2012 Adding Additional 1 GA Wire Grounds Question

Hey all, I recently acquired a 2012 tacoma and i'm in the process of making it run as good as possible for 170k miles. Here is my question; my grounds are semi rusted and causing poor connection on some places like passenger airbag staying on off all the time and truck running sluggish. I had leftover flexible 1 GA ground wire laying around so I decided to first add a new ground from neg to chassis. Immediate difference - the truck regained lost power. My next move today was adding a ground wire on the passenger side to make current flow easier. Chassis to engine.

Here is my "issue." Where I prefer to bolt up my freshly made ground, its right next to the ground that goes right to the main wiring harness near the firewall. Having my doubts and theories I ended up adding it and took it out for a spin. Truck felt a little bit more powerful, but what surprised me is that the PASSENGER AIRBAG started to work like it should! knowing how thick the ground wire I added was, I panicked and removed it thinking its not safe for the electrical.

Here is where i'm seeking advice: Is it safe to run this wire on this spot?? Please advice and take a look at the photo I linked. Thanks!

 

Another pic

 

A ground is a ground, 1ga is kinda overkill but doesn't matter where you attach it on the engine as long as it's a metal part that's grounded to the block or head.

 

I made a new one to replace the one I removed (other one went on my 2000 4runner) and seems like everything is working fine. Passenger airbag still working like it should. My theory is some ground is rusted which affected the airbag function. Now i'm thinking if I should add a new frame to chassis ground for the last one?

 

Like @TnShooter stated, a ground is a ground. It shouldn't present any problems because it's not a fused link. It's simply a ground. You could add several more and it really shouldn't hurt anything.
When I'm spraying Fluid Film, or the anti rust spray flavor of choice, I often give a spritz to the grounds where they attach to the fenders and such.

 

OK so the airbag light is back to off again. Not sure what to do here. Any insight on this anyone? Seat sensor is working so cross that off. Also the passenger belt buckle light is non functional too which means something.

 

Is someone sitting on the passenger seat?

 

Yep. First day I bought the truck I noticed the light was always off. At first I though the AC had a hidden switch somewhere to control the passenger airbag but it doesn't seem to be the case here. Looking more into it i'm seeing 1 ground in the engine bay thats very rusty and the others are wimpy. The one ground near the power steering reservoir by the passenger side is very rusty and gone so I'm thinking about splicing a new ground and relocating it somewhere.

 

Grounding point EC is the one thats shot - this may be the one thats causing issues. Any thoughts?

 

Have you checked under the passenger seat for any shenanigans like from someone doing a seat wap?

 

Take a peek under and see if there’s anything awry. Is the key in the off position in the airbag control “thingy” on the dash?

 

Everything looks stock and nothing unplugged.

 

When I turn the key to ACC everything lights on (seatbelt man, airbag OFF ON) and then goes to OFF when someone sits on the seat. Doesn’t recognize a passenger

 

It’s strange because the fresh 1/0 gauge ground I put from the engine to chassis made it work for a short time.

 

That sounds more like a calibration issue with the weight sensor in the seat, need a scan tool that can talk to the SRS and Occupant Classification systems to see what the weight sensors are reading.

 

Intriguing. Maybe the switch isn’t happy. Hoping we can find a solution for this. Keep at it.

 

I had time off today to work on it. Still on the OFF position so as suggested, its probably a calibration issue which I'll deal with later. I have a bigger problem, the master cylinder (TRD edition) is dripping brake fluid.

 

Why don’t you put a thick JeepCables kit and call it a day.