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I have two wires swaged together at the engine valve cover, a number 11 and a number 4. The smaller wire makes a short loop and connects back to the valve cover lower down. The number 4 connects to the radiator mounting bracket. What purpose does the 11 wire serve? It seems to be redundant.

 
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Hello Mike,
You've asked a very good question. Why does Honda -do what they do- sometimes?

The purpose for the extra ground wire is simple. Think about it. I'll assume that number 4 and number 11 refer to the gauge size of the wires(we'll use this also to identify them) The wires aren't redundant. They "unify" the engine ground. Both are aluminum, but are physically not touching one another (metal to metal) because of the valve cover gasket(rubber). The number 4 wire is connected to the stud that bolts into the engine head. The number 11 bolts to just the valve cover. They all end up where we hope all good grounds should, the chassis. In this case the radiator support.

By the way, it should be grounded to its own spot. Beside the black radiator bracket. There is a small raised and threaded hole that is especially for that ground to go there.

Honda's got some odd ways of doing stuff that sometimes seems unorthodox, but usually has a bigger picture in mind.

Hope this helps,
peace,
brad

 
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Brad,

Thanks for the information.

 
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Hey no prob. I restore a lot of these 88-91 civic/crx's, and this is the number one thing that people either alter or neglect with their electrical system. There is so much energy dispersed thru the head from the spark plugs, it's got to go somewhere.

 
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But the head is connected to the block thats connected to the chassis... so it would go to the chassis anyways. Are you saying the point is that the VC get charged and needs a ground of itself?