This project was a little harder then I thought. Probably because I didnt read the directions lol. I didnt take the back seat out and I managed to snake the wire under the seat. I didnt take the plastic pieces on the bottom of the door off and I was able to tuck the wire under with a little elbow grease. Careful not to pull too much because the plastic is weak. But anyways, heres some pics. Feel free to ask questions

this is the kit I used
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1231-K/

rotated the wire to the starter


the original battery connection bolted together with the new 1 gauge wiring (and my amp wire that should now be in the trunk but I got lazy) and tucked away from anything that gets hot


i wanted to keep the trunk liner in place so i had to make a few holes to get the cables and bolts through. Take your time with the holes and it looks real professional


make sure to use the vent tube and snake it through to the outside of the car. there is a small vent in the rear corner that I put the tube in


the kit offers rubber washers to put around the wires when they come through the box. i also used heavy duty gorilla tape to seal up everything


i think i need a smaller sub and box now. no more trunk room. but one 15 hits very hard


Just a few things I would like to mention.
1)You have to take the muffler and the heat shield off in order to tighten the bolts on the bottom of the car.
2)Drill holes in the battery box and pull the negative and positive wires through first. Attach the rubber washer on the wires and leave them in the box. Then hook up the cables to ground and positive connection by the engine. You do this first so you dont have to make huge holes in the box to get the terminal connections through.
3)Depending on where the battery terminals are located, it might be easier to make the holes for the wires on the corner of the box. 1 gauge wire is very thick and doesnt like to bend easily. Making the holes on the corners gives you more room to play with.

 

Overall not a bad job. Just curious what made you want to put the battery in your trunk?

 

I think he's trying to free up some room in the engine bay for a turbo.

 

nice... interested to hear what your plans are for the spot where the battery used to be.

 

the new space is for the turbo. currently awaiting shipment

 

this thread will surely help a few guys out... the kit you purchased is quite of a baller kit... I would've just gotten a dry cell battery that doesn't require a sealed box... then mounted it in place of the donut... and out of sight...

BUT... this was a nice thread... to you sir

 

i would have rather gone that route but this battery is pretty new and wasnt worth it to get a new optima. i had an optima red top before this one and if i knew i was going to buy the turbo kit when it died, i would of bought another optima

 

since the battery is in the trunk and the trunk is opened via electronic locking thingy what will you do if ur battery dies and you need a jump start????

 

There is a pull tab you can access from the rear seat center pass through. As long as you can get into the car you can open the trunk.

 

Good idea, but why not move it to the right side for better weight distribution? Even with Nav it can be done.

 

your right. i didnt put to much thought into that. half way through i peeked at the directions and they actually said to locate the battery to passenger rear side for better weight distribution. lesson learned...read directions first lol

i was basically following this thread
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ery+relocation

 

oooooooo i did not know that......

 

I've been searching and I don't see any starter batteries that the manufacturer says can be installed inside a closed compartment without voiding warranties or causing safety issues if not placed in a sealed box.

Is an optima or any other battery really safe to install in the trunk without being sealed and vented?

LIBERT69, is that a JAZ box that you installed?

 

so it should be mounted on the passenger side? I gotta know this too.. I"m just gonna pay someone to do it... haha Plus, can you leave some positive and negtive connectors in front? A la BMW? My bro's 135 has the battery in the back, but it also has these connectors left in the front that can accept jumper cable teeth.

 

That kit is $125 + shipping! You should have just bought a long pair of jumpers for the cable & buy terminal connectors for less than $30. The markup on that kit is insane! Nice job though!


Here's the other DIY Guide for reference: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=627617

 

if i were you, (or i had to do it over again) i would buy either an optima red or yellow top and just mount it on the passenger side of the trunk with a bracket. you dont need a sealed box for optima batteries. just run the cables and your good to go. you could put an optima in a box to make it look pretty but its not necessary.

you could use this for an optima battery but it doesnt include the wires. just buy that stuff separately

the kit i have is basically summits form of the jaz box without the word JAZ on the cover. same parts

directions say to mount on passenger side for better weight distribution. its really not hard to install. i just went the extra mile. like i said before, if i had to do it again, i would buy and optima battery, a mounting bracket and the wires. thats all you need.

the positive connection is still under the hood. you have to connect the wire from the battery to the old terminal or straight to the cable from the starter. for the negative, i think you could just use the ground wire that engine uses to connect to the frame

yea it was pricey but i was buying 700 plus dollars of stuff from summit and i had a 15% coupon code so it worked out good.

 

so your telling me you can reach 3 feet give or take a few to the handle where the trunk release is around the sub through a little 1ft by 6 inch space??

 

My factory battery has been deep cycled a couple times over the past 3 winters so I am going to be replacing it anyway. I don't drive it a whole lot in the winter because of the snow and salt (have a awd Pilot for that) and the battery takes a beating.

Currently looking at an Odyssey battery and will attempt to mount it on the right side by and mounting the Navi unit on top of the battery.

I've been looking and you can spend a fortune on a mount. Everything from a basic plastic box to custom billet aluminum. Think I might go with the paintable metal since I don't really care about something I don't see all of the time.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the trunk release is at the top of the pass through opening. Thankfully haven't had to use it yet.

 

i really wish i had done this mod before i went s/c'd. it would have saved me alot of effort when changing my battery.

 

hey nice job on relocation


1. where on the positive wire did you install the circut breaker?? didnt see it anywhere =/

2. i also installed mine on the drivers side. i dont know about the TL's, but my access compartment to the jack + tools is on the right side and didnt want to hassle taking the battery out incase of a flat.

also, that sealed box is HUGE! your spending 6k+ on a turbo kit, whats another 150 more for a yellow top optima?? i know your battery is new, but still.

oh and congrats on the turbo kit purchase!


WHOA, wait a minute. you guys dont have a trunk release lever in the car?!? WTF??

 

i was just looking at the stock bracket thats used to hold the battery in place. you can definitely re-use that bracket in the trunk. get a metal tray for the battery to sit on, bolt the tray in the four corner in the car using a thick washer between the tray and the car. drill holes in the tray for the factory bracket. leave enough room for the factory bracket to fit between the metal plate and the car and you good to go. could work.

 

i didnt install a circuit breaker. kit didnt come with one and i didnt even think about it. what do you recommend?

its a decent size box but i never use my trunk anyway. i know optimas are great batteries and i used to have them. this battery has more cca then optima and was less then 80 bucks when i got it through a company discount. at the time it was the right purchase. long story but, my car died in upstate ny and i needed a new battery or i wasnt getting home. this was bascailly my only choice. when it dies, a new optima will replace it.

 

Our tools are on top of the donut.

And we do have a trunk release.

 

ahhh ic. then what was that guy talking about not being able to open the trunk incase the battery died? =/

 

I don't know. Someone who wasn't bored enough to read the manual

 

let me guess.. $125 for the battery relocation kit & $300 for the water / meth kit & $275 for a performance clutch kit? lol..

 

Nice work

I had mine done soon after I got the SC. $20 is what I spent. A box from a local auto parts store, welder cable from my job, and the rest of the hardware I had laying around. I took a different route from most though. I ran the cable underneath the car, because I didn't feel like tearing apart any interior whatsoever and it was much quicker for me. The positive cable runs underneath the car inside a split wire jacket, clipped along the brake lines, from the engine bay, all the way through the bottom of the trunk (there's plugged small hole under the spare, about 3/4")
Negative was bonded onto the frame in the trunk. And a red top Optima inside.

Btw, you don't need to worry about venting dry cell batteries.

Mounted it on the left side, because on the right sits the methanol pump and tank!

By the way, about everyone's concern with a dead battery, and not being able to pop the trunk from the rear seat. Well, if you can pop your hood, you can connect the jumpers: Negative= anywhere on a clean part of the frame or motor, Positive= Inside the fuse box, (looking from the side)vupper right corner is the positive terminal.

 

dude its so easy to run stuff along the tl...all the sides snap on and off. I've done it for my tl like 3 times. Its just as easy to take apart the headliner to suade it :-)

 

Another option is to fabricate a small box set-up including remote battery posts:



I may do this eventually.

 

How did you get the wire thru the firewall? Did you drill a hole or use a existing hole in the firewall? I just got a Braille 17 lbs battery and am doing my relocation.

 

nice job man, i once seen a benz with the battery in the back, i think it was stock

 

Nice!

 

i drilled a hole through the firewall. there was already one hole for the wire from my amp so I just made another next to it. i didnt seal the whole with silicone but i suppose you could. ive never had any leaks

 

Thanks, I will have to find a good place.

 

Lots of german cars have the battery in the trunk

 

Man, this brings back some memories. One of my first cars was a ’78 Trans-Am (see avatar) and one of the cheapest things I did to improve handling was 1-relocate the battery to the trunk and 2-remove the metal portion of the front bumper leaving the polyurethane cover in place (this is not recommended for street driving as it effectively removed the 5mph impact protection from the bumper). The result was immediate handling improvements but we’re talking about a 1970’s muscle car with lousy front/rear weight bias.

Libert69 – nice job!

 

yea...no more bumper for me either. this plus the battery gave me like an extra inch of wheel gap lol

 

hopefully with an incoming shipment.. the gap will disappear

 

im sure it will go down some. but im waiting for my megans to arrive in the meantime. with some help from stillhere153 we should have her sitting pretty real soon