cycleboy506

Some Questions about the Negative battery cable:

1) I removed the middle mount on the negative battery cable so it would reach the new battery I installed: the negative post is on the right side, whereas the original battery had the negative post on the left. This middle mount does electrically connect the cable to the chassis, but there's at least one other cable that connects the engine block to the chassis as well, so this mount appears to be redundant. Is it Ok to operate the vehicle with this middle mount removed? (Right now, the negative battery cable is connected only directly to the engine block.)

If it's not recommended, I'm thinking of building a six-inch cable to reconnect that middle mount to the chassis:

2) What's the wire gauge of the negative battery cable?

3) Are the Honda Civic bolts metric or SAE units, the ones that screw in the mounting brackets and the little nuts on the negative/positive battery terminal clamps themselves?

regards,
js.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you need to have all the factory ground in place. the car will drive with the engine support ground removed, but not a good idea. i recommend going with 4 gauge wire when you build your own replacements. stock is 8 gauge. i believe every bolt on the honda is metric.

cycleboy506

Thanks. It sounds difficult to crimp 4 AWG wire (even 8 AWG) with a hand-based crimp tool into terminal lugs that I buy at a hardware store - I've never crimped wire that thick. Is that how you would do it - just crimp the 4/8 AWG wire into standard lugs from a hardware store?

regards,
js.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i would get gold ring terminals for 4 gauge wire. you can crimp it easily with a pair of pliers. check partsexpress.com for all your wiring needs!

electric130

iTrader: (44)

that middle mount is the most critical one of the car. I make ground upgrade kits. if you let me know the length you need, i can make you a custom kit. just click on the link in my signature to see the kits. are you sure the battery wasn't installed backwards?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah hes saying the battery terminals are reversed. so now he needs a longer ground wire (that connects from where the old positive terminal used to be to the chassis and trans).

cycleboy506

Thanks for all the support guys. An update:

1) I found out yesterday that the young guy at the gas station sold me the wrong Interstate battery: He sold me an MT-51R but should have sold me an MT-51. I guess you guys know that the "R" means "poles Reversed", but I didn't realize that until the tech support guy at Interstate responded to my email about that. So the manager was back at that gas station yesterday when I went back to report the mistake, and he quickly swapped batteries and now everything is back as it should be: the battery ground cable goes from the engine(transmission?), to its mount on the chassis(wheel well), and then continues on to the battery's negative terminal.

2) Electric130, your cables look great - so clean and shiny i'd be reluctant to put them under the hood! Thanks for the info and the offer. The top cable in your top photo is exactly the cable I was talking about. But I don't understand why that middle terminal with the two crimps is the most important one. Is it because that's the connection from the battery to the chassis, and without it, you're just connecting the battery's negative terminal straight to the transmission while bypassing the chassis connection? The car did run like that, so if that's the case, i guess the metal-to-metal connection of the transmission to the engine made the connection?

electric130

iTrader: (44)

yes. you're relying on the connection of battery to tranny, tranny to engine, engine to chassis in order to ground your electrical system. you need to have a direct battery to chassis ground. that's the most important one.