Om1kron

NOTE: This is a cross post fyi.

Before you read on, I saw this neat battery relocation tutorial on the net (here=Battery Relocation Project) and I would like to tweak it basically to my needs and wants, since I am not installing an audio system some components I am going to suggest I install may be overkill. Also I'm doing this to a 240sx and not a WRX so the electrical is slightly different but the theory is still the same in a nutshell.


I own a 1996 240sx which had a battery location performed to it while in the previous owners hands. I did not think much about this until I met up with Desmon to install my alarm that the setup is unsafe. I've been wanting to fix this particular setup and never really was something I indented to leave in Desmons hand's since I only paid him to install a car alarm, and I would like to be more familiar with my cars electricity layout as I will be re-doing the car's harness from scratch once I upgrade to a stand alone ecu.

The positive battery cable runs under the car near the fuel lines, in short the only negative I see about this is if something happened to that cable that would cause it to set fire.

see here....




I'm thinking that isn't such a bad spot for the cable to be honest, you would think the power cable itself would get damaged from daily driving, but if I bought some proper mounting brackets for that line. I don't see how it could hurt having it down here right?

So I think I'm going to leave the power cable where it is, I may do some initial re-routing since I don't' really like it wrapped up into my subframe and what not. It's also not grommeted in the entry hole leading to the trunk that was made for it, gracious amounts of duct tape have been used as a grommet instead lol. Luckily for me it's worked all of this time (don't have pictures at the moment.)



Here is an under hood picture however. I need to replace this particular plastic piece with a power distribution block



I was looking at Lighning Audio's LD14 (Distribution block 1 input 4 output - (1) 4 or 8 Ga. Input and (4) 8 Ga. Outputs) @ $12.47



That doesn't seem to be a bad price. The products look pretty stout. The pricing isn't so bad either and it looks a lot less cornier than Stinger's equipment.

I don't really see the purpose of using a fused distribution block to be honest with you so I won't even list those as an option.

As far as battery clamps go I don't feel I need a fancy connector with an LCD readout unless that somehow is going to deliver better power distribution throughout the car it's overkill. So again I would go with two of Lightning Audio's LBC2 (Battery Clamp 2 inputs (+/-) - (2) 4 or 8 Ga.) for $19.97



And I would run a circuit breaker on the main power cable (200amp) which may be overkill but at least I know a solid unit would be in place. Yet again Lightning Audio LCB200 would be the item I would employ here.



The 140amp model costs the same so why not get a higher amp rating. I'll be running a stand alone ecu, a stack cluster, some other random power accessories. That should be a good insulator.

Another way to do this instead of the circuit breaker if you felt that was overkill would be to run an inline fuse at least withing 18in from your positive battery post, which I may have to do if I decide to run a separate set of positive and negative cables for remote jump access terminals.

The Secondary input's I guess I could use for jumper cable terminals? Or maybe install one of those cool remote battery charger deals so I can plug my car into an outlet to charge the battery when it's not in use since I wont be driving the car all that much.

Anyway I know I'm leaving something out, but I will upload a drawing of how I am plotting out the layout of all of this stuff, but the link I posted at the beginning of the thread should give a good idea of what I am aiming for.

If you have any suggestions or recommendations or concerns since none of the relocation tutorials/information threads/etc are really all that detailed or have working pictures. I would like for you to share them here, rather than say "search' as I could list all of the threads I read and were way off track.

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bardabe

actually the lower the amp rating is on the circuit breker the better. at 200 amps you will over heat the living hell and short out your alternator and ecu. before the breaker breaks. think about it the biggest fusible link in the car is a 75A for the alternator. I say get a 125amp breaker and call it a day.

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Om1kron

I was hoping that you chimed in. As far as everything else goes I'm assuming it seems pretty solid or standard?

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96Turbo

wow, that original routing of that power cable was sketchy as hell!

and yea, you'd be better off with the 140A out of the two. It's the current at which it will disconnect the circuit. i need to install one of those on my relocated setup


and why do you need the distribution block? I think the way i routed mine was pretty efficient, clean, and effective.

basically it goes

2AWG [Battery--->Starter]
4AWG[Starter--->Alternator]
8AWG[Alternator--->the plug that powers the interior. It originally is connected straight to the + terminal under the hood (like 8" away from the alternator)]

no distribution block needed....but i'd like to hear your reasons as to why you plan to use one

Om1kron

Because I broke the plastic jenky ass stock connector that performs these exact same functions, and I wont need to crimp or add any connections at the end of the wires nor splice them to run them into the distro block. I circled it in the original post. And it was not wrapped in electrical tape, just free floating in the engine bay, if it would've hit the frame (which i'm lucky it never did)

POOF! FIIIIIIIIIII YAAAAA!!!

Any pictures of your setup?

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96Turbo

i'm assuming the "janky ass plastic plug" you refer to is the one by the fusebox that powers the interior.

if so, save your money on the dist block and do like so:



you can see a glimpse of the fatty red wire right behind the fuel filter. It comes from the trunk and goes straight to the starter.

Then you can see the silver wire that runs from starter straight to the alternator.

The skinny red wire goes from the alternator post to that interior plug i mentioned earlier. If you rip off the plastic piece you'll be left with a ring connector lookin thing. I just bolted that ring connector to the wire i ran from the alternator. Then tape the shit out of it.

So basically it's just a long chain of (+) power. It's basically just the reverse of how it's wired stock (interior->alt->starter)

works like a charm, just need to install a circuit breaker. let me know if you have any other ?s

EDIT: the 2 other silver wire you see (above fuel filter and below alternator) are just grounds

S14Cuhh

i wanna do it...but this is a little hard to follow lol. any other sites with ways to re-locate?

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Hywarp161

my only issue is wouldnt you want terminal posts in the engine bay to allow for possible jump start.

96Turbo

ugh........i thought i explained it well the first time. as far as i can see you don't need to confuse yourself with distribution blocks etc

2 gauge [ battery to starter]
4 gauge [ starter to alternator]
8 gauge [ alternator to plug that usually attaches straight to the + terminal under the hood]

my wire gauges are just an example of what i used. don't use anything smaller than a 2 gauge frmo the trunk to the hood, and the rest should be fine with anything 8 gauge or bigger

PM me if you still don't get it

Om1kron

Yeah the how to in the original post is pretty explanatory if you know your way around a wrx, the power system in a 240 is different. The picture above from the looks of the fusebox is an s13 fusebox because it's an s13 i'm looking at and the intake manifold looks like either a blacktop sr with a pipe paying on the top of it or it's an rb25

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96Turbo

why not just pop your trunk and jump it straight to the bat?

otherwise, it's still possible to get a clamp on the starter post. so i could technically still jump it from under the hood. I'd just rather do it from the trunk since it's easier

EDIT: yea, it's an RB...but the location of everything is the same for a KA or SR....i don't know about the interior power plug for an S14 tho, im pretty sure it's different

Hywarp161

you should never jump a car battery to battery, in this case the best setup would be a isolated post for the positive terminal.

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Om1kron

Interior power plug is on the inside of an s14 rather than the engine bay like an s13, but i'm sure you had to modify that when you put the rb in the car.

I wanted to relocate my fusebox as well but that's another project for another day. As far as the terminals for jumping the car I may add those later when I tub the wheel wells and repaint the engine bay but for now i'd just like to get the system in place after I swap in my motor now that it's out of the way and I can clean up the electrical on the car and take out the shit I don't need.

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96Turbo

how else would you jump your battery other than by connecting it to the battery?

Otherwise, like i said...there's always the post on the starter which would fit your description of an isolated positive terminal.

96Turbo

yea, i originally planned to relocated my fuse box as well. But i gave up on that once i realized what a PITA it was gonna be. Now that i've got the swap/refurbish finished i'll probably take on that project sometime in the future.

I still don't see what's so inconvenient about popping your trunk instead of your hood if you need a jump start

Hywarp161

one clamp to the positive and the other goes to a body ground so that the power passes though the starter and not just jolt the battery, hydrogen gas which forms as a battery discharges and loses its fluid is flammable, and a spark from the battery cables could set it off.

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Om1kron

lol! granted this may be true,however if I ever saw an elephant fly boy I tell ya!

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Hywarp161

ok all that aside i would still rather have a positive post available to wire up any accessories i may add, i just havent figured out how to isolate the post from the body. on my current build i already moved the bat to the trunk i just havent finished the wiring in the engine bay.

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Om1kron

And this is why I would have the distribution block. Because I could easily run all of those wires into my fusebox, however because I plan on removing it from the engine bay, it kind of defeats the purpose of running the cables directly into the box from that far away.

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96Turbo

This is the only reason i see a distribution block necessary....that or if you have an S14...or if you insist on having a isolated jumping post

in the cabin your dist block could split into a interior power wire, and one to power the engine bay

but yea...we really should relocate the fuse box. shit looks so nice

Om1kron

Well my fusebox is as useless as the dick on a paraplegic. I don't even know what's in there and it's obviously been hacked up before when the car was KA-T

I have an s14, and I will be running electric fans on my radiator.

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Hywarp161

i would love to get rid of my fuse box, after i painted my engine bay the fuse box looked like poo when i reinstalled it.

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96Turbo

oh yea...good point. I also used that 8AWG wire from the alternator to power my E fans. Conveniently located and made for a clean install

agreed. it just doesn't look like it belongs once the engine bay is all pertty.

btw, welcome to Zilvia =)

EDIT: well...sorta.....5 posts in 3 years lol

Om1kron

There are a lot of things in my engine bay it provides power to.... It's just those things are no longer in my engine bay.

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Hywarp161

thanks i joined a long time ago, just never posted.

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Om1kron

Alright... to clarify the use of a distribution block to make it more understandable for those who still cant comprehend...

0/1 gauge [battery to firewall distribution block] {+ battery terminal will have 100amp fuse}
4 gauge [distribution block to fuse panel in dashboard] {+ wire to fuse panel will have 75 amp fuse in block}
4 gauge [distribution block from firewall to starter]
8 gauge [from starter to alternator]


The distribution block will act as a super multiple junction if I am correct and the charge from the alternator will route right back to the + wire on the starter which in turn should be going back to the distribution block. Which in turn that should be going to the fuse box and sending + power back to the battery.

As far as the 45 amp fuse, not too sure what to do with that just yet.
Correct me if I am wrong.

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Wayne T. Edwards
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Bigsyke

not to bump an old thread, but I have about 90ft of 4ga amp/power wiring I scored from circuit city's death for a total of $2

Could I possible use a few 4Gauge wires going from the battery to the starter, to equal close to a 0/1gauge?

gijoe69

no.....battery to block is recommend for 0/1 gauge 4gauge u gonna end up with problems in the long run

onepuff

It would work i guess but it would look pretty strange. Sell that shit on the bay and get some 0/1AWG.

Tearlessj

Heres how I did it. It works fine for me. Since i'm feeling nice I drew out a pretty diagram. =]

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