Relocating the battery to the trunk/hatch - Submitted by KeWlKaT Disclaimer: Be very careful with electric wiring, do not attempt this modification if you are unsure of yourself or your electrician skills. Parts needed: - 25+ feet of 2 ga. power wire (red) - 3 feet of 2-0 ga. ground wire (black) - 2x Battery Terminals - Distribution Block - 100 Amp fuse/holder (if XD) - 110 Amp fuse/holder (if XD2) - 3 ring connectors - Sealed Bat. Box w/ venting tube (if battery is not dry cell) - Battery tray (if battery is dry cell) Recommended: Crimping tool WARNING: If you do not have a dry cell battery (such as Optima brand ones), you MUST use a sealed box with venting tube to avoid harmful gases to enter the passenger compartment. 1. If you still have the stock heat/dust shield, remove that with a philips screwdriver and a 10mm socket. Let's remove the stock battery. You do this by first taking off the negative (-) and positive (+) terminals, in that order. They both use 10mm nuts I believe. Tossing the terminals out of reach for now, undo the battery holding bracket, right behind the headlight, with a long extension and a 10mm socket (i believe). WARNING: This particular bolt is known to rust and break, it has happened to both me and a fellow member that is local to me. 2. The battery should be free, and you can take it out and set it on a table for now. To remove the battery tray (black plastic part under where the battery sat), it's only 10mm bolts, and a piece of cake. Remove the tray and toss it away. 3. Here comes the tricky part. Depending on what type of distribution block you have, this will take a little imagination. Basically, what you are trying to do is join all the wires hooked up on the positive terminal of the battery into the thick 2 ga. that you purchased. On my 2002 model, there was a single 4 ga. wire and a smaller gauge for the starter. On some later models, there are two 6 ga. wires, in addition to the starter one. Whatever the case is, make sure that all wires that were on the pos. terminal of the battery are going into the distribution block, and that the 2ga. wire you bought is also hooked to it. WARNING: if your distribution block is made out of metal on the exterior, make sure to tape it or take equivalent measures to avoid direct metal to metal contact with the chassis, not to cause a short, which could basically make your distribution block melt and adhere to the surface it touches first. Tuck your distribution block somewhere, I chose right under the fuse box, a location that's not too apparent, but also easy to reach. 4. Now you have to route your 2 ga. wire from the engine bay to the trunk/hatch area. There are various ways of doing this, but i chose the technique described in this DIY to do mine. Tuck the 2ga. cable under the interior pieces on either side of the car, though the driver's side is easier to do. 5. By now you should have the 2 ga. routed through your interior, going into your trunk/hatch. Now's the time to have fun. Take your 3 foot ground cable and attach the o-ring and negative terminal on the wire. FIND A NICE GROUND. I used one of the bolts for the rear seatbelt buckle brackets. 6. Position the battery/box/tray in its future position in your trunk area, now that you've decided approximately where it will be going because of the length of the ground wire. Depending on the model of your box, bracket, or battery tray, mark the spots where you will be making holes for mounting in METAL part of the trunk. I recommend making the mounting hols with a thin punch, that way avoiding rust problems that you might encounter with drilling. Some primer on the mounting surface is suggested, as it will help with inhibiting the rusting process even more. 7. If your battery is a dry cell, ignore this step. Take your wet battery and put it in it's sealed box, and see where you will route the venting tube in order to vent it towards the outside of the vehicle. Drill a hole in the trunk floor once again, and using a grommet, feed the venting tube through it. 8. At this point, no wires are connected to the battery. Now is the time to attach the pos. one. For now, leave the neg. terminal on the side, make sure it is not connected to the battery. Cut the 2 ga. positive cable to lenght and attach the new pos. terminal on it. Leave about 6 inches of wire starting from the terminal, and make a cut in the 2 ga. wire in order to put the inline 100 amp fuse. 9. Now that everything, including the inline fuse, is connected, you can put on the battery terminals, starting by the postive one. When putting the neg. one back on, it will spark, it's normal, so don't worry. 10. Testing it. Start the car. If the starter hesitates more than usual, look at your connections, or find another ground. Try the different accessories, they should put more strain on the car than before (dimming headlights, etc). 11. If everything is well, you are ready to finalize the installation. Get rid of the stock ground in the engine bay by taking out the o-ring on the 17mm transmission bolt (under the coil packs) it is on. Some models might have a halfway grounding point right under where the bat tray used to be, held by a 10mm bolt. 12. Finally, before finishing, this is an important step, in my opinion. Use a small portion of leftover 2ga cable in order to make a ground wire from your transmission (where the stock ground was) to the chassis, with 2x ring connectors. 13. After threading the 17mm transmission bolt back on, make sure all your connections are perfect, as you do not want the main electrical system of your car to fail while you are driving it. Click here to discuss this Do It Yourself Guide.

Click here to Return to the Forum · Click here to return to DIY Main Page