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I'm in the middle of replacing the outlets in my house when I came across the following conundrum: it appears that the grounding wire was connected to the outlet and potentially snapped off when removing it from the wall.
However, when looking at the metal box receptacle, the grounding wire seems to have been clipped to the side.
Does this make the box grounded? Can I install the new outlet without the grounding wire, or do I have to remove the wire from the box and extend it with a cap?
As far as grounding the metal box, the ground clip covers it and your work is complete. It's done. Nice finish!
As far as grounding the receptacle, if you want to use an el cheapo receptacle, you will need to get a 10-32 ground screw and screw it into that smallest bole in the back of the box, the one that looks threaded.
If you would prefer to use a commercial / spec grade receptacle - $3 and come in a box - that will have a "self-grounding" feature to let it ground off the metal box like a switch does. GFCIs generally come with that feature.
