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Thanks for your help. I just put a new battery in my 01 Civic, and the terminals on the new one were in the opposite position as the old one, so the wires were too short. I was able to move the positive wire to the other side without a problem, but in order to get the neg. wire to reach, I had to remove a bolt that secured the wire to the frame of the car over upper-right wheel-well. The bolt secures a metal brace shaped like a "Y" that basically splits the neg. wire in two but seems to ensure that the wire makes contact with the frame.

My question is - is this where the neg. wire grounds to the frame, and if so, is it a problem if I have removed that bolt and the wire is not making contact with the frame in that spot?

Thanks for your advice--it's really, really appreciated.

 
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you can extend the ground cable. but im thinking you bought the group 51R, if you can return it and get group 51 to save you the headache.

 
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you're exactly right - I bought the 51R at Costco because I couldn't find the 51 (listed in the manual) anywhere on the shelf (not even a sign for them) and assumed the 51R must be the same. I imagine now that R means reverse? Thanks for your help.

 
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dam my local costco sells the group 51, guess all costcos are different. try asking to be sure.

 
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thanks,yeah I guess it's one of those things. i went to 2 different costcos, and neither of them had the 51 shown in the guide, and so i figured i must just be missing something and the 51R was the right one...last time I do that.

 
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im using reverse terminal battery too. just make a longer ground wire using 4 gauge stereo wire and some gold ring terminals. and yes you need to attach it to that same spot. but you dont have to have the Y connection. just one ground from battery (-) to chassis, then another from that chassis to trans housing.

 
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Why cant you just turn the battery the other way, am I missing something here?

 
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i dont think that would work since the terminal posts are not centered in the middle of the battery. they are towards one side, so if you flip it there will be too much space and the + cable will not reach the post. thats the first thing i tried and i didnt want to return the battery, so i just made it work with a longer ground.

 
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Thanks Gearbox - I appreciate your help. Rather than pull the battery out and return to Costco on the busiest shopping weekend of the year, I ended up going to Canadian Tire and buying a $5.99 ignition wire, which conveniently has a steel eye on each end, and I secured that to the ground, with the other end bolted to the Y-brace (if that's it's technical term).

As for why not to switch around, the earlier response is correct, but the specific problem in my vehicle is that switching it around puts one of the terminals right where the hood-support rod sits when it is down.

I'll insert these keywords for searching:
Reverse battery terminal civic
Backwards battery terminals
Opposite terminals
Costco 51R 51 wrong battery

Thanks for such a great forum experience - I'll check back periodically to learn more about my civic.

 
Rep Power: 291

or i could have made a ground kit for you see my sig.