Reflections on a relocated battery... - Honda Prelude Forum

fmshaw1971 · 01-19-2005, 01:03 PM

So maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. It does definitely eliminate understeer with all my other mods but...

I use an Odyssey 680 battery which doesn't have a whole lot of cranking power in the first place and I have pulleys so I don't get any power from the alternator at idle speed. This is fine in summer, but winter is another story. The problem is that you are constantly starting the car with a cold battery since it will never warm up in the trunk, unlike under the hood. I have never had to jump start it yet, but I've been close a couple of times. Fortunately it doesn't stay cold for long in Texas so I'll make it through the winter I think. I definitely would not recommend this mod for people up north. Either put a lightweight battery under the hood where it can warm up, or put a full size battery in the trunk. Anything else is a waste of $200 and 8 hours of work.

ludehawk · 01-19-2005, 01:14 PM

yep... no probs with my SMALLER battery under the hood

what's this understeer thing you talk about?

fmshaw1971 · 01-19-2005, 01:23 PM

Wow, Jay is up to 189 hp now!

You must have been busy modding that engine of yours.

I'm up to 130k miles now. Just wait till my engine finally goes and I rebuild with forged internals and FI.

Twiggz · 01-19-2005, 01:28 PM

$200?!?! wow what battery box did you get? I just got the cheap summit kit for around $50, and a 120amp breaker for $15.

also what gauge cable ar you running? I have a full size batt. in my trunk with a 2ga cable, and I noticed a current drop, but I also expected it.

fmshaw1971 · 01-19-2005, 01:33 PM

The Odyssey 680 was $100, the 2 gauge cable was another $25, the box was only $10 at Home Depot, the Fuse and fuse holder were $35, and the power distribution block was another $30. It's wasn't nearly as cheap as I thought it was going to be...

It wasn't very hard, but it was a pain in the ass to drill and wire everything. I also ran the power cable through vinyl tubing throughout the entire car so there is no chance of a short. Getting the cable through 8 feet of vinyl tubing was a PITA! Next time, I'd lube it up with some Vaseline.

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Twiggz · 01-19-2005, 01:38 PM

man, no wonder it took you 8 hours! haha at least you know its safe and you never need to worry about a short. now I wish I took the time to do that, I only put tubing up to the firewall.

I hope you went larger then an 80 amp fuse. mine worked great for about 2 weeks. then my motor kicked back or somthing strange... and I blew every 80 amp i put in. lol

fastfu · 01-19-2005, 01:48 PM

i just replaced my battery with one from a civic vti.

it has the same output but its 7kg lighter

fmshaw1971 · 01-19-2005, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggz

I hope you went larger then an 80 amp fuse. mine worked great for about 2 weeks. then my motor kicked back or somthing strange... and I blew every 80 amp i put in. lol

HAHAHAH! Here's my story. I had a long blow 60amp fuse in there to start. It didn't give me any trouble because the engine would always fire before there was enough resistance to blow the fuse. When I put Seafoam in the engine, made it really tough to crank. Voila! My fuse blew and I had nothing with which to replace it. It looked like rain was coming and my windows were down so I used a thick paper clip in place of the fuse. It was sufficient to raise the windows so I said what the hell and tried to crank the engine. Nope! The paperclip melted. I had nothing else until I searched my pockets. AHA! A nickel! With the nickel in the fuse holder, I was able to drive around until I finally got a 100amp fuse. So far, no problems, but I always keep a nickel handy.

bleacht · 01-19-2005, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ludehawk

yep... no probs with my SMALLER battery under the hood

what's this understeer thing you talk about?

hold does your battery hold up during the winter? i was thinkin of using a lightweight NRG battery but with the cca being only 280 and the weather hovering around 0-10 degrees here, i'm not sure it'll hold up.

Twiggz · 01-19-2005, 02:41 PM

a nickel!!! haha well thats a workaround I might not have thought of lol

NotoriouSH · 01-19-2005, 04:53 PM

I'm using a battery from an early 90's Accord, it's about 13 pounds lighter. I was using a 26-5N from Wal-Mart but for some reason it started to leak so I traded it in for a slightly harder cranking model (720 amps warm, 630 cold) with the same dimensions.

NoRice4U · 01-19-2005, 06:33 PM

my 25 pound odyssey battery fails all the time right now so I switched back to the heavier Red Top Optima

T-Bohn · 01-20-2005, 07:07 AM

I am in Ct. and it was -10 the other day I have a yellow top in the back seat.

I was having cranking issues which i thought was from the battery and a light fly wheel and have written about it here once or twice. It turns out that I had a loose cable on the starter from when the clutch got changed out.

I drive the car about once every ten days now and I have not had ANY start trouble at all...the car sits with the alarm set and just waits. I do make sure that everything is off lights, stereo, heater etc. always have. She jsut fires right up no problem

ludehawk · 01-20-2005, 07:48 AM

well I haven't driven the car in a while. mine worked fine for sub 20 degree weather though

it's lighter than most @ 13.5lbs.

maybe you guys let it sit too long?
most of yours doesn't have a metal casing... which causes the charge to be lost sooner than most.