rahul1023

iTrader: (1)

Summary: My 2012 Acura TSX w/ Tech Package was getting weaker day by day. Last winter I jumped the car twice and the 2 year old Interstate battery seemed to start the car ok, but the stereo was starting to feel very weak. I had planned to swap out the battery before the winter, and I finally go around to it. I decided I didn't want to go with the stock 51R size power wheels battery, and decided to fit in the 24F size battery which to me should've come with this car in the first place. I was successful in upgrading the battery after making some modifications to the tray and buying new J brackets and a new battery hold down bracket. I could've probably done this with acura parts from a V6, but I didn't feel like trying out every part out there. Instead I bought off the shelf stuff at the auto parts store. In the future, I can fit pretty much any standard 24F battery now, and I already drove the car on the highway, it doesn't make any weird noises and the battery is anchored down very well. The results were amazing in the way the mid-bass & bass in the stereo hits & how well the car starts, it was well worth the extra $3 over the 51R battery.

Price/Performance Comparison:

Stock 51R Interstate Battery: 500 CCA / 85 Minute Reserve Capacity
Stock 51R Diehard Silver (Non-Gold): 500 CCA / 80 Minute Reserve Capacity
Stock 24F Diehard Gold: 725 CCA / 120 Minute Reserve Capacity

Interstate MT-51R - $97.56
Diehard Silver 51R - $91.49
Diehard Gold 24F - $94.49

Tools Needed:

Basic Hand socket set & wrenches.
Dremel tool with small metal cutting discs. I had bought the dremel already, but the cutting discs were $6.80 for 10 at Home Depot.
New Longer J-Hooks for the battery hold down, the stock ones are just about 3/4" too short to get the job done.
New Wider Battery Hold Down for the nearly 6.5" wide 24F Battery.
(Optional) Black Plastidip to spray down the red battery hold down.

I cut off about an inch from the J hooks because they were very long, but I could've kept on going and cut another 1/4" off and it would still have plenty of height left to handle anything else. I bought the J Hooks from Autozone, and the Battery hold down from Advance Auto Parts. The J hooks are offset on the car, with the hook towards the front of the vehicle being to the right and the hook towards the back of the vehicle is slightly left. This is why I had to buy the bracket with multiple holes. I also went to Home depot and picked up a couple of 1/4" Nuts with lock washers to hold it all together tightly.

If there are any questions, please let me know, otherwise all in all the parts were about $15 in addition to the $94.49 for the battery. Well worth it in my opinion, but others views are welcome to differ. And don't try to get Sears or anybody else to try to figure out what kind of battery your car needs, they will not sell you a 24F for the 2012 Acura TSX 4-Cyl. Also the dimensions provided on their website are bigger than the actual battery. I have lots of wiggle room even with the 24F Battery in the space, and I can get to the adjuster screw for the headlights.

Cut the Battery Tray to look like this. The middle 2 nubs will keep it from sliding around.


J Clamp differences


Installed

rahul1023

iTrader: (1)

I also forgot to mention, make sure to have your Navigation Key code handy. Changing the battery means you have to re-enter the code. Luckily I kept all of this aside prior to starting my work. Good luck!

t3hhcaptain

I've been thinking about doing this. Have any experience with the Duralast Gold batteries?

I currently have an optima yellowtop and had one for years before in my last vehicle. They seem to last a while, but the Duralast (Duralast Gold Battery 24F-DLG- Read18Reviews onDuralast Gold #24F-DLG) has 750CCA where as the Optima has 620.

Username 0

Does the car crank faster with this battery?

rahul1023

iTrader: (1)

The car does crank faster with this battery, but it also doesn't sound like its on its' deathbed. I like that the stereo sounds so much better also.

I've used only the Duralast brake rotors & pads, im sure the batteries are probably good also, I just haven't had experience with them. I was more than happy with the CCA on the Diehard.

Username 0

Yeah that extra cca is great. Not sure why Honda keeps using these small batteries. To keep the weight down?

Username 0

I will being doing this battery modification sometime this month with oem Acura/Honda parts. It looks like I'm going to need the tsx v6 battery tray, the longer 210mm tie down rod (the other is 195mm, that comes with our batteries), and the piece that goes on top. So three parts in total.
I priced these parts to be around $30 from Acura/Honda.
We can also use some of the same parts from the v6 accord.

t3hhcaptain

Let me know how it goes. I'm interested in doing this too - but it's on the back burner.

Sheefo2k

Can anyone confirm if these are the correct OEM part numbers for the upgraded battery?
BOX, BATTERY (80D)
Part Number: 31521-TA0-A10

Remove$16.96$16.96
BOLT, BATTERY SETTING (210MM)
Part Number: 31513-SP0-010

Remove$3.86$3.86
BOLT, BATTERY SETTING (195MM)
Part Number: 31513-SDA-A00

Remove$2.74$2.74
PLATE, BATTERY SETTING
Part Number: 31512-TP1-A00

Remove$8.77$8.77

Sheefo2k

Not sure how to edit my previous post.

TSX1012m6

These are the parts i ordered: I also ordered from a website called discountpartsmonster - shipping was slow but they had lowest prices I found. Its just another copy/paste parts websites like them all.

- 4 Cylinder battery box - 31521-TA2-900
- 2x 210mm (v6 tsx) J hooks - 31513-SP0-010
- 2x 6mm nut (for j hook) - 94050-06080
- Battery top plate - 31512-TA0-A10

You can find a lot of info here: https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tsx-...attery-952200/