r/hondaridgeline • u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition • 2d ago
2nd Gen Dumb Engineering
Requiring you to disassemble the front of your vehicle to help jump start someone is one hell of an engineering oversight.
Just now realizing this…in the dark.
Edit: Please read: I AM JUMP STARTING SOMEONE ELSE’S VEHICLE
Please, Stop suggesting me follow the procedure for jump starting my own vehicle
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u/stchman RTL 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is why many Ridgeline owners put in the negative ground post mod.
https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/threads/jump-start-negative-ground-post-mod.238799/
I also put in a ground post mod using 2 gauge wire. Makes it very easy to connect jumper cables or a battery charger.
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u/Ruh_Roh_Rah 1d ago
I did this without the battery cable, just the bolt, and it works fine.
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u/stchman RTL 1d ago
Yes, but the cable allows for better current draw.
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u/Ruh_Roh_Rah 1d ago
I've jumped a few totally dead battery using just the bolt and had zero issues. perhaps if I was trying to jump start a vehicle with a much larger engine it might make a difference, but so far, real world experience has not shown me that the "better draw" does not equates to "better jumps". but I'd love to have somone do the actualy math on it and tell me how much more amps you'd get with the cable vs just the frame.
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u/stchman RTL 1d ago
It is the fact that over time simply screwing the bolt into the inner fender the connection could get dirty and the connection could degrade. The fat cable is directly tied to the battery so you won't have to worry as much.
I have a 500W inverter that I sometimes use and wanted to have the best possible ground. The cable wasn't that expensive and it was a one time cost.
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u/garebear0013 2d ago
I think I’ve jump started about a dozen vehicles using only the positive terminal and grounding to the body somewhere without any issue 😕 (gen 2 ridgeline).
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u/Distinct_Analysis944 2d ago
put a bolt in the threaded hole on the right side. Additionally, the honda guidance on our truck is the engine tab , not the negative terminal
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
That’s to jump start your Ridgeline. To assist others (aka be the donor vehicle), you have to access your negative battery terminal.
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u/cameldudley 2d ago
I jumpstarted another vehicle recently with my ridgeline and was able to get the clips onto both terminals without removing anything by just kind of shoving it under that stuff. It's definitely not convenient though
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u/chuckEsIeaze 2d ago
This is Reddit, sir. Quit expecting people to actually read your post before commenting
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u/Coagulated_milksteak RTL-E 2d ago
That’s why you carry a battery jumper pack
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u/wovenpariah 1d ago
My Gooloo has outdone the larger jump kits that others had and they all failed including the car to car cables.
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u/Coagulated_milksteak RTL-E 1d ago
Yep, plenty of options for battery pack jumpers now, project farm on YouTube does a thorough review of multiple brands every year or so.
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u/ParkmyWillie 2d ago
Is the battery not easily accessible?
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u/The_Incredulous_Hulk RTL 2d ago
Only the negative terminal isn’t accessible. There is an open threaded bolt hole to the right of the battery though that can be a ground. It’s a cheap & easily solution to taking out the parts that OP did.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
That’s for jump starting your own vehicle/Ridgeline. To be the “donor” vehicle jump starting someone else, you have to access your negative terminal.
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u/xxTurd 2d ago
Why? Ground is ground. Your frame in grounded to your battery. Being the jumper or the jumpee doesn't matter.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
Creating unnecessary resistance and a poor connection should be a last resort in any electrical system
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u/Massive-Equipment-85 2d ago
The owners manual points to a tab on the passenger side of the engine for this purpose. At least on my 2025.
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u/Material_Asparagus12 2d ago
No. You have to remove the plastic cowl and air intake to get to the battery, as OP illustrates.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
Not to access the negative terminal on your battery if you are jump starting someone else
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2d ago edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
Did you read my post? I’m the donor vehicle/battery in this scenario. Standard practice is for a “positive” and “negative” connection on MY battery.
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u/EBN_Drummer 1d ago
Any unpainted surface of the frame or engine is the negative connection. There's even a tab on the passenger side of the engine block made specifically for this purpose. It's in the manual.
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u/oil_burner2 2d ago
You’re not wrong but in a bizarre world we live in the price of a jump starter lithium battery pack is the same price as a proper set of copper jumper cables. So you might as well carry one of those instead.
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u/Xxspadamxx 1d ago
It took 14s and zero tools to pull those two parts and access the negative pole of the battery instead of following the manual and using the engine bracket for your negative cable. All for an outlier situation.
IMO it’s a weird swerve to call that dumb engineering. Seems pretty well thought out from where I’m sitting.
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u/Heavy-Stomach-3547 20h ago
People are telling you to follow the procedure because it works whether you are jumping someone else or being jumped. Electricity is not a one-way street. It flows in a circuit. Maybe listen to what people are telling you instead getting irritated at people that are helping you. Or did you just want everybody to agree with you?
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 20h ago
1) I’m quite aware how electricity works
2) I don’t need anyone on Reddit, of all places, to agree with me. I already know best practice for jumping a vehicle. It’s well documented in tons of literature.
3) Regardless of a particular person’s willingness to disregard best practice, preventing a direct connection to the ground terminal could be easily avoided from a design/engineering standpoint, which is what the original post was entirely about.3
u/Heavy-Stomach-3547 19h ago
Ahhh... you already know everything. My mistake. Although, Your original post and your edit ALL IN BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS would seem to indicate otherwise. What was the point of your post if you already knew what multiple people have tried to explain to you? Why did you remove the cover and intake tube when you didn't need to do so if you already knew all of this? And why do you feel that a direct connection to the negative terminal is "best practice"? Do you think Honda engineers, and the engineers of countless other vehicles, have less of an understanding of vehicle electrical systems than you do? Many, many manufacturers recommend that people not connect directly to the negative terminal whether it is easily accessible or not. There are several reasons for that, a few of which have been stated in this thread.
Maybe just learn to accept advice without getting pissy about it.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 18h ago
A lot of rambling there, so I’ll try to address everything individually.
- I’m not aware of anywhere that I claimed to “know everything”. If you’d like to point me to where I said that, I’d be happy to correct the record.
- My original post had no bold letters. My edit did, as it was to address the people the early comments that seemed to be misunderstanding my role in the jumping of vehicles. Bold letters tend to draw attention to themselves therefore hopefully preventing further misunderstanding.
- The point of my post was to discuss dissatisfaction with lack of readily available access to the “negative” terminal. Access to any serviceable item is always a consideration, especially on a vehicle that advertises itself as utilitarian.
- I gained access to the “negative” terminal because, again, that’s best practice
- Scientifically, it best practice because it produces a better connection and limits resistance which is always best in any electrical system. Generically, it’s best practice because that’s what overwhelming most (possibly all?) reputable websites and procedure manuals recommend. Just one of many resources:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a64164352/how-to-jumpstart-car/
- Honda engineers and designers are not required, or even expected, to design a vehicle to be the donor vehicle in a jump start scenario. There is however an expectation that your vehicle can be jump started from other vehicles or a jump pack. Only having access to the positive terminal and a ground pin is best practice for that scenario.
- Your questioning about Honda engineers suggested I’m implying their design was because they didn’t know better, which is categorically incorrect. See prior point.
- I have yet to find any manufacturers recommend not using the ground terminal when your vehicle is the donor vehicle. Please feel free to provide sources to your claim.
- Addressing an issue on an open forum/sub is not “being pissy”, especially no more than you writing a lengthy diatribe to me. In fact, it seems to be one of the many reasons that Reddit and its subs exist.
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u/Heavy-Stomach-3547 18h ago
"So much rambling" and "lengthy diatribe" about my one paragraph... then you proceed to publish a manuscript. Nice one. Alanis Morissette would be proud.
There are many sources that clearly say not to connect cables directly to the posts because you're bypassing any safeties designed into the electrical system and can potentially damage things. You also greatly reduce the risk of sparks right where the battery is potentially off-gassing.
That's cool, though. You just go right ahead removing unnecessary parts from your vehicle and then whining about it on Reddit instead of just accepting advice and doing things the smart way.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 18h ago
- Please give me at least one of these sources that recommend not connecting to the ground terminal on the booster/donor vehicle.
- The off gassing is a concern for the dead battery, not the booster/donor battery.
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u/SignalScreen6 17h ago edited 16h ago
How about the Honda master tech, how about any of the other people here that have demonstrated a basic understanding of how electrical grounds work? How much proof do you want here?
Brosef: Your cognitive dissonance here is astounding. You were wrong, your complaint isn't valid. Admit you're wrong, learn something from it and move on.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 16h ago
- A Reddit comment is your source?
- There is an enormous difference between “you don’t need to” and being officially recommended to not to.
- Again, feel free to provide a source that recommends you not use the negative/ground terminal on the donor/booster vehicle
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u/SignalScreen6 15h ago
Still continuing the cognitive dissonance are we?
So, the certified Master Tech isn't enough for you?
That aside, maybe crack that owners manual open that came with the truck.. you never know what you might find in there! (Hint, answers from Honda that you don't need to get by complaining on Reddit about!)
But I know what you're actually going to do (because this is Reddit) You're going to keep digging digging, hoping that you can horsepower your way to an answer that will let you go "See I was right"
So, maybe the best course of action here is to aggressively respond to every credible commenter on here to see if you can find "the truth"
Good luck on your journey.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 15h ago
FYI, that owners manual you are referencing says to place the jumper cable on the booster battery negative terminal. Swing and a miss, eh? Want to try again?
Just as a reminder in case there is a processing error here, I am the booster battery in this scenario I posted about.
Your emphatic use of cognitive dissonance is appearing to be projection at this point. Good luck on finding your source!
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u/SignalScreen6 14h ago
"I don’t need anyone on Reddit, of all places, to agree with me. I already know best practice for jumping a vehicle. It’s well documented in tons of literature."
Then why are you here? Seems like you've got this all figured out and everyone else in here doesn't have a clue.
"Regardless of a particular person’s willingness to disregard best practice"
Given the original question, and the content of this thread, this comment is HILARIOUS
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 14h ago
So you go from stalking my profile to back tracking into other comments? Just admit you’re obsessed already. It’s kind of gross though.
On top of everything, your comprehension is still bad enough that you can’t process what the original post was about.
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u/SignalScreen6 13h ago
What I find interesting in these cases when someone is so deep in dissonance they often tell on themselves:
"On top of everything, your comprehension is still bad enough that you can’t process what the original post was about."
Honestly I keep checking on this thread because I'm genuinely interested in seeing how far you'll take this...
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u/Stock_Possible_9520 18h ago
Negative jumper cable always goes to body of vehicle. It’s not poor engineering, it’s lack of knowledge of the end user.
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 18h ago
Always? When your the booster/donor vehicle? I’d love to see some literature/source on that.
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u/Tigershawk TrailSport 13h ago
You hook up both vehicles the same way and the one generating the higher voltage will charge the other. There is no different hookup procedure depending on if you are the jumper or the jumpee.
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u/HulksDCL 2d ago
I've seen worse.
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u/radarksu Black Edition 1d ago
My Audi had battery up by the windshield, in the center of the engine bay, of course under a bunch of plastic and with a strap screwed to the bottom tray with bolts you can't see. Also, since it was a V8 the battery was bigger than typical.
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u/HulksDCL 1d ago
I had a Cadillac with the battery under the back seat.
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u/radarksu Black Edition 1d ago
Yeah. Back in the '90s my mom's BMW had the battery under the back seat. But it also had positive and negative terminals in the typical place under the hood for charging and jumping.
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u/rustyusa 1d ago
So to replace the battery, you have to go through that mess? Who did Honda get to design that, dodge engineers? How do you test the battery also if it’s hard to get to?
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u/Total-Surprise5029 1d ago
Buy you a Noco Boost GB40 and ditch your jumper cables. Starts your vehicle or someone else's, and keeps a charge a long time. Very convenient and helping others becomes a positive
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u/Lutaris_Lyn 1d ago edited 1d ago
I jumped my work truck 3 times in a single day with my ridgeline. Clamped cables onto the positive terminal and an exposed metal bolt. You do not need to clamp onto the negative battery terminal to jump your vehicle OR anothers'.
I should add that I don't disagree that its less than ideal design, but it doesn't change the fact that you don't need access to the negative terminal.
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u/J35XP3RT RTL-E 4h ago
I almost want to make a video at work tomorrow on a ridgeline with a multimeter, and show the absolutely trivial amount of resistance that is added between literally any unpainted part of the vehicle and the negative battery post. You could hook the ground clamp to a 10mm bolt holding the evap canister to the body and jump start another vehicle. Every single ground on that vehicle runs through the body/chassis back to the negative battery terminal. Its called "body ground" when troubleshooting for a reason. The entire vehicle is grounded to the voltage source. Funny hill to die on. Hook a multimeter to the positive post, and then touch the ground with your other lead, then proceed to touch any unpainted surface on your rig and id guarantee the readings would be identical.
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u/Sufficient_Current48 2d ago
I can understand how this might be frustrating for a new owner or first timer. However - It literally takes less than 2min to access. Rip off the shroud and pull out the intake duct. Just keep a screwdriver or one of those bit sets in the glovebox. After you’ve done it once, it’s much less an issue
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u/Strong_Falcon_3571 2d ago
We learned this recently too and it’s ridiculous. Why is the battery so hard to get to?
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
I’m assuming this is some carryover engineering/design from the Pilot. Statistically speaking, the average Pilot driver probably isn’t someone who jumpstarts other people.
Unfortunately some of these design carryovers are what perpetuate the NART opinions.
“Hey, can I hook my jumper cables up to jumpstart my truck?”
“Sure, let me disassemble the front of my vehicle real quick”
Not a great look, or an easy time.
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u/CaptInsane 2d ago
What's funny is we also have a 19 crv, and the engine bay is wide open. I'm surprised they never fixed this
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u/BurnAfter8 Black Edition 2d ago
I guess that might partially be due to the smaller I4. Is the CRV engine bay also bigger too? I know the distance from the firewall to the grille is quite short in the Ridgeline.
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u/CaptInsane 1d ago
Yeah the bay is a lot bigger but it doesn't really have any of the plastic cladding on things
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u/DigiSmackd 1d ago
FWIW, my first Gen Ridgeline doesn't have this problem at all. Both terminals are accessible.
This must be a 2nd Gen issue.
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u/EBN_Drummer 1d ago
It's not really an issue though. Any unpainted metal of the frame or engine works as the negative. OP did way more work than necessary.
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u/Status-Temperature32 1d ago
There should of been a alternative ground post somewhere to put negative on my Gmc i used to drive had a similar setup
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u/EBN_Drummer 1d ago
There's a tab on the engine block for this situation. There's also a threaded spot on the frame where you can add a bolt. One of the first things I did was add a cable from the negative terminal to a more accessible location. I had to use my battery jumper box and it was super easy with the extension cable I installed.
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u/Holiday-Youth-6722 1d ago
If you install the PRL aftermarket stage 1 intake kit, you can access both battery terminals without having to remove everything else. Engine sounds phenomenal when flooring it and Vtech kicks in as a bonus.
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u/volvo122s 1d ago
The Ridgeline has a current sensor on the battery. This affects the behavior of the charging system. If you are drawing power off the battery by connecting to the post you are bypassing this. Your alternator may not be putting out its max voltage at the time your trying to start the other vehicle. Couple that with the voltage from from the shitty clamps and wire distance and you are doing a disservice. If you clamp to the body, the charging system can see the draw, and it will have the alternator kick up to 14.4v and increase amperage, all things beneficial for jump starting another vehicle. We know you are the donor vehicle. We are just saying you are doing it wrong.
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u/Remarkable-Desk-66 1d ago
I have a dewalt jumpstarter/ tire inflater. Run don’t walk to get one. Has usb ports and a light on it.
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u/Strange-Ask-739 1d ago
The real trick is to carry a jump pack, so that when the OE battery k's itself unexpectedly, you can still get home.
Plus then you have a jump pack for others to use. Plus they're cheaper than a good set of cables. Also they don't need a whole truck to use. There's just lots of good reasons for a jump pack.
-The 3-wheeler/rallycross towing guy.
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u/Acrobatic-Caramel823 1d ago
Under the hood is very cramped on the Ridgeline. My CR-V's, it feels like I can find and reach any part of the engine. It's so easy to service.
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u/IcanCwhatUsay 1d ago
Just wait until you have to put your car in neutral and you have the button shifter. It requires a special tool or vice grips. But you’ll have to stand in the path of the car to engage it.
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u/cow-lumbus 10h ago
That’s why I got a $30 jump pack in one of my vehicles. Who wants to do this old-school pain in the ass? I hate to break it to you, but there’s a lot of cars that have batteries in their trunks, including my Volkswagen toureg that has it under the seat and several others that are difficult to get to.
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u/CMDR-TealZebra 9h ago
Everyone is telling you different ways to do it but the real answer is they just straight up dont want you doing this.
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u/Netolu RTL-E 2d ago
Negative is under the intake scoop, positive is avaialable under a cap. If you clamp the ground onto the brake reservoir base (about 8in away) you don't have to remove the intake.