Reverse battery question

This group came up with the answer to my brake problem right off, so I thought I'd ask for advice on what happened after I brought my 91 Civic wagon back from the shop that fixed the falling shoe problem.

The battery died dead the day I brought the car home - ignition won't do anything but click and stutter, no spark at all. I did get a jump start that got it from my mailbox to my parking space. The battery had been weak, but working, for some time, so I guess it really is time for a new one. Trouble is, my usual battery source, Costco, only carries the 51R. Mine is the one year of 89 - early 90's Civics that needs the 51.

Looking elsewhere caused severe sticker shock. So my questions are: has anyone used the 51R in a 91 Civic and did it work well for you? Failing that, since the car has over 200,000 miles on it, are there any reliable sources of used or cheap batteries? I've checked Sears, Walmart, Napa, Carquest and Pepboys - they're approximately twice as much as Costco. Advance and AutoZone don't carry the 51. Anyone have any ideas where else to look?

Thanks -

Chris

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Chris
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Hi Chris

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lists a Valucraft 51-VL for a 1991Honda Civic. They get $49.99 with core. Maybe you could get your localAutoZone to order one for you. Also you should probably make sure youralternator is working. Good luck

Reply to
gsxr711

About five years ago,I bought a $29.00 battery at Sears for my old van.The battery is still working pretty good. Of course,the sales clerk guy at Sears tried to talk me into buying a higher priced battery,can't blame him for that. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Did that 91 Civic come over from the UK? cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Hey, all,

Just checked in again after more woes this weekend. Thanks for the information. In one way or another all the replies helped. In reverse order:

Cuhulin, the Civic was sold in the U.S. and has been here all its life. I'm glad you at least were able avoid a high price just for having a reversed battery. Sears here swore that about $70, with core, was the least I could get out the door for with any battery they sold.

Z, thanks a lot for answering my question re: reversing the battery. It's always good to know what happened to the route one diidn't take. Hope your fix continutes to work - I'd have the same hesitation you did about the safety of revesing the battery.

GSXR - I love that bike! Thanks for the info on Valuecraft - at least I know I did get the cheapest solution I'd feel comfortable with long term, given the problems with this particular car.

Since I could only take the car one place and would have to get it jumped again if I turned the engine off, I just bit the bullet and took the car into a shop here. $55 is about what I paid for the battery + $25 labor to install it and diagnose some other recent problems. It looks like these guys did an honest job for a reasonable price - less than Sears, for sure. Just for comparison, Honda dealer wanted $90 just for the battery.

But no sooner had I got that taken care of than the thing started stalling out. Took it back to the same shop and it turns out the distributor coil is apparently badly arcing (carbon trails everywhere inside the cap). But thats another post for another thread. Anyone want a 1991 Honda Civic wagon cheep?

Chris

Reply to
Chris

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