I pulled out my system permanently and installed my battery in a sealed container bolted down in the trunk. I already had 4guage power wire running from the battery upfront, so I just disconnected the battery and moved it to the trunk. I grounded the battery to the trunk with 4guage wire.

Everything runs great, with one problem - when starting my car it is a little weaker then before... Is it my 4guage wire?

 

Absolutely, yes.

Any high grade battery relocation kit comes with 1 guage wire. 2 guage would be the minimum.

 

I would just add; where exactly is your battery ground connected too? If it's just to the trunk floor than that is probably the problem. The battery is originally grounded to the body and then to the engine. Your starter gets its ground through the connection to the engine and relys heavily on that ground being good. You're now relying on enough ground to get sent all the way up to the front of the car through the body and then through the "old" battery ground to the engine - that's assuming you left that wire in. If you removed that wire, reinstall it. Hope this makes sense.

 

I second this......you need thicker wire running back to the trunk. Also, make sure your ground wire is as thick as the one running from the battery to the engine bay.

 

if you did this in the winter your car wouldn't have started, so get a thicker wire, gage 1 is in major need

enjoy the better balance of the car

Vinipux

 

Welp I am going to install 1guage today - but I did want to mention.. I double grounded the front with 4guage instead of just that factory ground, and I shortened my 4guage run to the trunk by about 3-4feet... and the car starts like it normally would - granted I am STILL going to change to 1guage just to make sure it is done right -

and I do have 4guage ground also, but I will be changing it out tonight also -

THANKS for the advice everyone, glad to know it was something as easy as changing wires - I just used my old 4guage that was already run for my system, laziness

 

lazyness = car go boom

 

Welp, for anyone who cares (probably no-one), I swapped it all to 1guage which took forever I felt like, to run it perfectly hidden and well-done... but it works muuch better.

I used 1guage all the way from the battery to the front for the power, and my ground is grounded with 4guage in the trunk, and has a 4guage wire all the way to the front too. The front ground is grounded twice and also has the 4guage ground from the trunk, tell me I didnt overkill you would never know my battery is in the trunk now. Starts like a charm.

thanks for the advice.

 

well!! this post has greatly helped my old car's starting problem... which i now know is the wire problem! the freakin mechanic used 14 gauge wire to pull a wire from the starter up to the starter button and when the car gets hot it doesn't start.... i am guessing because heat from engine kills the conductivity of the wire right? soooo..... i went out and bought 25 feet of 10 gauge wire.. i think this should do alright.. right? I've never replaced the ground wire of the starter... coudl this be a problem too? the car just "clikcs clicks" when trying to start... but when useing a shorter wire directly to battery, it cranks w/o a prob.

 

what if your battery goes ded

 

iregula: Jump it.

You didn't need to do all of that. By connecting a proper ground, you could've eliminated your problems right there. 4 guage is enough to let the battery function. You should have found a better ground first. The back of your rear seat makes a better ground than your trunk floor. Your seat belt bolts are even better.

 

I know, i already had 4guage in place from my system, and from my previous try at putting the battery in the trunk... and its easier to use it as another ground source and over-ground the car, then it was to remove it, by far!

 

would a battery relocation kit from summit racing be enough? I looked at the picture and it doesn't look like that large of a guage wire.