Relocating battery question

[CMF_Nissanmania]

I'm getting close to relocating my battery under the passenger seat. I've got the battery, made a bracket to hold it and ordered some new leads. I went for the slightly larger Deka ETX 18L weighing 8.2kg with 300 CCA - ETX 20L has 270 CCA and weighs 7.2 kg. Its also cheaper at $169 compared to $180 from Battery World. Still alot smaller and lighter than stock one with reasonable capacity. In fact the sales guy got a shock when he tested the battery and it delivered much more amps than an equivalent Oddessy!

Only thing I haven't completely worked out is where to route the wires through the firewall. Any suggestions? I suppose I'll need to drill a hole and use a grommet to seal and protect the cables.Would be nice to use an ixisting grommet but they seem to all disappear somewhere behind the a/c gear etc in the dash.

 

[CMF_Alex_B]

i used a grommet in the LH wheel arch > http://micra.studior7.com/projecturbomicra/battery/battery.htm

then ran it along the loom then into that hole under the old battery tray,

hope that helps,

Alex

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Thanks mate. Yeah, the ecu loom grommet looks like the place to go. Just needed to take the pastic cover off the center console to find it.

Was in the same situation as yourself - faced with a dead battery but not wanting to put a big cluncker back in. Running The Deka in the normal battery position for the moment and is working well.

Should hopefully have the battery relocated over the next week.

 

[CMF_m-hayes]

I don't know if it is the same in Aus as in the UK. I have found that when I have been routing battery cables through the car it is easier and cheaper to use the thick coppewr cable tey use on arc welders. In teh UK it is sold by the metre in welding shops. It comes in various thicknesses according to current. (The thinner the cheaper) It is more flexible than normal auto battery cable so is easier to route, although if not fixed at regular points it can flap around a bit.

So if you havn't already bought your cable it may be worth looking at.

 

[CMF_Alex_B]

Good idea, also get a few HD Zip ties and some loom tubing stuff to protect the cable from chafing on corners,

Alex

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Have completed the battery install. Took a bit of fiddling but in the end fairly straight forward. Ended up drilling a new hole through the firewall with a 32mm holesaw as couldn't find a grommet big enough and the ECU grommet would have been wrecked if I used this. I sealed around the sheathed cables with silicone.

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Shot of battery clamp and routing of cables. All pretty neat.

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Now have cleared good spot for air intake - would need to baffle off from hot air in engine bay - but otherwise good access to fresh cool air here.

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Total weight of install is 8.2kg battery, 1.8kg cables, 0.5kg ali clamp and 10mm nuts/bolts = 10.5kg.

Could have use smaller 7.2kg battery bringing it down to 9.5kg.

Not a huge weight saving overall but does move the weight closer to the centre of gravity.

More importantly I've now created some much needed space in the engine bay.

 

[CMF_Yom]

You'll get better throttle response and performance by whacking the air filter straight onto the TB and using that orange pipe to feed a bit of outside air up to the filter. thats if you can fit it under the strut brace!

I believe that ribbed piping is increddibly restrictive stuff when it comes to vacuum.

 

[cisco]

Cool, great stuff mate.

Can you feel the handling improvement? Or better response from the car when cornering?

I managed to get my battery cable through one of the factory grommet holes, but can't remember which one sorry. I love those Dekas, I would get one of those for sure next time.

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Haven't driven around hard enough to test any handling changes yet.

That air intake is temporary till I work out something better. At least its better than the pea shooter tubing on the stock system. Still scratching my head on that one.

 

[cisco]

Well good luck with it all. These are some good decent changes that you're doing.

Agree with Yom. Ribbed ducting is bad, try to get your hands on some smooth silicon stuff. I found this awesome stuff for about $30 for my first micra, was just flexible enough to make a very gradual bend out of it - worked great.

 

[CMF_micrat]

just out of curiosity, why have you run two battery cables through the firewall? You only need to run one, this would have saved weight and money.

 

[cisco]

Oh I didn't notice that. Yeah Nissanmania, my earth cable bolts straight under that lower seatbelt anchor bolt that you can see in that last photo of yours. So its a short cable, leaves plenty of room for going through the firewall etc. You could simply cut yours and do that. It works perfectly. I have a great connection, I can still jump start the car just from clamping the jumper leads in the engine bay even though the battery is actually earthed on the seatbelt anchor bolt.

 

[CMF_Nissanmania]

Was advised by auto electrician to run a good earth to engine/gearbox as well as earth to chassis adjacent to the battery(seat frame bolt). Seems like overkill but I have read other articles on the benefits of auxillary earth cables within the engine bay so I thought it made sense. On the other hand, you guys have had no problems without the extra earth so may not be that important. Some research may uncover the answer??

 

[CMF_micrat]

This electrician that advised you to run the extra cable wasn't by chance trying to sell you the cable were they??

 

[cisco]

Yeah that makes sense Nissanmania.

Its certainly not a bad thing. Your car because of that would have a better connection that mine, even if its only a small difference. Your wiring is morr correct, just a personal design decision really.

 

[CMF_Alex_B]

i did both, i had short earth in cabin, plus ran the earth to enginebay-gearbox,

Alex