• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Grounding or wiring my battery? Relocated! Battery Dies Fast!

Q

qbcsvt

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
3,145
Location
Up North New Jersey
This is my 3rd battery (Luckily still under warranty) in the past 4-6 months.

I put in my Turbo and had to relocate the battery to the trunk.

I put a Positive wire directly to the from the battery (in the trunk) to the engine bay, With a Power Distribution Block (Starter, Fuse Box and one more wire is connected to the block)(2Gauge).

I used the original Battery Mount Cut down to size and drilled/bolted that right into the chassis from the trunk.

I put a Grounding Wire into the trunk/chassis (2 Gauge)
I also grounded the engine in a stock manner (From a Bolt on the tranny to the driver side fender, on a bolt that held the fuse/battery Mount) (4Gauge).

I want to know the proper way to ground the battery/engine/chassis.

I have a lot of 4 gauge wire! I was thinking of getting another distribution block in the engine bay for grounding and running a wire directly from that to the battery. I believe that is the proper way to do it! Please Chime in if you have done this and let me know if there is a better way to do this! Or this is the best!

- amyn
 
my battery is grounded to the trunk floor using 0 ga wire.

the possitive battery terminal is run to a circuit breaker and then to a distribution block up front with 0-ga. the starter wire and the two other wires to the engine power distribution block are connected here also.

the main engine ground is 2 ga and is run to a bolt that use to hold the battery tray.

if your battery is continuously running down then you have a current draw. you will need to check around to see where it is coming from. start by pulling fuses for things and then add one back one at a time to see when you have a draw on the battery.

yes you can run an additional ground from the battery to the engine compartment and tie into the main engine ground.


how often are you driving the car? if you don't drive it for more often then 2 weeks you are going to have or get a low battery depending on how many electronics, like an alarm, etc are working in that time frame.
 
I dont know where a draw can come from. I have a Voltmeter but I am unsure how to use it completely and properly.

When you say pull out all the fuses and then test to see if you are getting a draw when you put them back in. Is this the box under the steering wheel or the engine bay or both?

Should I pull them all out completely and put them in the right place one by one and test the battery or something one by one???

- amyn
 
actually check the current draw on the battery. then pull fuses one at a time until you find one that causes the current draw on the battery to drop.
 
Check now pull one by one.... got it now i just need to figure out how to check draw on my voltmeter!

I saw you used 0 Gauge, is the mixture of 2 and 4 gauge not sufficient? Also my 2 Gauge power from the battery is wired directly into the distrubution block. Unsure where you were coming from with the Circuit Breaker???

- amyn
 
circuit breaker is inline with the main battery wire close to the battery. you really need a way to disconnect the battery if you have to, or have a inline fuse like the mega fuse.

4 ga from what I recall is sufficient but I went over board to make sure it was good enough.
 
BrApple said:
circuit breaker is inline with the main battery wire close to the battery. you really need a way to disconnect the battery if you have to, or have a inline fuse like the mega fuse.

4 ga from what I recall is sufficient but I went over board to make sure it was good enough.
Click to expand...

What does the circuit breaker look like? I need to look into this. I wired everything into the distribution block that was going into the battery prior to the relocation, Technically just extending it to the back!

- amyn
 
qbcsvt said:
What does the circuit breaker look like? I need to look into this. I wired everything into the distribution block that was going into the battery prior to the relocation, Technically just extending it to the back!

- amyn
Click to expand...

depending on the manufacturer, they look different. mine is a 3" by 3" box, with a lil red switch that pops in and out as the circuit breaks. i'll try n take a pic and post it. and it is on top of my battery.
 
I searched a couple online and I think I see it But I never saw one on my car....even when I was completely stock!

- amyn
 
So in order to turn on your car you need to turn on the circuit breaker under your hood????

And switch it off when the car is being turned off??

- amyn
 
qbcsvt said:
So in order to turn on your car you need to turn on the circuit breaker under your hood????

And switch it off when the car is being turned off??

- amyn
Click to expand...
no, it works just like a fuse only if it blows you dont have to spend money replacing an expensive large fuse, you just reset it. just like a house circuit breaker.
 
i meant like this one i've got on mine...

DSC01092.jpg
 
My car had a lot of strange issues like this after the battery relocation. In the end, it appeared to be an issue with the ground connection from the front of the car to the back of the car through the chassis, not being very good. I had problems with slow discharge with the car off, but starting issues were the worst, the current flow out of the battery was enough to pop a 250A breaker regularly during starting. I'm still not sure the exact root cause, but it dramatically improved by adding a seperate ground line from the battery back to the front grounding lug. I sold the car since, but it didn't really start behaving normally until I ran the seperate ground.

Oh, yeah, prior to adding the ground, my setup was very similar to BrApple's, 0 guage cable from the batt to a breaker (next to the battery) to a distribution block up front, and 0 guage cable to the rear stub rail for the ground. Front ground was originally just to the heavy inner fender sheetmetal, but I also added extra grounds to the engine block, and to the body side of the trans mount bolt into the front rail. I went a bit crazy on the grounds while trying to sort out the problem.

Oh yeah, the battery was an Odyssey PC925.
 
Well Since My battery Light has come on and I replaced my battery once It died within 2-3 hours of using the car! Im guessing my alternator is shot or my grounds arent great as Rara said!

I did the battery relocation and never had an issue with the parts on the engine. My starter broke since and now i think my alternator is going or gone!

I am thinking the battery is not getting a charge!

- amyn
 
qbcsvt said:
Well Since My battery Light has come on and I replaced my battery once It died within 2-3 hours of using the car! Im guessing my alternator is shot or my grounds arent great as Rara said!

I did the battery relocation and never had an issue with the parts on the engine. My starter broke since and now i think my alternator is going or gone!

I am thinking the battery is not getting a charge!

- amyn
Click to expand...

well, just retrace ur ground then.
 
BAD SVT said:
well, just retrace ur ground then.
Click to expand...

Sorry forgot to mention that I was doing that tonight. I just forgot to get a crimper for the tips so this is gonna be a project for another day! tomorrow or friday!

Im still afraid my alternator went out cause of the fraying wires... Im changing the wire from the alternator to the mega fuse for a larger gauge as well!

- amyn
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top