"How To Relocate Battery .... now with Pictures

INFORMATION G2IC Archives
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Here is the How To on relocating your battery. A little disclaimer: There may a better way to do this, however this is the Budget Way. Read on…

Items needed:
2 guage wire 15 feet.
2 more terminals
Tool to punch through trunk floor.
Metal strip shown in picture.
1 large nut and bolt
3 screw type bolts.
1 large terminal for ground
Electrical tape
Zip ties

First thing is take the terminals off your battery. To remove, losen the two bolts on top of the hold down rods. Take that cover off the edge of the battery the holders are attatched to. Lift up and remove the battery. Underneath there will be four bolts. Taking these out is neccessary to take out the stock battery holder tray. Taking this out is not neccessary, but it makes the engine bay look clean. Picture below.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=102

Next thing you want to do is run the 2 gauge power cable from your engine compatment to the trunk. The easiest way to do this is use the gromet right above the ECU. The picture below shows what I’m talking about. Push it through from the inside and you’ll be able to grab it from the engine bay.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=112

Next you’ll have to pull the carpet and run the cable down the side of your car. Be carfull pulling your carpet, you don’t want to break the plastic peices in your door jam. Below is a picture.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=113

Now, I have a sedan. I’m not sure how you 2 door owners want to run your wire up under your back seat, so good luck. If you go out and buy a sedan, then I can help you. What I did was come up under the carpet as close to the door as possible and just run the cable under the back seat and pull it upbehind the back of the back seat. No picture of that. Once it was in there I ran it into the spare tire area and up at the rear of my trunk. Pictures of that here.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=107

Once I placed the battery where I wanted it, I took it out and punched holes through the trunk floor using an Air Hammer. The Air Hammer went through like butter. Then i used the two screws to bolt the metal bracket down.

On the metal bracket, ACE sells those as straight 3 foot and 6 foot pieces. They cost a few bucks and are very easy to bend. I test fitted my piece and thats how I got it to the right size.
Pics Below.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=110

Now, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE YOUR 2 GUAGE HOOKED UP YET. DO NOT HOOK THE 2 GAUGE POWER WIRE TO THE BATTERY. If you do at this point, you could touch a ground with it and…well…thats bad.

At this point I put the terminals on both ends of my power wire. I picked them up at NAPA with my 2 guage wire. Here is where the big nut and bolt come in. In the engine bay, you want to put the bolt through the stock terminal and then through the new one. Tighten the nut down until you’ve got a solid connection. Wrap in electrical tape and zip tie in place. Pic of the finished product below.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=106

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=103

Now, again, you should not have hooked up the battery. Take your stock gournd wire which I had to cut about 18 inches from the terminal, and add the Heavy duty terminal to the other end. I ground mine in right below the Tail Light, but any spot will do. Just make sure that the paint has been taken off in that area. It may be hard to see, but the brass connector is my ground. Picture below.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=109

Once the ground is hooked up, check all your connections and put the power on the battery. Wa-La you’re done. If you’re curious about the second wire comming off my Positive Terminal, thats for my amp. Only one ground is needed.

Below are a few more pictures and the first one is from right above the battery to demonstrate how much room there is with my large sub box. The battery and battery box are stock.

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=108

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=107

http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=111

Remember to that you’re gonna have to reset your ECU. Email with questions.

_Steve

dayuiz@hotmail.com
AIM: DAYUIZi
Yahoo: dayuiz

Neil, Please add to Teg Tips**

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Pics no workie…

:confused:

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Try them now. I fixed that.

-Steve

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I dont get it… why would you need to relocate your battery?

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Looks good steve. I plan on doing the same thing. However, I am going to have to instal an external emergency battery cut-off switch. I have heard you will not be able to run at any of the tracks without the cut-off switch.

Josh

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Originally posted by bigblue92
[B]Looks good steve. I plan on doing the same thing. However, I am going to have to instal an external emergency battery cut-off switch. I have heard you will not be able to run at any of the tracks without the cut-off switch.

Josh [/B]

I’ve heard the same thing about the cut-off switch but I’m not planning on going to a track soon, so I’m not worried about it.

-Steve

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Originally posted by 91integracer
I dont get it… why would you need to relocate your battery?

http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=48356&t=3083#post48356

-Steve

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wow… amazing… now im actually gonna do it… :slight_smile:

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ARCHIVETHIS

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That’s a great idea but I think you would notice an even bigger difference if you were to put the battery behind the front seats as central as possible. You have it on the outside corner of the car and that’s GOT to suck up some rotational energy.

Also- every battery I’ve ever seen said not to get a spark near it because it puts off fumes. That would make me want to enclose it in a sealed box with a vent to the outside of the car. These fumes could deteriorate your speakers or inner trunk surfaces or even seep into the cabin as well as be a fire hazard(very near your gas tank I might add). Go look at any RV and you’ll see that the auxillary battery is always enclosed in a sealed vented box.

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I plan on getting an Optima Leak Proof battery later. And then possibly a sealed box, but I wanted to try it before I spent that kinda money.

-Steve

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Originally posted by NSX Blue
ARCHIVETHIS

I’ve already spoken to Neil, and this will be transfered to the Teg Tips section for permanate veiwing. I’m waaaaay ahead of you John. :smiley: :wink:

-Steve

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Originally posted by 90integraGS
[B]That’s a great idea but I think you would notice an even bigger difference if you were to put the battery behind the front seats as central as possible. You have it on the outside corner of the car and that’s GOT to suck up some rotational energy.

90integraGS: Ehh… No it should be where he put it. Even with that mod it’s still nowhere near 50/50. Unfortunately this car doesn’t have a point of rotation about the center of his car, nor do I think it spins in circles, so “sucking up rotational energy” is not a concern. Opposing the natural uneven weight distrubution of a driver on the front left obviously asks for the battery to go in the opposite corner. I don’t think BMW and all the other auto manufacturers got it wrong when they decided to place their batteries in opposite corner to the driver, which helps nearly ever BMW have near 50/50 weight distrubtion.

DAY U IZ: You should really seal that thing up, battery gases are VERY harmful for your health and will leak in the cabin whether you think so or not!!! Just for your own safety… and 2nd, do you notice the starter to sound a little weaker, like its not getting enough juice, usually a common problem with battery relocations?

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yea steve seal that! wouldnt want you taking in fumes while your driving…

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Steve, you do not have to reset the ECU. You did that when you unhooked the battery power. Oh, and I took care of that other thingy this morning. Thanks for the pictures! One suggestion…SIMPLE GREEN!

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Originally posted by AMERIKAN
Steve, you do not have to reset the ECU. You did that when you unhooked the battery power. Oh, and I took care of that other thingy this morning. Thanks for the pictures! One suggestion…SIMPLE GREEN!

When I said reset the ECU I was refering to letting the car idle and not to rev the crap out of it. Its got to re-map the fuel maps. And Simple Green huh…whats that dirty, the engine bay?

TEG92: Nope, my engine starts on the second or third “putt” of the starter, just like it always did. I used 1 guage wire too, so that may have something to do with it. And since I’ll be keeping the battery back there, I’m going to be putting an Optima in, and then see about making my own box.

One question for people with the kit, Where does the box vent at? Can you take a picture? Does it go out through the trunk floor?

-Steve

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You’ve seen this right Steve?http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categorydisplay.asp?catcode=42001

Looks like you can just route that hose out the vents in your trunk. At least my hatchback has vents on each side just near where your battery is. If you pull off the interior trim you should be able to see em.

On the exterior you can see the vents in this pic:

Leif

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I remeber that vent thing. Yeah, I’ve seen that. Why did Honda put that there? Did they anticipate us moving our batteries there?

Consider my battery as good as sealed…once I get some time.

-Steve

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DAY U IZ:Hey great and very detailed write up. I have a question, I went to my car (a 2-door LS) to look for the grommet to do something else, and could not find it. Is there any other grommet you can recommend that is closer rather than running all the way to driver’s side grommet? Thanks for any help, and again BEAUTIFUL work man!!!

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http://communities.msn.com/dayuiz/outside.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=112

That picture is on the passenger side and there is gromet right above the ECU. That brass part right above the carpet is actually my ECU. Thats the gromet I used.

-Steve