How To: Dual Battery in Engine Bay ala GeoXplorer

Taylor Spaulding

Bought an X
Location
Vacaville, CA
Notes:
*GeoXplorer's post over on TNX is one of the most complete write-ups with full pictures of everything. I used it often.
I would read his version first, then read mine. His goes into MUCH more detail.

*I completed this from setup to clean up in about 10 hrs (maybe 11) including runs to Home Depot. It's at least a day, more if you take breaks for things like food and water (which I did not)



1. Chock, brake, and Jack the car up on the passenger side, remove the wheel and fender liner.
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2. Remove your Battery, battery tray, and unbolt the negative ground bracket near the PSFR. See GeoXplorer’s post for instructions and tips.

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3. Moving PSFR reservoir:
a. Pull the PSFR off the bracket this is very tight. No it's not bolted on, it's just tight. Strong and gentle is the key.
b. Remove the lid from the reservoir
c. Locate the power steering supply and return lines. My supply line was held in by a clamp.
d. Squeeze the hose clamp on the supply line and slide it back two inches.
e. Have a helper position a catch container under the hose and gently maneuver the hose off and into the container. This takes some force, but don't yank it, the metal nipple is thin and would likely kink easily. Fluid will come out of the hose and nipple, quickly.
f. Once it stops, cover the nipple with a covering. I used these from Autozone or O'Reilly...can't remember:

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g. Have your assistant or yourself move up to the engine bay.
h. Raise the reservoir slightly and tilt towards the supply line to get more fluid out.
i. Remove the supply line from the reservoir while the other holds the free end in the catch container.
j. Cover the nipple on the reservoir and toss the hose.
k. Repeat the steps for the large return hose. There is a good amount of fluid in the hose and some pressure from the engine block. It will flow out quick. You've been warned.
l. Toss both hoses, make sure all nipples are covered.
m. Recap the reservoir and set aside.
n. Undo the three bolts holding in the bracket for the reservoir.
o. Cut the bracket directly across at the small indentation.
p. Save the top piece which holds the PSFR, toss the bottom part. Notice the small hole in the 45 degree angled section.
q. Unbolt the grounding wire bolted just below the Coolant Reservoir, clean area with wire brush.
And the bolt holding in the coolant reservoir this one is longer, this is important.
r. Put the longer bolt from the Coolant Reservoir through the hole in the bracket. Add two or three 1/4" stainless lock washers as spacers. Then add the ground wire and bolt to the original ground location (ground wire should be directly contacting the body. The lock washers act like springs, ensuring the ground wire makes a solid connection to the body.
s. This is where the PSFR will live!
t. Attach new supply and return hoses to the nipples on the engine block return and the pump supply. Remember your hose clamps.
u. Return is 5/8" hose, supply is 3/8" HIGH PRESSURE power steering hose.
v. Route the hoses through the void directly behind your head lights, use split loom were the tubes go around the sharp corner.
w. Dry test the placement of the reservoir back in the bracket BUT DO NOT PUSH DOWN ALL THE WAY YET! The placement is TIGHT. Don't get discouraged, it WILL fit eventually.
x. Determine the final length you need for your hoses to connect back to the reservoir nipples. Cut the hoses to length and attach to the reservoir. Remember your hose clamps.
y. Now is time for patience. Ever so gently maneuver the PSFR onto the bracket. You will really need to work at this, it will get caught on all sorts of things, but it will eventually seat correctly. Keep trying till you get it.
z. Once it's in, sigh with relief, the hard part is done! Your PSFR is now relocated!! Fill the reservoir SLOWLY with new fluid, note the COLD fill mark. Check for leaks!!
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Taylor Spaulding

Bought an X
Location
Vacaville, CA
4. Adding Batteries
a. Use a flat head screw driver to open the clip holding down the positive terminal wire bundle.
b. Gently cut away about 4" of the loom and retape.
c. Disconnect the Harness from the Variable Voltage Controller on the negative wire.
d. Push all those wires into the space beside the smaller fuse box. You'll notice a very large space now!
e. Towards the front is the original battery hold down bracket. Cut it off flush with the body. I used a piece of sheet metal as a spark shield to protect my headlights and reservoirs as I used my Dremel and cutoff wheel.
f. Now, it's time for you to determine how you want to put in your batteries. Battery size and cost will be key here. There are a number of great options out there including GeoXplorer's excellent version which is much easier than mine.
g. Also if you want to change out your alternator positive and ground wires and battery ground cable this is the best time I think...I realized this afterwards.
h. Since I had Odyssey PC1200s I bought these boxes which are awesome and I would recommend.

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Link to Battery Boxes
i. One box hangs halfway off the little body shelf directly in front of the fuse box. The other sits down in the depression.
j. The first box should be positioned as FAR forward from the fuse box as possible. The second box should be positioned in such a way that it does not greatly inhibit access to headlights. This might take some Tetris work. Don't rush this.

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k. Once you've determined where the boxes will go, decide how to attach them. I decided to bolt them through the skin into the wheel well with 1/4"x3/4" bolts which were perfect. I drilled holes through both the box and skin simultaneously. This requires some pre-planning and measuring for the lower shelf which is actually floating above the wheel well. See step 8.
l. Before bolting I also bolted a 1-1/2" cabinet bracket on the "hanging" corner of the upper box as a support brace.
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m. The lower shelf actually has two layers of steel. I drilled all the way through both layers with the 1/4" bit. Then in order to add the nuts and washers to the underside I enlarged the hole in the lower skin for each bolt hole so a ratchet bit would fit through.
n. Of all the bolts I added, one actually ended up poking through far enough that I needed to make a hole in the plastic fender liner. Luckily the placement it is not a danger to the tire or suspension...take your time if you go my route.
o. I bolted in the whole setup and tested the boxes by yanking on them.
p. Added a thick foam "footprint" to the bottom of the box to protect the batteries from the bolt heads.


5. Wiring the batteries together:
a. Next is a bit...tricky...I didn't like the positive terminal fuse box BUT my assistant was NOT electrically inclined and was going to be leaving in an hour so I had to finish fast, just in case something failed and I needed a ride. Most people simply add a short 6" wire from the positive terminal to the fuse block. I was able to maneuver the wires back onto the new main positive terminal in the space between the small fuse block and my main battery. This is why the space between box one and the fuse box is so important. Mine was so tight I had to hold the wires in place while my assistant placed the battery in.
b. Place the second battery in.
c. Bolt both down.
d. Odyssey batteries (with the added terminals) can have both the SAE posts AND 5/16" bolts. I added a heavy duty post lug to the positive post of each which had a bolt down connection.
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e. The original bolt hole on the positive terminal fuse block is 1/4".
f. I cleaned all the contacts, reamed out the connector(s) to 5/16" and then bolted it down onto the post.
g. Wiring the National Luna kit is as easy as cutting a few wires and adding lugs...honestly the lugs in the kit are not great. They are all pretty cheap...I'd go buy your own lugs.
h. First I installed the Solenoid on top of the large fuse block. Technically the solenoid is not waterproof and so should be installed vertical not flat. I will be working on "waterproofing" this installation.
i. Make two positive wires with a standard lug at one end, an in-line MAX 130amp fuse and the other end has 1/2" stripped. One should be about 1' total in length, the other should be 1.5' in total length
j. Connect the lug to the respective posts on the National Luna Solenoid and then the stripped end gets clamped onto the lug of the appropriate battery.
k. My main battery is the one closest to the cab, and my auxiliary is in the very front.
l. Once those wires are added you will make a single wire 8" or 9" long with two 5/16" lugs on each end. You can now attach the negative terminal ground cable to your main battery. I did not reconnect the VVC harness.
m. The National Luna solenoid has a small 12-gauge ground sensing wire. Cut this so it will reach your main battery negative terminal, add a 5/16" terminal lug. Bolt the sensing wire and the wire you made above to the main battery negative terminal. As you connect it, the solenoid will beep.
n. Bolt the other end of the new negative wire created in step “l” to the auxiliary battery negative terminal.
o. Make sure all your wires are secured in place.
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6. Routing the controller and monitor from National Luna:
a. Take a wire hanger, bend straight, cut in half, and grind one end to a sharp point.
b. Tape other end to the charge controller wire. I used a TON of tape to make a nice sloping shape. If it's not a smooth enough slope, you'll have a hard time going through the grommet.
c. Find the passenger side grommet directly behind the fuse box on the firewall.
d. Push the wire hanger in and then orient DOWN. Play with it until it most of the hanger is through.
e. Go over to your passenger seat, remove the kick panel and lower glovebox.
f. If you look up towards the very back, you should see the hanger. Tug gently but firmly to pull the cable through.
g. Decide where you want to mount your controller.
h. I mounted mine on the center console glove box.
i. Pulling up the plastic of the center console is easy with some gentle force.
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j. I routed the cable along the frame rail to the center console.
k. Use the wire hanger to feed the cable into the center console and back to the glove box.
l. Measure where you want the controller to go. And cut out the hole for it.

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7. Figure out where the control wire plugs in on the unit
8. Drill a small 1/2-3/4" hole in the bottom of the glove box directly under where the plug will go.
9. Feed the cable through the drilled hole and through the large cutout for the controller.
10. Plug the cable in, and fit the whole unit into the console.
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11. Plug the other end of the cable into the solenoid.
12. The alarm should go off if everything is setup correctly.
13. Push and hold the SET button until it turns off.
14. You're good to go! Check the charge on each battery, clean up and take her for a drive!
 
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TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
I like the battery monitor in that spot. I've been considering this for some time now but haven't moved forward with it. I had intended to relocate my PSF reservoir when I replaced my steering rack last year but it wound up happening on such a tight time frame, I couldn't get the pieces ordered.
 

Taylor Spaulding

Bought an X
Location
Vacaville, CA
I like the battery monitor in that spot. I've been considering this for some time now but haven't moved forward with it. I had intended to relocate my PSF reservoir when I replaced my steering rack last year but it wound up happening on such a tight time frame, I couldn't get the pieces ordered.

Thanks Terry! It was a great project, one of my first on the rig and it really got me over my concerns about working on the car! Also has been awesome, for power management, great to be able to draw from a battery that isn't linked to my starter. I've had zero issues so far.

That placement for the controller is spot on! I definitely need dual batteries at some point.
Thanks Prime!
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
Thanks Terry! It was a great project, one of my first on the rig and it really got me over my concerns about working on the car! Also has been awesome, for power management, great to be able to draw from a battery that isn't linked to my starter. I've had zero issues so far.

I'm looking closer at a fridge setup so it would be really nice for that. Especially since my X is a DD.
 

maillet282

If you bleeding, Imma fix you
Moderator
Location
Ontario Canada
I am adding all of the how to's that were imported over from TNX to a quick reference list that can bring people to the how to's with a simple click of the ones they are looking for
 
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