How to fit battery in boot

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car battery.jpg
Parts Needed
4AWG Ring Terminal (2off)
4AWG Cable- Red (6m)
4AWG Cable- Black (6m)
Battery (Either Original Or Different Model)
4AWG Terminals for chosen Battery (2off)
Fibre Glass Battery Box (1off)
Yellow Large Ring Crimp (2off)
25mm Diameter Plastic Convoluted tubing (1m)
Insulation Tape (1 Roll)
10mm diameter, 12mm length Bolt (1off)
10mm Star Washer (1off)
10mm Stiff Nut (1off)
2 Large Self Tapping Screws
2 Repair Washers
Self Adhesive Velcro Strips (Hook and Loop)
Large Cable Ties (5off)
13mm Inside Diameter Grommet (2off)
Self Adhesive Cable Tie Mounts (4off)

Tools
Powerful Cordless Drill
3mm Drill Bit
8mm Drill Bit
13mm Drill Bit
Small Round File
Small Insulated Screwdriver
Lighter
Philips Medium Screwdriver
10mm Socket
12mm Socket
14mm Socket
Extension Bar
Ratchet Handle
10mm Spanner
12mm Spanner
14mm Spanner
Wire Stripper
Stanley Knife Blade
Side Cutters
Wire Brush/Wire Brush Drill Attachment
Multi Meter
Tipex Bottle
WD40/Vaseline
4mm Allen/Hex Key

WARNING: AS WITH ALL WORK YOU DO ON YOUR CAR, PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND USE COMMON SENSE - IF IT'S HEAVY, DON'T LIFT IT ON YOUR OWN. IF IT'S HOT, DON'T TOUCH IT, OR USE A RAG TO PICK IT UP. IF IT'S SHARP, WEAR GLOVES. IF YOU NEED TO DISTUB ANY ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS, MAKE SURE YOU DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY FIRST AND IF IT'S ACID - LEAVE IT WELL ALONE!

Note: - I'm unsure why a separate cable was used for the earth and why it wasn't not earthed through the body, but this is how it was fitted in my first GTi-R, and how it has been refitted into my second GTi-R. I have quoted 6m of each cable to be on the safe side.

Procedure- Boot Mounting

1. Place your alarm (if fitted) into valet mode or a mode which allow disconnection of power without a siren

2. Open the bootlid and remove the parcel shelf to help access

3. Remove the carpet covering the space saver wheel

4. Unscrew and remove the space saver wheel

5. Remove the boot carpet

6. The best place to mount the battery box is in the rear left corner right near the light cluster. You should see two plastic threaded inserts in the boot floor, these will be the securing points for the battery box.

7. Paint the plastic inserts with Tipex, use quite a lot to get a good thickness of Tipex. Place the battery box in position in the boot and press down so that the Tipex makes contact with the bottom of the battery box.

8. Remove the box from the boot and let the Tipex dry so things don't get too messy.

9. Pilot drill from the bottom of the battery box through the Tipex marks with the 3mm drill bit

10. Open the hole out to 8mm or whatever size of self tapping screws you are using

11. Trial fit the battery box in the boot and screw down loosely to start the threads in the plastic

12. Remove the battery box again and refit the boot carpet

13. Place the battery box back in position, heat the end of the small screwdriver with the lighter and melt through the boot carpet were the plastic insert are

14. Place the two repair washers on the self tapping screws and screw the battery box down to the boot floor

15. Stick some Velcro to the lid and the flange of the battery box

Procedure- Cable Routing
1. Release the clips and unhook the lower rear seat cushion, exposing the seat belt buckles

2. Release the tension on and remove the bolt attaching the passenger side seat belt to the body at floor level

3. Unclip the lower half of the rear passenger side door card

4. Unclip the passenger side sill trim

5. Unclip the passenger side footwell trim (Covering the ABS computer if fitted)

6. Unscrew and unclip trim which covers the ECU on the passenger side of the centre console

7. Unbolt the passenger side seat, disconnect the seat belt sensor and remove from the car

8. The floor carpet should now be able to be lifted

9. Looking on the bulkhead behind the ECU you should see the main grommet for the cars wiring

10. Check in the engine bay first for clearance, then pilot drill a 3mm hole approximately 60mm to the left of the main wiring grommet

11. Check in the engine bay again, and pilot drill a second 3mm hole approximately 25mm to the left of the first drilled hole

12. Check in the engine bay again, and then open both holes up to 13mm diameter

13. Using the small round file open the 13mm holes until the grommet fit in the hole well, without any creases or deformation

14. Lubricate about 1.5m of the Red cable

15. Push the lubricated red cable though one of the holes slowly, taking care not to push the grommet back through the bulkhead, until the cable reaches the front of the factory battery

16. Lubricate about 1.5m of the Black cable

17. Push the lubricated black cable through the remaining hole slowly, taking care not to push the grommet back through the bulkhead, until the cable reaches the front of the factory battery

18. To make the rest of the job easier, tape the black and red cables together at 300mm intervals

19. Inside the car, run the cable across to the passenger side of the car, cable tying it to one of the brackets for the ABS computer

20. Run the cable under the rib in the car, were the seat mounts (there is a gap in the corner were the rib meets the sill)

21. Stick a self adhesive cable tie mount on the vertical part of the floor pan, close to the passenger side sill

22. Stick two self adhesive cable tie mounts on the floor pan under wear the rear seat cushion sits, about 40mm from the passenger side rear door card

23. Run the cables along these mounts into the boot and cable tie to the supports taking care not to block any of the mounting points for the seat belts, door cards, rear seat cushion, or carpet

24. You should now have a pair of cables in the boot, were the fuel pump cover plate sits

25. Relay the carpet and clip in the sills

26. Refit the ABS computer and ECU trims

27. Refit the sill trim

28. Refit and tighten the seat belt buckle bolt

29. Refit and tighten the passenger side seat (remembering to reconnect the seat belt sensor)

30. Clip the passenger side rear door card back in

31. Refit the rear seat cushion

Procedure- Engine Bay Prep
1. Disconnect the two battery terminals to isolate the battery

2. Loosen the 2off 10mm Nuts and remove the long battery ‘clamps'

3. Remove the battery and the long clamps from the car

4. Remove the plastic battery tray insert

5. Remove the 4off bolts and remove the plastic battery tray

6. Unclip the two black plastic clips holding a cable loom to a bracket on the inner wing

7. Remove the 2off 10mm bolts and remove the aforementioned bracket

8. You should now have a large factory 4AWG earth cable coming from the engine near the thermostat housing to the negative battery terminal, bolted and earthed half way to the chassis and maybe a few smaller earth's from auxiliary equipment like alarms

9. You will also have a large factory 4AWG power cable coming from the alternator or the starter motor (not sure which) with a large red multi plug interlocked to it and maybe a few smaller 12v positive supplies from auxiliary equipment

Procedure- Earth Cable
1. Earth first- Now is a good time to clean up all the earth's, remove the 12mm bolt from the engine and wire brush the engine and the ring terminal, refit the earth to the engine. Remove the bolt that is securing the bonding lead to the chassis and cut the cable to the right of that earth point. (Battery terminal and a length of 4AWG earth cable will fall to the floor)

2. Collect all the small earth's together, shorten the long wires, as they will only need to reach the chassis earth point, strip the ends, and twist together. Fit one of the large yellow ring crimps to the end

3. Using the wire brush clean up the chassis earth point, removing a small area of paint if possible

4. Cut the new Earth (Black) cable either using a series of cuts with the wire cutters or a hacksaw so that it will happily reach the standard chassis earth point.

5. Feed a length of the convoluted black plastic tubing down the red and black cables to the bulkhead and trim to length.

6. Using the Stanley knife blade, carefully remove 10-12mm of the insulation of the black cable and twist to prevent fraying

7. Insert the cable into a 4 AWG ring terminal and tighten the Grub screw down tightly

8. Now everything need connecting, place the standard earth point over the hole, then the new 4 AWG black earth cable, then the new yellow ring crimp, install the original bolt and tighten down

Procedure- 12v Live Cable
1. This is complicated to explain without pictures. The connection for the original main power cable goes straight to the original battery terminal. I used the fatigue method to snap the ‘loop' of the clamp off, and I was left with a sort of spade terminal with ridges at the sides which I also fatigued off.

2. I also fatigued the ridges off the ‘spade' terminal that is on the large red multi plug.

3. Collect all the smaller 12v positive supplies together, strip the ends, and twist together. Fit the large yellow crimp to the end.

4. You should now have a Big Red New 4 AWG cable, a small yellow ring crimp, and two factory altered spades with holes in.

5. Cut the new cable back to roughly the same length as the New earth, strip 10-12mm of insulation back as before and fit the 4 AWG ring terminal and tighten the grub screw down as before.

6. I would seriously advise to put some more convoluted tubing on the cable to be pulled over the new connection as a lot of current will be going through here

7. Use the short bolt, washer and nut to connect the 4 terminals together

Test Time- Engine Bay
1. With the multi meter set to continuity (beeps when black and red are touched) check that all the earth's are electrically connected together and that the new connection is earthed well to the chassis. (try Earthing on a total separate earth point)

2. Make sure the positive connection isn't touching the chassis and check for short circuits by touching one probe on the 12v connection and the other on the earth point, if no beep is heard, then no short circuits re present.

Test Time- Boot
1. Press on of the probes into the black cable and touch a separate earth like a boot striker or fuel pump cover guard and hope you hear a beep.

Procedure- Engine Bay Tidy Up
1. Wrap the 12v positive connection in insulation tape, thickly, not leaving any metal exposed. Then pull the convoluted tubing over the connection and tape to the cable and wrap in more insulation. Positive cable should now be completely insulated from all short circuits.

2. Push the cables down to the battery tray mount and cable tie it to the chassis to keep it all neat and tidy.

3. Cut off all cable tie tails, old cable ties, plastic clips that aren't being used etc and shut bonnet.

Procedure- Boot Final Test and Wire Up
1. Place a probe into the red cable again and press the other probe on an earth, hope no beep is heard, to indicate no more short circuits.

2. Stick some Velcro (hook OR loop) to the bottom of the battery, and stick the opposing Velcro to the inside of the battery box to stop it sliding about inside the box during cornering.

3. Tuck the cable under the boot carpet, and bring up the left-hand side of the battery box, entering through one of the recesses in the battery box lid.

4. Trim the Two cables to length to allow connection to the battery poles.

5. Strip back 10-12mm of insulation off each cable and fit the battery clamps to the cables

6. Fit the battery clamps onto the correct poles of the battery and tighten.

Procedure- Test

1. Turn the ignition key to position 2, check that all the lights on the dash illuminate. Turn engine over and start car to test. Check all systems including the alarm are operating as normal.
 
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