Car not cranking after battery relocation

[ishnish]

Hey guys, so I'm pretty sad because I just got done with a battery relocation and the car won't even start . I replaced the 8 gauge wires from the fusebox (4 all together) with 4 gauge wires and ran it to a distribution box. I also extended the 4 gauge power wire from the starter to a distribution box as well. I left the 4 gauge ground wire in the engine bay and re-grounded it to a lower location in the engine bay on the frame. From the other end of the distribution box, I ran a 0 gauge wire to the positive side of the battery which now sits in the trunk. From the negative terminal of the battery, I have a 4 gauge wire that is grounded to the frame in the trunk. No messing around with the alternator for me.

Here's a pic to better illustrate what I did:

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At first, that 0 gauge wire was a 4 gauge wire. When I first cranked the car, it cranked VERY slow to where it couldn't even start. After, it would barely crank at all. I figured I had to replace my initial 4 gauge power wire running through the car, with 0 gauge. Spent so much money on 0 gauge wire only to be left disappointed and now broke because the same outcome happened. The car just won't crank. I know my battery is healthy because before the relocation, it started just fine. Do you guys think it's a grounding issue? I'm stumped guys .

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I would be frustrated, too.
Double check your grounds and have the battery tested.

 

[ishnish]

Can I just check the battery myself? I can't be spending any more money =/

 

[agentorange313]

I would be frustrated, too.
Double check your grounds and have the battery tested.

Agreed, double check grounds.

When I relocated my battery, I grounded the negative terminal 3 times in the trunk to different bolt locations to make sure I had a ground. First time I tried to start the car, same problem, was the grounds.

 

[ishnish]

I sanded off the paint and primer at the location where I grounded. Is that not enough? I will try finding another location though.

Just in case though, where did you ground your wire agentorange313?

 

[agentorange313]

I sanded off the paint and primer at the location where I grounded. Is that not enough? I will try finding another location though.

Just in case though, where did you ground your wire agentorange313?

Well I have a 1g, so you might not have the same bolt holes I used.

In the 1g you have a rail the stenches around the trunk area for resting the spare tire and cardbaord flooring. Its held down by a couple of bolts. I used one of them as a ground. I also used the spare tire bolt, removed my spare from the car, and a bolt located where the seats fold down. I circled the areas with yellow in the picture below (its not my pictures, my car isnt here with me so I cant snap a picture sorry).

 

[dsmcurse]

the ground has to be as big as the power, if not bigger. if you have a power supply that is 0awg by 12' and a ground thats 4awg by 2' long then your ground is deffinatley not gonna be up to par. on my batt relocation i ran ground wires in the trunk that were just the same size as my power supply. i aslo did like the above post said and used addtional grounding points. i also sent a ground wire from my negative post running the entire length of the car up to the engine. (my wires running through the car are a 2awg red for positive up to buss bar and 2awg black for ground connected to engine bellhousing)

 

[ishnish]

Ahh I see now.. Well I have one ground up front and one in the back but one's from the starter and the other from the battery. I figured since others have done it this way and been fine with it, I would too.

Thanks for the pics agentorange313. And dsmcurse, I will try the 0 gauge wire for a ground. That definitely makes sense and was something I thought about but didn't wanna spend extra money if it would have gone to waste like I already did. I'll give that a try and see how it all goes.

 

[northernawd]

I grounded my battery in the back to the bolts on the strut tower. Works great

 

[dsmcrzy]

I agree with you ground cable not being up to par. When I did mine (2 weeks ago) I ran two 0 gauge wires off the negative terminal of the battery to different locations and sanded down to bare metal.

Shouldn't cost too much more to get it grounded correctly. Other than that my set up is the same as yours.

 

[foxracing4500]

Ahh I see now.. Well I have one ground up front and one in the back but one's from the starter and the other from the battery. I figured since others have done it this way and been fine with it, I would too.

Thanks for the pics agentorange313. And dsmcurse, I will try the 0 gauge wire for a ground. That definitely makes sense and was something I thought about but didn't wanna spend extra money if it would have gone to waste like I already did. I'll give that a try and see how it all goes.

here is what I did 0g wire connected to back seat bolt and another on the strut bolt, 2g wire.

1 4g wire from alternator to battery,
1 4g wire to distribution block (fuse box)

battery voltage has always been 13.7v

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EDIT: dont mind the mess its an old photo and since then cleaned up.

 

[ishnish]

Wow guys. Thanks for shedding some more light on the subject. Well I guess it'd be a good idea to run a 0 gauge ground wire first at the same spot I currently have it to see if that work. Only because I already sanded it down to bare metal. Of it still has an issue, then I'll try another spot. Or I can just ground it again at the same spot that extra 4 gauge wire I have left as well correct? More wires to ground the better so it seems. If that still doesnt work, I guess I'll have to find another spot. But I really think that this spot should work guys. I found a pic of someone else's car to show where I grounded.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/electrical-tech/19070-battery-relocation-merged-3-8-a-6.html

Post #172, in the pic there's a white arrow pointin to a wire and it says "(-) Wire". Well if you look above that, almost as if the arrow is pointing to a bolt, that's where I grounded. I figured that's the best spot since it's the closest I could possibly get to my battery. Btw my battery is sitting exactly where the one in that picture is.

Oh and just so everyone knows, the title can be misleading. My car cranks VERY slowly for like 2 seconds and then just stops cranking. After the first attempt, the car doesn't even seem to want to crank anymore.

 

[dsmcrzy]

If you have extra 4ga wire the add it onto the terminal and ground it. I have a feeling The single 4ga wire is not enough of a ground. If you have enough to run a second or even third ground I would!

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[ishnish]

Fml to the fullest extent it could possibly be effed..

Update: I put in a 0 gauge ground, car didn't want to crank. Cranked once and that's all. Nothing more. Added a 2nd ground with the 4 gauge wire I had. Still nothing. Then I found an extra 2 feet or so of 4 gauge wire and grounded that as well (off to another location). That was 3 grounds guys (one 0 gauge wire and two 4 gauge wires). 2 at one spot (like previous) and 1 at another new spot. NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING.

I hate this so much! This job would have left me with the most fulfilling feeling knowing that I accomplished a battery relocation on my own. But nope.

Lights turn on and everything. It just WON'T crank. What am I doing wrong here? I think I'll check me battery but I really don't think that's the issue. I've barely had it for one year. Who knows though.

Question: I have a stinger SHD821 distribution box. Through the smaller ports (outputs), I have three wires coming in. One 4 gauge from the starter, and two 4 gauge wires from the fusebox (as depicted in my pic from first post). From the input, I have one 0 gauge wire coming in. Now, this distribution box uses mini ANL fuses. I used four 100 amp ANL fuses. Do you think this is the problem? Should I step it up to 150 amps? Just a thought.

 

[dsmcurse]

wow, your car just wont crank? double check your battery, have it load tested or at the very least put it on the battery charger over night. even tho your battery is fairly new that doesnt mean its 100% good. as far as your connections? you dont just have the wire frayed out and "jimmy"rigged under bolt heads to be your ground? did you crimp nice lugs onto the ends of your wires? how about this? will your car push start? can you get it started that way and maybe drive it around the block then come home to your drive way?

maybe if you can start it up you'll see what kinda battery voltage you have while car is running. if you have your battery just loosly flung in there with no tie down (not that it matters for starting) dont do that, and no a bungy cord wont work. put it in a tie down. that hot wire coming off the positive post shouldnt be any longer that 12''s and then that should go into your breaker or fuse, from there NOW it can make the run to the front of the car. and a 150amp should be best.

 

[ishnish]

Update 2: Checked the voltage of the battery as of 10 minutes ago. It sat at 12 volts dead.

My car JUST won't crank, correct.. I have not push started my car yet. The three grounds are not frayed. The one in the front is but I re-grounded it to an area were it wasn't frayed to double check (grounded it to where it was grounded originally) and it still wouldn't start then. Now, for the connections in the distribution box, the 0 gauge wire is sort of frayed because it just wouldn't all fit in there. Even though it was meant for a 0 gauge, it just wouldn't fit so I just got in as much as I could. Same for the sides that have the 4 gauge wires. That side isn't frayed a lot, though just barely. Battery doesn't have tie down yet but that's only temporary. I wanted to see if the car would start first of all. But it does sit securely. The positive post I think is right at 12 ft. I'm not positive but when I did go to buy the 0 gauge wire, I asked for 12 ft. I was given extra but I cut off about 2 ft just to use as a 0 gauge ground. Do you think it can for sure be the fuses? I want to attempt the push start but don't want my car to explode or something .

Another piece of additional info: The original power wire coming from the starter wasn't long enough to make it to my distribution box which sits inside my car. To compensate for this, I soldered a piece of 4 gauge wire onto the original power wire (I believe it's 4 gauge as well) to extend it to the distribution box. Could that be the problem? That's the only other thing I can think of. I mean it is connected to the starter wire and the fact that it barely wants to crank makes me think that maybe that could be the issue?

 

[dsmcurse]

a proper battery in the trunk mod should be something along the lines of this

 

[PrimerPLus]

I am no electrical expert but from my experiences from a car not starting but lights and such come on is usually one of the following. Bad battery, bad or loose connections. So if I were you, I would go through the entire setup again and MAKE sure you have everything tight, snug. Recheck your soldering, your grounds, just make sure it is all good. If it is, I would check your walk through you followed and make sure you have done it correctly. There is obviously a problem and it can be fixed. I am assuming your car was in good working order before you did the relocate? Meaning your car started, and your starter is healthy. If you are unsure of your battery take it to a parts store they can test it for free. Napa, shucks, car quest etc..

 

[DSMnoobsause]

a proper battery in the trunk mod should be something along the lines of this

And needs to be in a vented to outside explosion proof box. When your battery gasses out and your windows are up you will die from the poisonous gas.

 

[ishnish]

I will take a pic of my battery in the trunk tomorrow for reference.

Primerplus, everything was in perfect working order in my car before this whole relocation. I really do think the battery is healthy but I'll be sure to get it checked. I just really hope it is free. I literally have like $2 on me right now . I'll try making sure everything is snug. Well at this point, my only guess is that the fuses in the distribution box are a bit small at 100 amps. But who knows..

Guys I relocated my battery to the back just to get it to the back. So no box, no kill switch, etc. I didn't care for it at this point because I won't be tracking it anytime soon. Others have done it as well. I do have a box and two kill switches, just haven't used them yet. All I want to do is get my car to start at this point.

 

[dsmcurse]

absolutley man, i would replace that wire with a solid peice thats not extended

 

[ishnish]

The problem is I don't even know how to get to it . I tried initially but I'm not the most technically inclined and didn't want to mess anything up.

But how could that be such a big issue? I don't understand.

 

[dsmcurse]

And needs to be in a vented to outside explosion proof box. When your battery gasses out and your windows are up you will die from the poisonous gas.

ive never seen a battery box thats 100% air tight liquid spill proof with custom vent to outside of car. yes i have seen them locked down in a spill proof casing. that paticular tie down is deseigned to open vent fumes on purpose. (but its also a marine battery tie down thats intended to be in a bildge compartment) but didnt think that would matter for street purposes.

picture should give a good hint as to how to run wires

 

[DSMnoobsause]

Just remember it requires more cranking amps the farther it has to travel.
Make sure you have a ground from the engine to the body. make sure it's not attached to the subframe. The subframe is mounted by rubber (not a good conductor). Also make sure it's at least the size the stock ground was. Make sure all splice connections are soldered together. No crimp connectors!
If you grounded like you have said then you should be ok for the rear area. Just make sure you have plenty of good clean grounds from engine to body.

 

[NHerron]

Not many facts in this thread...

How about do some actual voltage drop tests while cranking. You do have a DMM/voltmeter/etc right?

Take one probe and stick it to the battery ground stud. Take the other probe and stick it to the starter casing, you may use wires to extend the probes reach. Set the DMM on 2V and crank the car. What is the voltage reading?

Same thing for the positive side. One probe to the battery positive and other probe to the starter positive stud (at least as close to it) Crank the engine. What is the voltage reading. The car has to crank though no matter how slow, it just needs to crank. This will give you a good idea on what's up.

Voltage Drop Testing