Finally started SR today!

[hokiruu]

After six months since I began the project, I finally started up my SR tonight. It sounds great and runs strong. I still have to check a thing or two, since it is a little bit rough at some points. I am using a tiny Odyssey PC680 deep cycle battery that has been dead since July. I had to jump start the car tonight, but when it was time to test drive and I disconnected the jumper cables, the engine died. I thought that once the car was running, it would keep running on its own until the battery was charged. Was I wrong, and do I have to fully charge the whole battery in order for that to happen? I know this is a retarded question from a guy who just completed a mostly DIY swap (everything except wiring-go figure) but I don't know much about electrical system. My friend whose car I was using to jump start has to be a lameass and leave right then, so that combined with freezing rain eventually motivated me indoors for tonight. Anyway, I am going to charge the whole battery tomorrow while I am at work, and hopefully be on the road tomorrow evening. I will follow up with pics ASAP. To see my list of mods: check the link in my signature. It's about time but I couldn't be happier!

[Dattebayo]

there is a good question i gotta ask. Did you store the battery straight on the floor with nothing under it? If you did there is no point in charging it cause its depolarized.

[hokiruu]

yeah,it's just resting on the bare old battery tray. Should i put plastic back underneath it? If that's the only problem here, whoah, I can't believe I didn't know that!

[ItzGenX]

My car ran with a dead battery that was jumped. The alternator should take over in full load to charge and maintain power throughout the car. If you car didn't stay on, I would check the alternator or grounds.

[hokiruu]

ok. thanks! for reference, where do they ground on an s14? i'll have to check my fsm, but that thing sucks sometimes.

[IvoryJ30t]

there is a good question i gotta ask. Did you store the battery straight on the floor with nothing under it? If you did there is no point in charging it cause its depolarized.

so, you belive that will happen to his battery? seriously?

[APEXi240]

so, you belive that will happen to his battery? seriously?

For real. My Sentra battery lied on my garage floor for about a year. Threw it in and I didn't even have to jump it. Been using it for about a year and half with no problem.

[hokiruu]

Yeah, I don't think that has anything to do with my problem. I am just going to check the alternator ground etc. tonight and jump start it again. At first, I was worried because it was pulling vacuum like it should at idle, but under higher revs it still wasn't boosting. Then my friend informed my dumb *** that it wont actually boost until I am moving. Duh! Another thing: when I get off the throttle, i dont hear the expected BOV discharge sound, or feel any air coming out of the BOV either. It makes a muffled "chochochoo" fluttery sound at the intake. This is how compresor surge has been described to me, and it sounds appropriately like air being forced through turbine blades. I have the A'pex Twin Chamber. It was too dark to see inside whether the piston was moving or not. I tried adjusting the spring tension a bit, but not much changed. Tonight I will work and play with it it some more. Any ideas?

[912.0turbo]

I have a Greddy type S and mine will do that sometimes when im not at full boost.(7psi)

[hokiruu]

That's good. However, i put a hand in front of one of the holes (the Apex has 4) and didn't even feel the slightest breeze. I'm skeptical about one thing though-does anyone know if there is a visual difference between the standard Apex BOV and the racing, hard spring version? If I have the race, high boost type, there is no way 7psi is going to open it. The girl who sold it to me for real cheap said it came off her very highly modded FD RX7 and claimed it cost over $300. At first I thought "no way-or you got ripped off". But now it occurs to me that it could be because it was the high boosting type.

[quiksilvia]

just loosen the spring then, i have this bov, and if u are standing in the engine bay and u rev the motor to like 5k or so and let it off u should get a whoooooooosh and u can feel it. maybe its the racing one...

[240Kuminachu]

Congrats on starting your car, I feel the same way, drove mine tonight for the first time. Hope you get it running good.

[tincan]

A deep cycle battery is made to be fully discharged and the recharged. So all you should have to do is recharge it as it is probably fully discharged. A slow charge will charge the battery much better as it will penetrate the plates and reduce the risk of over heating, as compared to a fast charge.

1) Charge @ 1% of your CCA = 2.8amps which take foreveror2) Charge for 5 hours @ 10 Amps for a reserve minute capacity of 80 mins or less. which yours should have.

If you go higher then 10 to 20 amps just check the battery by hand for overheating and charge for less time. All info has been taken from my automotive school electronics book.

As for the battery sitting on the floor discharging, this is very possible especially on concrete. The temp difference from the battery to the floor causes a difference in voltage potential which makes the battery self discharge.

Good luck and be safeRoy

[hokiruu]

My friend charged that little thing for about 3.5 hours on a metal table. For the first hour, the amps just rose and rose, up to about 6, then it finally started taking a charge. I got home, hooked her up, started her up, and was psyched! It ran for about 15 minutes very nicely while I waited for it to warm up for a test drive. Then the idle got rough, she died, and wont start again. Good thing I waited those extra few minutes before driving to the gas station or I would have been in some deep ish when it died in an intersection and I had to show a cop my lack of current insurance, gauge cluster, and oh yeah, what kind of engine is that! When i turn the key to turn it over, I could hear the electrical system go" brrrrrrrt." Obviously the engine was just milking the battery while it was running, and the alternator wasn't doing its job, or I just have a bad battery. Either way, it isn't getting a charge once in my car.I will try to use my girl's civic battery this weekend to make sure, but I have a feeling it is something with the alternator. Can someone please describe how the alternator should be hooked up for my reference? Thanks,Uuri

[Altiman94]

Buy a new battery. The same thing happened to my 89. I bought a new battery and its been fine. I though tit was the alternator, but when I took it in to get checked after I got eh new battery, it checked otu fine. Haven't had any problems since.

[Altiman94]

Also, my ka will run on a dead battery, but it won't rev past 2500 rpm due to spark not being advanced.

[hokiruu]

should I get a new PC 680? or just a different battery?

[quiksilvia]

get an optima redtop, made for high performance engines

[hokiruu]

Yesterday I borrowed my girlfriend's civic Diehard battery, jump started it off my roomates car, and let my car idle for about an hour. It began at 11.6v and went down to 11.5v and stayed there. I dont know if this means that it was draining the batery very slowly, or not at all. My charged PC680 was completely drained after about half an hour. I dibnt want to bother with a trunk mount unless I have to. What other reliable compact batteries can I use?