Relocated battery?

[dmention7]

I just wanted to check if anyone has relocated their MSP's battery to the trunk or other location for whatever reason? If so, do you have any pics of your setup or tips specific to the MSP?

To anticipate the inevitable questions/comments regarding weight distribution etc, my main motivation for considering this is that I've been wanting to try a water/air intercooler setup for some time now, and I figure getting the battery out of the engine bay may give me a bit more flexibility in locating and mounting the exchanger and piping.

 

[dmention7]

Nothin? What if I open it up to discussing the minutiae of weight distribution and handling that will accompany a battery relocation on a FWD car? lol

 

[dmention7]

Well, I picked up a cheap battery box today--I'm running an optima red top, so there's no need to worry about venting as i would with a lead-acid battery. Once I get ahold of some 0 or 2ga wire and a distribution block, I'll post some pics of my setup.

 

[MREDDLE]

I do not have any pictures but I have relocated mine to the trunk, drivers side. It seems that I might have a power issue. Voltage drop/alternator problem? I am going to look into it more this weekend.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

if you haven't already you may want to check out this thread.
Liquid cooled intercooler

 

[dmention7]

I do not have any pictures but I have relocated mine to the trunk, drivers side. It seems that I might have a power issue. Voltage drop/alternator problem? I am going to look into it more this weekend.

What gauge wire did you use? 0/1 gauge is pretty flippin expensive, but I'm not sure I want to risk voltage problems.

And thanks for the link, GoFast. I had not seen that thread, but I'll peruse it after work to see if I can glean anything from it.

 

[LMT BJ]

Idea

I wait for your pictures and progress beacause I want to put a KLZE (V6) in my 2003 Protege LX. I need to see your connections in the engine bay and do you pass the wire in the firewall and inside the car to the trunk or underneath...(uhm)

Here some of my ideas for Optima

 

[LMT BJ]

Or this one

 

[dmention7]

Those are fancier solutions than the one I got... just a cheap plastic box from pep boys. I'm mostly just worried about keeping any cargo in my trunk from contacting the battery terminals etc.

Also, I was planning on running the power wire under the carpet and through the firewall, but I haven't looked to figure out exactly where. There are usually one or two free grommets in the footwell area, but whether they are large enough to pass a 0 gauge wire through is another story. Worst case, I have to drill out a hole and seal it up with silicone sealant.

 

[dmention7]

So I've got a question... I finally got around to mounting the battery box in my trunk (nothin fancy like I said, but I'll get some pics if anyone cares), and I have some 0/1 gauge welding cable on the way. Now I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions as to the best way to connect the battery cable from the trunk to the couple of wires that are currently clamped to the battery post in the engine bay? Are there special high-amperage connectors for such a situation?

I know that ideally, I'd probably run the battery cable all the way to the fuse box or wherever those wires all head or use a fancy distribution block, but for now I just want to get the battery reasonably hooked up from the trunk so I can finalize my choice of IC core.

 

[dragonballspeed]

I have had my battery relocated right behind the rear seat, positioned so they sit on top of the rear wheels for about 4 years now. The biggest problem to overcome is charging and grounding of the car. Make sure that you DO NOT delete any grounding points in the egine as your car will not keep a constant charge. Also you want to ground the battery(s) in the rear as well. IF you are using large gauge cable it is best to run underneath the car next to the factory pinc welds. You can easily do this by using insulated hose clamps and wire loom and riviting it the the underside. You can try to use screws, but it is more difficult. Also you will want a circuit breaker added in case the wire gets torn to eliminate the chance of elctric shock or fire. Here is the pic when first done, but since then I have distributed the weight more equally from left to right. Hope this helps.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=24859

 

[dmention7]

After speaking with a few people on a local forum, I ended purchasing a 150amp breaker which I'm going to locate at the battery. I also got a 4-way distro block with both fused and direct outputs that I'm going to use for hooking everything up under the hood.

My inclination is to run the power cable through the interior of the car, but I may investigate running it under the car. It probably is a lot safer there, just in case of accidental shorts in the wire... but I'll have to weigh that against ease of install.

Appreciate the reply!

 

[dragonballspeed]

If you run a 0gauge wire under the carpet, just paln on having a large bump wherever you put it. Also you will have to drill a sizable hole through the firewall because there are no factory grommets that will allow you to pass it through to the engine bay.

After speaking with a few people on a local forum, I ended purchasing a 150amp breaker which I'm going to locate at the battery. I also got a 4-way distro block with both fused and direct outputs that I'm going to use for hooking everything up under the hood.

My inclination is to run the power cable through the interior of the car, but I may investigate running it under the car. It probably is a lot safer there, just in case of accidental shorts in the wire... but I'll have to weigh that against ease of install.

Appreciate the reply!

 

[kicknmazdaspd]

pics when you get it done.

 

[mp3-79bronco]

so for the ground do you just ground it in the trunk? no running a ground all the way back to the front?

 

[dmention7]

All my supplies arrived this week, and I'm going to try and get everything put together today. I'll grab pics as well. And yes, I plan on just grounding in the trunk--probably using the threaded hole where the jack bolted to the trunk floor. No sense in running a heavy cable from the trunk to the engine bay again when the chassis will do the same job

 

[Knox Joe]

Mine is in the trunk. The wire is ran underneath the car. The wire goes through a grommet in the spare tire wheel well.

I moved mine to make room for a large methanol resevoir. You will free up a lot of room.

 

[dmention7]

Finished up the project this past weekend. Thread/write-up is here