zeta

iTrader: (1)

Recently, a forum member inquired as to how a battery was changed when one has a S/C'er installed on a 2G CL-S. Back in the day, Comptech made it possible to replace the 51R battery recommended for use in their kit. It has been discussed, in very old threads, though no pictures were ever shown for this procedure. I was able to organize some pictures and thought I would document the process here (though there are not many of us S/C'er folks around) with a short-cut modification I utilized after going through the experience for the first time back in 2006.

Use an 8mm socket to unfasten the bolts, in yellow below, to remove the top cover of the IceBox. Gently pulling the
cover off with the bolts still in place helps keep them from falling down into a irretrievable crevice.


IceBox cover removed.


Remove / loosen the band clamp (arrow) holding bellows coupler to the TB inlet elbow and filter assembly.
Loosen the band clamps holding the breather hose and vacuum line on the inlet elbow. Remove the whole assembly.


Elbow & filter assembly removed.


Remove the IceBox base by unfastening the two bolts in yellow with a 10mm socket. Pull up on the base slightly
to expose the lower inlet horn.


Loosen the band clamp and detach the base from the lower inlet horn. Let the horn rest in the fender well below.


Using a 12mm socket, unfasten / remove the throttle body upper nuts and lower bolts.
Gently fold the TB up and out of the way. You may have to disconnect the TPS connector.
There is plenty of room for battery removal!

Another view of TB out of the way.


Remove the battery tie down and disconnect the battery cables. Negative side then positive.

Cover battery terminals for safety. Tuck the battery cables to the rear underneath the blower inlet manifold.


Back in 2006, I removed the angled metal, in the area highlighted in yellow, to allow the battery to slide forward
while tipping the bottom upward on its side for eventual removal. If the angle metal is not removed, you may have to
unfasten the two bolts holding the battery try in place to slide it forward about an inch, with the battery, while maneuvering
the battery bottom up on its side. It depends on how good of a grip you can get on the battery. As shown in
the picture, the side of the battery is exposed allowing for a better grip while maneuvering it out.


The battery on its side ready to slide between frame rail & blower inlet manifold.

The battery resting on the frame rail.


Here is a view of the battery box area where the angle metal was removed. The battery tray is made of thick metal
and removing this part of the B. tray does not compromise its strength. Once the battery is sandwiched in tightly
by the battery tie down assembly, it is not moving.

Here is what the battery tray looks like with the angle metal present. Yellow indicates where to cut to modify allowing
the battery to slide rearward for easier / quicker handling / removal. The added 'wiggle room' makes a huge difference.

Slip the battery back into its tray, install the battery tie down assembly and maneuver the throttle body back into
position and fasten it to the blower inlet manifold. Torque the fasteners to 16lbs-ft and reconnect any electrical or vacuum
lines.


Battery cables reconnected with Battery Tender Ring terminals added for trickle charging when the car sits or the
temperature falls.

Retrieve & band clamp connect the lower inlet horn to the IceBox base.

Fasten the IceBox base with the two 10mm bolts.

Reinstall the IceBox inlet elbow & air filter assembly at the throttle body (arrow) with the band clamp, then reattach the
breather and vacuum lines.


Another view of rubber bellows coupler band clamp connection at the throttle body.


Battery install complete & the Idle relearn procedure is next on the agenda.


The automatic S/C'ed folks would have the additional CT-E supplied TCS elbow and OEM TCS throttle body to contend with.
This assembly can be disconnected & tucked up and away like the six speed throttle body. The breather hose
and vacuum line connections are not shown; however, they are there underneath the CT-E TCS elbow. I left the TB and
TCS throttle body coolant lines connected, though, the TCS TPS electrical connection may need to be removed.


Final thoughts:

1) You obviously could not do this on the side of the road in an emergency. Well, you could depending on the circumstances,
tool / 51R battery availability, neighborhood, weather et al. There is, though, room to get jumper cables down to the battery terminals.

As a CYA thought, my element(s) of redundancy are in the form of the Battery Tender Ring cables to maximize battery life via trickle charging.
I also carry a portable DieHard Compact lithium-ion jump starter just in case a battery cell 'craps the bed' and dies at some unfortunate
time.

2) One could always move the battery to the trunk. That's not a personal preference of mine and performing the above
procedure is not as difficult as it may appear.

3) One could follow the modification suggestion in the thread below and install a more powerful battery, like the Odyssey PC1200, if power needs for audio / electrical system requirements are needed; however, the S/C'er will need to be removed to service that battery if and when it fails.

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-f...c-guys-477115/

Hope this helps explain the process and thanks for looking.

thoiboi

Just out of curiosity, what's your reasoning behind not wanting to move the battery to the trunk?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

it sure does appear difficult, or rather time consuming! I bet after a few times, the time it takes could be cut down.
Great work, as always!

BigTurkey

iTrader: (1)

oh baby look at all those pictures! what did we do to deserve this blessing?!

TheWeez

Geez. I'd certainly just relocate it to the trunk and call it a day. Heck, installing it in the trunk would take less time and work than getting in there as shown.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

After eliminating the 'angle metal' on the battery tray and 15 years of running it this way, it was no big deal to pull everything and replace the battery when needed. Out of the three times the batteries died (optima yellow top, 2 DieHards), over the years (now on my fourth; Walmart51R), only one time left me in a lurch. In that instance, I was fueling up after work one day and it just went dead. I whipped out the portable charger, jumped it and got the car home then procured a new battery & replaced it. The other two times the battery died in my driveway, so no problem to replace.

Thanks!
It's really easy! The individual steps, conveyed in text via the interwebs, draws it out to make it look long / difficult. The hardest part is carefully maneuvering the throttle body (on the six-speed), bodies (on the automatic) out of the way with all remaining connections. Otherwise, they fall right back into place and just need fastening down.



A 99% complete automatic S/C'er kit (40Kmiles) coming to the Black Market very soon!

Thefireball

Oh boy, another BM post by Zeta that I'll be eye balling. Looking forward to see it.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

As a clarification follow-up for those who may wonder why the throttle body has to be removed, in the first place, for the battery change?
The culprit(s) here are the TPS sensor and its corresponding attachment point on the TB as well as the vacuum barb,
outlined in the picture below. They clearly stand in the way of easily maneuvering the battery without TB detachment.


A closer view of the obstructions.


Placement of the throttle body, on the blower inlet manifold, is about as 'optimized' as possible for the 2G S/C'er kit.
If they, CT-E engineers, would have moved the TB to the right, the IAC valve assembly (small yellow arrow) would hit the
blower outlet manifold to the intake manifold elbow (dotted line).


If they, CT-E engineers, would have moved the TB to the left enough to clearly relocate the TPS sensor in the radius,
then the IAC valve would have factored into the old location of the moved TPS sensor. Additionally, the throttle
& cruise cable TB actuator would hit the blower outlet manifold & the cables themselves would have begun to be
in a position of possible 'binding' as a result. Lose / Lose situation.


So overall, from what I can observe, that's where the TB placement was engineered to live.
Clearly one example of an unavoidable engineering compromise?


Another example would be the blocking of the front head coil packs and spark plugs by the S/C'er pulley driveshaft.
If it was all to fit under the hood, like they wanted, on a FWD car this was the final result.

Allout

So here was my upgrade solution to using the 51R. It's a bit heavier but has lasted much longer.

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-f...c-guys-477115/