Power lock problem after battery relocation

[GofaST4life]

So guys, i relocated my battery to the trunk, got everything hooked up correctly, turned the car on and everything seemed great. So i turn it off and get ready to go to work, but the power locks wont work.

If I hit the power lock button, i hear a little clicking in the doors and a louder clicking behind the radio. I checked all the fuses, they are fine. Maybe i should recheck?

What could have happened to make BOTH doors not work?

Also, if i lock the door, and then try to open in manually with the key, it WONT unlock, it turns fine, but it wont unlock. WTF
Should that even happen? To BOTH doors?

This just seems weird. Maybe im missing something stupid? IDK.



p.s.- i searched but i didnt find this exact problem, if i missed a thread, im sorry.

 

[GofaST4life]

I was told that i could possibly have a bad battery ground and that the solenoids may not be getting enough power to move the lock so to double check i un hooked the positive and then unhooked the ground, took my drill and sanded down the metal again just to make sure the ground was good.

I then connecting everything back up and as soon as the positive cable hit the terminal i heard the locks actually moved in the door, instead of just making a small clicking noise, so i tightened the positive down and tried my lock and still nothing. Just makes a small clicking noise.

So i then un-tightened the ground and giggled it around, yes i said giggled, obviously some sparks flew and i heard the locks actually moving in the door again.

So i tightened it down for a second time and tried and then its still just a quiet click.

Maybe my problem is with the ground and im just not setting it right??

And why the hell wont the door open when i use the key!?

IDK, this whole situation seems stupid, haha

Someone told me to unplug the power lock switch behind the door panel, would the power lock switch be noticeable when i take off the door panel? And when i do this should i unplug it and leave it or unplug it and then plug it back in? Does anyone know what steps i should take when doing this?

 

[LLs420a]

how much wire did you run with your relocation kit? What gauge?

 

[GofaST4life]

4 gauge wire

Found out that my passenger window wont go down AND if you lock the door and pull the lever it wont open. Unlike the driver door that open from the inside when its locked.

Looks like ill be pulling off that door panel to see whats going on in there.

 

[TrevorS]

So guys, i relocated my battery to the trunk, got everything hooked up correctly, turned the car on and everything seemed great. So i turn it off and get ready to go to work, but the power locks wont work.

If I hit the power lock button, i hear a little clicking in the doors and a louder clicking behind the radio. I checked all the fuses, they are fine. Maybe i should recheck?

What could have happened to make BOTH doors not work?

Also, if i lock the door, and then try to open in manually with the key, it WONT unlock, it turns fine, but it wont unlock. WTF
Should that even happen? To BOTH doors?

This just seems weird. Maybe im missing something stupid? IDK.

If you relocate the battery, the biggest concern is probably voltage drop issues. Solenoids and motors require current and current results in voltage drop and if the voltage drop is too large, all of a sudden there isn't enough energy available to do the job.

I'd say your problem is you're losing too much voltage over the wires you installed when relocating the battery!

 

[GofaST4life]

Hmmm i never thought of that.

Should i try bigger wire?

 

[TrevorS]

Hmmm i never thought of that.

Should i try bigger wire?

I'd say use the heaviest wire you can get your hands on !

 

[GS ice T]

I'm curious as to what amperage fuse you used. After doing my motor swap I realized I can no longer put the battery in the stock location. Since the trunk seemed much better than fabricating something where the evap emissions used to be, I put it next to my system in the trunk. I already have 4 gauge wire with a 60A fuse ran for the system.

Is 60A enough for the battery or will it blow? On top of that I hope 4 gauge is enough. I have 0/1 laying around but it weighs as much as the battery.

 

[TrevorS]

Increasing the capacity of the fuse will not help the problem of voltage loss due to a longer or smaller gauge wire. You can move the battery ten miles away, but the motors and solenoids must not be able tell the difference. That's the problem you have to deal with.

 

[rush2252]

I didnt bother reading the ENTIRE thread. But it didnt appear anybody addressed the issue of the ground. Without explaining snap a picture of the battery and where the ground is. Im interested in location and the length of your ground wire.

It shouldnt matter where you relocate as long as you have proper grounding you shouldnt have any issues with accessories. Your ground needs to be no longer than 18" if youve relocated. Thats a guestimate but you get the idea. The shorter the ground the better.

-Kolby

 

[GS ice T]

I realize this. I was just trying to get some info from this thread without creating another one. Although I might be running into the same problem because I'm using the same gauge wire. My concern at the moment is what fuse rating would be best so that I don't blow it, say when I am trying to crank the car when current from the battery to the engine bay will be considerably high.

 

[lacroixdp]

Something to note, if you ran 8 feet of wire, the maximum recommended power to draw through that 4GA cable is 84 amps. Now just to disclaim myself, my degree isn't in electrical engineering - but I'm pretty sure you're passing more power than that, especially during start-up. When I was doing research on this a few years ago, I think we decided 0GA was best to run for the relocation kit after talking to some guys that know what they're talking about in the electrical field. You may want to check that with someone.

 

[rush2252]

I realize this. I was just trying to get some info from this thread without creating another one. Although I might be running into the same problem because I'm using the same gauge wire. My concern at the moment is what fuse rating would be best so that I don't blow it, say when I am trying to crank the car when current from the battery to the engine bay will be considerably high.

Im referencing the OP not the thread jacker

Kolby

 

[GS ice T]

Im referencing the OP not the thread jacker

Kolby

Likewise, I was referring to TrevorS. Sorry though, just so I'm not completely jacking the thread... possibly adding a small capacitor to the engine bay will give whatever accessory needing quick current, the boost it needs to work, while keeping weight low. When I stripped my other Eclipse that I purchased from someone else, I pulled 0/1 gauge wire out of it and it seriously weighed as much as the battery itself. So I'm striving to keep everything functioning properly while also keeping weight down.

 

[TrevorS]

It all comes down to V=IxR, and in this case, V is the voltage loss over the wire (combined ground and positive cables to the battery terminals) resulting from the current drain I through the total series wire resistance. The smaller the gauge, the higher R, and the resulting larger V. That which is left when you take the battery 12V (ignoring battery internal impedance for sake of simplicity) and subtract V is what the motor or solenoid sees. Changing fuse sizes from OEM won't help, only reducing the voltage loss due to the wire will help. If you don't want to use heavy wire (weight and lower gauge going together), you're just going to have to move the battery closer to the loads.

As mentioned, if you're running a long ground wire, that's going to make the situation worse, so best to keep it short and make sure you choose a good chassis ground for it.

PS. A "small" capacitor won't help, it takes major capacity to deliver the current required by motors and solonoids without serious voltage drop.

PPS. You can always double up on the battery cable wires and thereby halve the wire voltage loss, but that also doubles the wire weight.

 

[GS ice T]

I've been over ohm's law, kirchoffs law, resistance, capacitance, inductance and all the differential equations in between. You're totally missing what I was trying to ask. There is no OEM fuse for a battery relocation which is why I'm asking what I should go with.

The reason I'm asking is not for decreasing the voltage drop from the battery to the engine bay but so that I have ample headroom for cranking the car over without blowing the fuse. lacroixdp thinks cranking the car uses more than 84A which would blow my 60A fuse easy. This makes me want to go with a 100+A fuse or just two 60A fuses in parallel.

As for the ground, mine will only be about 12" long and I'll be using my multimeter to make sure the resistance is as low as I can get it.

When I say small capacitor I don't mean like a little circuit board capacitor but more like a 1/2 - 1 farad capacitor. The capacitor will have the same voltage that the battery has and together they should get the job done. We won't know until someone tries it. I'll mess around with it and see what works as I finish up my project.

I also thought about a second 4ga wire as two of them would be easier to run under the carpet than a fat 0/1 gauge wire. But again if I can make it work without doing so I'll be sure and post an update.

Finally, to the OP, do the power locks and windows work while the car is running? When it's running the alternator is mainly feeding everything power so the battery relocation shouldn't matter. The key should lock and unlock the doors regardless of power. Both my cars don't have a battery connected right now and I can still lock and unlock them with the key.

 

[GS ice T]

Just an update. I went with the 4ga wire with a 2 60a fuses in parallel in the trunk and a 200a fuse in the engine bay. Sanded all contacts and grounds to get any corrosion/paint off and everything works. Voltage is the exact same in the engine bay as at the battery terminals. So I conclude that larger wire is unnecessary as long as all connections have optimal contact.