battery relocation question and problem

[ucantstopthebick]

hey so i recently just finished my battery relocation to my trunk, but now it seems that my motor won't recharge my battery. is there something that i have to look out for or make sure i don't hook something up wrong? i'm kinda stumped because its pretty much hooked up the same as it was before..or could something be going bad? oh yeah. '92 240sx ka24de...thanks you guys

[JeromeS13]

Stick a multimeter on the terminals with the car running. If its above 13.5 volts or so, the alternator is good. If it is good, then your battery may be getting weak.

[srpowered240sx]

what size cables did you use?? what condition is your battery in?? same of alternator?? where is it grounded??

[ucantstopthebick]

i had the summit racing kit, its 4 gauge wire. my battery is in alright condition i mean its a couple years old but its never given me problems before and it looks good. i'm not sure about my alternator. I grounded both my negatives to my main frame, I sanded all the dirt and grime until it showed the nice shiny silver and then i put a self drilling screw in and thats where i put my ground...

[ucantstopthebick]

ok so update....i just went outside and jumped my car to start it...after i started it i took off the jumper cables and put the multimeter to my battery...it jumped around 8.sometihng for a while and after a minute it settled down at 7.63....so am i on the road for a new alternator????

[ucantstopthebick]

ha so as it seems im bumping this post lol but i just had another question... so one night i put my battery into my brothers truck and had the truck charge the battery. i drove it to the corner store to get me a monster, and back..starting up the truck was fine using that battery it never lost juice...so i get back and put the battery back in my car and started my car up just fine also, the battery had enough charge in it.. well i set my alarm for the night, and in the morning my battery is dead... is it possible that i'm grounding out somewhere or something? is it something that i should put in question along with the alternator not charging?

[onosqv]

how did you connect everything? it could be a wiring issue...

if you return it back to stock and the same thing happens, then it's probably ur alternator...

pics will probably help.

4 gauge is kind of small...

[ucantstopthebick]

PICS...first one of just my battery in the trunk

[ucantstopthebick]

# 2 how its grounded from the battery to underneath on my frame..notice the edges how its silvery where i sanded it...

[ucantstopthebick]

#3 my ignition coil and how i'm grounding it...

[ucantstopthebick]

#4 where the ignition coil grounds to my frame...(also sanded clean)

[ucantstopthebick]

where my positives underneath the hood connect...the red wire goes directly to my battery, the black with the red stripe connects to my block where the positive goes, and the other wire is where those three smaller wires that were on a clip attach to, and i just put an end on it to hook them up..i'll post another picture of what i'm talking about...so yeah i'm open to flaming or anything lol on my mistakes, but hey thats how you learn right? thanks

[ucantstopthebick]

well the other wire you see that i talked about is the three wires that come out of your fuse box and attach to the positive terminal. (thats the best i can describe it...) also, where all those positive wires hook up, they are usually sealed up and covered...i just had them off trying to figure out my problem

[onosqv]

don't drive that car. you're gonna blow up in a ball of fire.

That last picture worries me a lot - you have positive power exposed to near metal (which is negative) and also near fuel...

You also have no fuse/circuit breaker or anything in between. If something sparks & the wire catches on fire, you're dead.

I don't like how the ground wire is down by the frame either, that could rust/corrode realllly easily. but if that works, i guess it's fine...

I hope that battery is in a battery box back there...

anyway, first things first:

Put the system back to stock. put the battery where it's suppose to be, hook up the wiring, jump start the car, and see how everything is.

If your battery is already reading 8volts, it could be toast, so you will probably need a new one anyway.

The alternator may also be bad, but the best way to check is to put everything back to the way it was.

And when you relocate your battery again, make it SAFER!

Here's a slightly safer way (not the best way, but one way - it's been modified since then):

DIY Battery Relocation

I take no responsibility for any damage/death that may occur from following the above instructions...

[ucantstopthebick]

so um..i was looking at my fuses...and my alternator fuse is blown. ha. and thanks brokeas240 for all your insights...it gave me a lot of thought on all of your opinions..and i'll be fixing them soon.. and i'm not gonna be driving this until november because of my suspended license..which was why i thought i'd restore her and clean her up a bit in the mean time.. so any thoughts on the battery drain? or could it just be because my weak battery hasn't had time to charge enough?

[onosqv]

Well, the alternator fuse probably blew when that positive wire under your hood touched the metal . Hopefully nothing else got damaged.

Anyway, once that is out, the entire car was running purely off the battery.

You can try charging it up now, if it didn't drain too bad, then it may hold a charge, after jump starting w/ a working alternator, it's suppose to take around 10-15 minutes of driving to have the battery back to full charge.

From there, you can figure out if the battery will still hold a charge or not (i.e. measuring the voltage after a few minutes or even an hour or two after you turn the car off).

There are battery chargers available @ sears & such, or you can just wing it... or you can buy a dry-cell battery, which is what is usually recommended anyway when relocating to the back since it doesn't emit gasses like the lead-acid batteries, and no chance for spilling/etc.

[gsxrjjordan]

I agree that the whole electrical system needs to be thought out by someone who understands how much 10 or 20 A's of 12VDC is...

The biggest problem with the system running how you want it to is (a) the alternator fuse, obviously, but (b) you NEVER use self tapping screws for grounds. They just DONT make the connection very well (even though you did sand down the frame, which was good, btw). What you want to use (and what I use on every relocation I do) is a lead (not brass) battery terminal from an auto parts store, threaded into a hole you drill (and tap, ideally). This makes a fantastic ground, and will keep your alternator happy

Good luck, and dont go joyriding on that suspended license (someone needs to say it)