relocating battery to rear

[Heath]

Okay going to put the battery in the back (too big for under the bonnet and move weight back) and have just got to sort how the cable will run.

Here is what I have planed so far (this is in the vitara).

Battery box is bolted to rear and battery held in place with strap etc.
The earth lead will go to the chassis (will weld bolt or something like that to chassis)
The pos lead will stay within the cab (not underneath) and run up to the centre console area where I will fit either a large on/ off button (the large push and turn type) or a large plastic key type switch.
From the switched side the power will go through a push button to the starter (will only work if switch is on)
The cable will then run through the firewall (not sure where or how yet) to the back of the starter motor.
The fuzible link will go from the starter motor to the power stuff.
A short cable will go from the starter to the alternator.
From the back of the alternator there is a power lead going to the first fuse.
I will if I have enough left make up another short earth lead from the engine to the chassis also.

Fuse's (4 of them) will be mounted on the centre console beside the switches and below any gauges I fit. Just have to runn the cables from the origional position and move the ECU to up behind the centre console also (how I dont know yet).

Will this work? Any suggestions or alternatives?

Heath

[petefj40]

Personally. I know cost is always an issue. But when it comes to auto eletrical work, I've learnt to leave that to the people that know what they are doing. I'm not saying you don't Heath. I'm sure you'd know more than I.
When you say the battery is to big for the front or under the bonnet. What type of battery is it?

[meatc]

You need to have the main starter cable go straight form the battery to the starter as it is now. The main alternator lead can go via switch and fusible link. Power for starter switch can come from the lead that goes batt to alternator. as can power for rest of vehicle.

The excitor for the alternator should come from the ignition switch so when the ignition is off but the master key is on the alternator doesnt have a consistant power supply.

Both starter and alternator cables should be a bit bigger than they are now to allow for he extra distance.

Hope all tht makes sense. If not let me know and I'll try and put a basic diagram together.

[Heath]

Battery is an exide Orbital 34DC Hi Power so is too tall and doesnt fit in the battery position anyway as it is too big. The new leads (got cable today -4metres) will be 25mm cable (about twice the old one I think) with really fine strands ($25ish per metre).

Have revised my plan a little. I will have toggle switch to turn on the ignition as I didnt like the idea of the big switch being the only on/off control and dont want to lose the key when it is off. The current ignition key etc will be gone and replaced by just the toggle switch on the centre console. Dont have a radio or accessories so no dramas there anyway, but I could fit another switch if I fit anything else (actually just thought there will be another switch (on off on) for the elec fan).

I may just get a sparky to do the hard bits but I will fit everything in place so he/she just runs the electric strings to where ever they need to go.

Heath

[FUBAR_nz]

to make it far easyer and faster
make dummy battery post for pos where battery is now
new cable goes from master switch to starter, all done cept bolt old battery earth to some where

doing this where you dont need to rewire fuses,alt etc,just new batt terminal on main lead in boot,3 eyelets crimped on leads,
if you dont have right gear make leads all ready to fit, then go see any auto sparky and get them to do the crimps, make sure you take iso sw so they know what size to use

[kiwipete]

I agree with FUBAR, that is by far the simplest and easiest solution.

[Steve_t647]

The cost of cable is really high especialy if you go to the car audio stuff, and that cable is very stiff, your best bet for cable is actualy welding cable, one thing be sure the earth you choose is a good earth I had a few issues with bad earthing in the race car meaning I ran earths to the comp and a couple of sensors, High current was fine but low voltage stuff was not happy.