Hello, first time poster and first time attempting something like this. My 2017 Camaro battery is dead. I want to attach a charger but am confused about where the negative cable goes. I assume the positive cable attaches under the red plastic cap but does it attach to the screw itself or the bolt? Is the negative attached on the other side of the battery? On the innermost screw (has some green paint on it) or the outer screw? I'm sure these are really basic questions but I have to start somewhere, right? I'd like to prevent having to get the car towed and I need to learn how to attach a trickle charge because I live in a cold climate. Thanks!

 

Yes the posi goes on the red under the cap or anywhere on that terminal,the neg goes on the other side with the green anywhere on that terminal.
If your battery is dead it may need more than a trickle charger to get charged up enough to start the car,you might need a full size charger or a set of jumper cables and another car to get you started.

 

Linda,
It's usually bad news for a battery to get run down flat, for most batteries. Only a Deep Cycle battery is built to withstand such abuse, and they are costly. So you may or may not get a good re-charge, there, but we can hope for the best. If you do get the battery charged, have it load-tested (most auto parts places will do that for free) but do not believe the first place, if they say the battery is bad. Get a second opinion elsewhere, and you have no obligation to mention any previous battery testing.

Rather than buying a conventional trickle charger, you would be much better off with a "smart" battery tender. That gadget will run itself as needed, and it will have a de-sulfating cycle in the mix (sulfates are the usual battery killers). Most are temperature compensated, so check for those options in what you buy. The Positive lead goes to the Positive terminal (nowhere else), and the Negative lead goes to the Negative terminal; easy-peasy. If the battery clips can grip the terminal, or one side of the terminal and the clamp, that will be fine. As long as the battery tender agrees that you have a good connection, the details are not really important. Beware of corrosion on the hardware, though - corroded connections can act just like a bad battery, when the battery itself is still good. Your battery hardware looks fine, now. You can leave a smart charger connected forever; they will take good care of your battery. Just remember to disconnect it from the battery, before you drive away. Keep us posted.