alphagtp Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 I have been looking for a diagram of how to do the wiring on the battery but no luck, I relocated my battery to the trunk long time ago but I'm pretty sure I did it wrong as it keeps killing the batteries. I need to know the correct way to do it. I have the ground cable going to the ground (of course) but where does the Positive goes to? straight into the alternator? I did this long time ago and I don't have the instructions anymore. I never even though about this being the reason of why my batteries kept dying until last night when it just came to my mind out of nowehere, one of those moments... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 well I cant say for the relocation but typically there is 3 wires off the battery positive. one to the starter with a fusible link in it one that goes to the alternator one that supplies the underhood fuse panel(s) Also have to be sure you have sufficient grounds no matter where you relocate the battery to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 there is a charge wire COMing from the alternator. that wire can be disabled though. I can say for sure because I have done dual battery set ups with tons of success. what I would do with a single battery set up is replace the front battery with simply a capacitor or better yet a racing battery and WITH a 4 post isolator for use with the "e" or purple wire. that way you will have better/more grounding and grounding is the "key". the key wire is key to be specific. a dual charge wire from the alt can be utilised but please don't make one of them charge the starter for god sake. one to the aux post and one to the rear batt. rear batt can ground to the strut tower. thats it! the starter will still be protected by a fusible link. add more fusible links where you want to protect from engine fires and stuff. I don't use them on mine because they are not down where oil can accumulate but it's a good idea. obviously anyone doing this is at their own risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 You're saying that the main power cable to the starter should have a fusible link in it? That'd be news to me. Using a unibody as a ground is poor practice. Steel is a crappy conductor in the best of cases; steel panels held together by a bunch of spot-welds--some of which by now would probably be broken--would be even worse. It "can" work, but you'd better test the voltage drop. Most every case of "I moved the battery, now I have electrical problems" is due to a piss-poor ground circuit. Battery relocated to the rear of the vehicle? You'd better know how to do voltage-drop tests. These diagrams show the procedure, but you'll need one extra-long meter lead (make it from normal automotive primary wire, maybe put alligator clips on the ends) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 you don't want to really relocate the battery at all in my opinion. the best thing to do would be to add electron storage to the rear of the vehicle. testing is good, different people use different tests. one test is a load test from big amplifiers pulling lots of juice. my system passed that test using the body as a ground. just test the entire circuit + and - under load not just half of the circuit or one cable which is all you are doing. If you have a solid charge wire that is brand new and copper and thick, why would the voltage have a drop in it? I did not say the main starter power wire would magically have a fusible link in it. obviously it is a solid cable. what I meant was the starter and aux post have fusible links that protect the wiring and they are a good thing to check on before doing this. I always go with new fusible links, with the old ones completely removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 nevermind, I guess you have one for each side of the circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 <-- hate fusible links. maxi-fuse(s) in place of fusible link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 you don't want to really relocate the battery at all in my opinion. YES. Complete agreement. There is no valid reason to move the battery for any vehicle not used for competition; and for that matter, most occasional-competition cars, too. the best thing to do would be to add electron storage to the rear of the vehicle. I don't see why. A properly huge battery in the normal position, along with appropriate cables to any aftermarket load...seems fine to me. testing is good, different people use different tests. one test is a load test from big amplifiers pulling lots of juice. my system passed that test using the body as a ground. just test the entire circuit + and - under load How big is your amplifier? The starter draw is something like 150 amps at ten or eleven volts for five to fifteen seconds. More than that on big-blocks, or in cold weather. What amp pulls even close to that much current? I did not say the main starter power wire would magically have a fusible link in it. obviously it is a solid cable. what I meant was the starter and aux post have fusible links that protect the wiring and they are a good thing to check on before doing this. I always go with new fusible links, with the old ones completely removed. Ok, you're not putting a fusible link into the main power cable to the starter. I'm glad you cleared that up. I still don't understand where the fusible link FOR THE STARTER is installed. Whatever fusible links exist...sure, they should be verified good, without voltage drop. <-- hate fusible links. maxi-fuse(s) in place of fusible link? The nice thing about a fusible link--and, other than cost, the only real advantage a fusible link has over an actual fuse and fuse holder--is that a fusible link will accept a tremendous SHORT TERM overload; where a fuse will pop almost instantly. Useful in certain situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 the starter has no competition for power though. all you are trying to do at that moment is start the car. no need to test the fusible links either, just fully replace them. oil gets on the jacket and heat cycles for more than a decade and they are no good anymore. there is a fusible link for two wires on the starter. the purple wire I think and the factory charge wire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphagtp Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Thanks for the info! I relocated my battery in order to have a CAI in my 3.4, this was done at least 2 years ago and I don't even remember when/how I did it but what I know is that I didn't had any major issues other than having to keep charging my batteries and eventually killing them after a while but I always thought that it was because I don't drive the car much as it needs a transmission, only on weekends and around the block to keep moving it. Like I mentioned on my first post the idea of the battery wiring being the reason for my dead batteries is because I just realized that my main and only Red/positive cable from my battery goes straight into the AUX post. So when I thought about it I realized (or at least I think) that it could be the problem since I don't see how the battery will be getting re-charged by the alternator when I don't see a connection. So to recap, My battery has the negative cable that goes to the ground in the trunk and the positve cable went straight into the AUX post. The car started and ran fine with no issues other than draining the battery after a few starts. I'm guessing that the other 2 connections that it needs are done correctly but i am just gussing here because it starts fine with a fully charged battery. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 so...... where is the charge wire from the alternator connected to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphagtp Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Everything should be as it came from factory, I didn't mess with any other wires other than the 2 from the battery. This is the kit I got from Taylor It only came with one positive cable so I guess I just replaced that one, Could any of you look at your battery and see where the main cable goes to? i've been trying to find pictures but no luck. Here is how my compartment looks right now, I had the main positive cable going straight into that AUX post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 you are pulling power from the aux post to start the car which has to get its ground loop from the back of the car, where you could be pulling power from a capacitor and its ground at the stock location with power gathered from the rear battery. the capacitor may fit nicely next to the intake you got there. stick the starter wire and the aux post wire back on the cap's +term. like it was stock as if the cap was a battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 the "original" wiring would be that the two positive wires coming off of the battery, one goes to the aux post, the other goes down to the starter terminal, where another ~8 guage wire is connected to the same terminal, it ends at the alternator IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 the "original" wiring would be that the two positive wires coming off of the battery, one goes to the aux post, the other goes down to the starter terminal, where another ~8 guage wire is connected to the same terminal YES! NO fusible link ANYWHERE in the circuit between battery and starter. Starter + cable direct to battery +. Cable gauge appropriately sized to the load and length. (well, perhaps a bit on the small side; GM and all the rest of the OEMs are infamously stingy with copper.) If that were MY car, I'd throw that useless warm air intake into the scrap bin, and put the battery back where it belongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 what would he learn then? how to fail and go back to stock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphagtp Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 what would he learn then? how to fail and go back to stock exactly, no way! so it sounds like all I need is to run a positve wire from the battery (the main one) to the aux post and another one to the starter counting on the alternator and starter wiring to be as it "should" is this correct? I looked at the starter and there are two wires coming out, one that goes to the aux post and the other seems to be bolted to the chasis. So If I run the positive to the aux do I still need one to the starter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 nope. re-read my friend! re-read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphagtp Posted July 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 Originally Posted by RobertISaarthe "original" wiring would be that the two positive wires coming off of the battery, one goes to the aux post, the other goes down to the starter terminal, where another ~8 guage wire is connected to the same terminal YES! NO fusible link ANYWHERE in the circuit between battery and starter. Starter + cable direct to battery +. Cable gauge appropriately sized to the load and length. (well, perhaps a bit on the small side; GM and all the rest of the OEMs are infamously stingy with copper.) ok let me try again since the alternator and aux wires should be okay, what I need is to have the positive from battery go to the starter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 what makes you think the alternator wire is ok? isn't it stock? yes you want the battery wire going to the starter, but isn't there no battery to speak of there now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 exactly, no way! so it sounds like all I need is to run a positve wire from the battery (the main one) to the aux post and another one to the starter counting on the alternator and starter wiring to be as it "should" is this correct? and to make it more clear, its technically described as a positive wire from the ALT to the AUX to the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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