

Yes you can pull it up but just enough to clear the stud, so you don't pull the dip stick tube out of the tranny housing it can bea PITA to reinsert it.

Thanks again for the help!

As i started to remove the stud to clean it was very loose...just barely tighter than finger tight ...what is this supposed to be torqued at? It is not in the manifold. I think it is on a coolent port. I feel like a little old lady with all the questions today but it seems like a lot of weird things!

The last ground wire on the rear stud...the braided one. Where does the other end of this ground wire go? It is blue with corrosion. Is it still ok to use and how to tell if it is bad?

Also it looks like on my truck all the rear grounds are on the one stud rather than the two places that your photo shows. Is this the way it is supposed be on a 95 suburban?

Never seen a 95 set up to say where exactly, but IMO fewer is better on 1 stud, less joints to have hidden corrosion, so I'd separate them if they are all on the 1 stud. as for the braid strap check it's resistance; if hi resistance it needs to be replaced, should be pretty close to 0 ohms. not sure where it terminates on a 95, but on my 90 & 98 GMCs it is near the starter.

Let me clarify the original post:

While working on the fuel line I decided to check around at the grounds and see if I could find anything that might be draining the battery juice. The truck barely started because of weak battery. After cleaning the passenger battery ground and reconnecting I then have no juice...just a tick sound and faint guage lights.

After replacing the fuel line and checking all the battery terminals and cleaning the rear ground I jumped the truck and headed off for a test drive. I stopped to fuel up and when I went to crank the motor I got 2-3 weak turns and that was it. on the last turn I noticed a couple of puffs of smokes coming from under the hood. It looked like from the positive terminal on the drivers side battery. After a few minutes I jumped it and drove it home. The amp guage looked OK.

Any Ideas?

It got dark before I had a chance to check the connections on the starter...could there be anything to check out there?

MP - my '95 looks exactly like Doc's pics.

I can't recall if the braided line from the back of the head goes to the top of the framerail or the firewall, but pretty sure it goes to the frame. There is a single connection to the firewall and a couple of leads that land on top of the frame under and just behind the turbo. (What TD is saying is near the starter)

If that braided line is blue with corrosion, you've got an issue.

If you need different pics this weekend let me know, I'll be around and have a charge in the camera; just need to realize that I have a 1500 "S" vs your 2500 "F". Although given we're the same year its probably better than nothing....

Thanks a bunch Minisub! I would like a few pics if possible so I can check around further. I won't be able to check it tomorrow though... it will be Sunday.

If it's getting colder I suspect your batteries may be weak and starting to show up now, if you have been driving with poor grounding, possibly poor charging also, might be worth a trip to autozone or another shop and have the batts checked on a load cell, if batt are indeed weak, replace as a pair, as a bad one will pull down a good one, also I've found it best to try & get 2 batts of same mfg date,

If it's getting colder I suspect your batteries may be weak and starting to show up now

That was my first thought because we had a little cold snap. And it may be that.

One of the batteries is just a few months old and the other a month or so.

Pretty wimpy batteries if that is the case.

For best life always replace in pairs, may want to have alt output checked while you are at it, as bad batts will kill an alternator.

bad batts will kill an alternator.

Yep, it happened to me although not on my truck.