Battery relocation options
Battery relocation options Just finishing my fuel injection fuel lines and looking into the wiring next for my project. I am going to locate the battery in the trunk and have looked at searches on this and considering using a selonoid switch in trunk. I believe this would be the safer way as the large positive wire to starter would only be hot on startup. Has anyone hear done it this way or am I making things to complicated. I believe I would also need a ignition wire to selonoid as well as a large alternator charge wire to battery. Also will use switch to manually disconnect in trunk. Any opinions on this setup would be appreciated. Thanks
TECH Junkie
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 3,092
Likes: 11
My battery is in the trunk and I have a fused wire coming off the battery to the relay contacts and then on to the fuel pump. The relay is controlled by +12vdc from the an ignition source. So anytime the ignition is on the fuel pump runs.
I also have a switch that is on the outside of the car under the rear bumper so that I can turn things off if something goes wrong or I am working on the car and don't want the fuel pump to run.
I also have a switch that is on the outside of the car under the rear bumper so that I can turn things off if something goes wrong or I am working on the car and don't want the fuel pump to run.
Battery in trunk I see no reason to over engineer the battery relocation. All my street rods had batteries in the trunk and I learned that proper cables were the most important part. I went to Tractor Supply and got welding cable to run the positive up to the starter solenoid then run a second cable from the battery negative to a starter bolt with a jumper to the frame. The alternator output goes to the starter solenoid also. Because of high output alternators and larger demands on electrical systems the alternator wire should be about a #8. Tuff to find a good multi-strand #8 wire but I get it from stereo install shops. To disable the fuel pump I simply pull the fuse.
Nothing unsafe about running your battery cable along the frame as long as it is fastened properly. I've never had any issues with this at all. If you are concerned then the easiest method would be to add a circuit breaker in the trunk so if you get a short it will pop and is easy to reset. You can buy them at the stereo stores. Here's one on Amazon.
Ok I am appreciating the replys, seems like there are many ways of doing this. FYI I am using a gm performance stand alone system on a new LS3. I am thinking maybe I will use # 2 welding cable for the hot lead to starter with a disconnect switch and maybe overload protection as well in trunk, ground from battery to frame in rear as well as ground jumper from frame in front to engine block. The harness has a control wire relay for the fuel pump that will shutdown fuel pump if engine is not running I believe and this will run separate to control fuel pump. The part that I am concerned about is do I need to run a separate 6 gauge wire from alternator all the way to the battery in the trunk or can this just be run to the GM relay box hot lug. See any issues with this plan or have any input for the alt. wire. Again thanks for any suggestion as this site has been a lot of help for my build.
I'm the odd one here: My battery is a Braille 15-pounder, mounted to the firewall above the heater fan/duct assemble (Factory AC delete car). I never drag the car, and had plenty of space under the hood. My main concentration was weight reduction.
Ok I am appreciating the replys, seems like there are many ways of doing this. FYI I am using a gm performance stand alone system on a new LS3. I am thinking maybe I will use # 2 welding cable for the hot lead to starter with a disconnect switch and maybe overload protection as well in trunk, ground from battery to frame in rear as well as ground jumper from frame in front to engine block. The harness has a control wire relay for the fuel pump that will shutdown fuel pump if engine is not running I believe and this will run separate to control fuel pump. The part that I am concerned about is do I need to run a separate 6 gauge wire from alternator all the way to the battery in the trunk or can this just be run to the GM relay box hot lug. See any issues with this plan or have any input for the alt. wire. Again thanks for any suggestion as this site has been a lot of help for my build.
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TECH Junkie
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 3,092
Likes: 11
One thing to remember is that the ECM needs good voltage to keep functioning while the starter is turning over. I ran a separate 4 gauge cable from the battery to a terminal strip next to the ECM to keep that from happening.
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Verdad Gallardo Thanks for the suggestions guys, if I do end up putting battery in trunk I will use your ideas.1981TA this car will be setup for handling and not be used for drag racing, hopefully some autocross and maybe a couple of road coarse events but not to the extent you do as I have followed some of your threads. Do you think I would get better weight transfer with battery in trunk or going with a lightwieght one as you have? This is in a second gen camaro with a lot of suspension upgrades.