[SSinstaller]

Has anyone else with this battery had any starting issues this winter. I haven't had any problems until the cold snap this week, but for the last three days my car has barely started in the morning. It seems weird that some many people can run this battery without issues, but I'm haveing trouble when it's only 27 deg in the morning??

I'm debating adding a second odessey battery(mabey the cold coupled with my stereo is just too much for this one little battery), but I'd like to make sure that I just don't have bad battery first..

 

[jinhao]

is that the stock battery? if so.. in 18 deg weather it seems to struggle a little

 

[whooosh]

no, this is not the stock battery.
It's the lightweight battery used in conjunction with the CP-E battery tray

I hope someone can chime in for SSinstaller since this battery is what I'm going to buy soon.
My car is a DD and I need it to start in al seasons and conditions.......yikes!

 

[Velocity6]

Has anyone else with this battery had any starting issues this winter. I haven't had any problems until the cold snap this week, but for the last three days my car has barely started in the morning. It seems weird that some many people can run this battery without issues, but I'm haveing trouble when it's only 27 deg in the morning??

I'm debating adding a second odessey battery(mabey the cold coupled with my stereo is just too much for this one little battery), but I'd like to make sure that I just don't have bad battery first..[/b]

Would you mind posting some pictures of your engine bay? I'm thinking of installing this battery. Also, have you considered running your stock battery in the winter? The oddessey can be stored for a very long time and not lose a charge.

 

[SSinstaller]

Would you mind posting some pictures of your engine bay? I'm thinking of installing this battery. Also, have you considered running your stock battery in the winter? The oddessey can be stored for a very long time and not lose a charge.[/b]

I don't have the battery in the engine bay. It's mounted in the lower passenger corner of the trunk. I've cut most of the wiring under the hood, so running the factory battery isn't really an option. It starts just fine when the temp is around 40 or above, and it really only stays colder than that a few days every winter here. I think I'd be fine if I didn't have 2 amps pulling about ~120 amps of current. Just to be safe, I'm going to get a second pc680 and put it on the other side of the trunk..

My camera is frozen in the car right now, once it warms up I'll try and snap a pic..

 

[Gandalf]

I don't have the battery in the engine bay. It's mounted in the lower passenger corner of the trunk. I've cut most of the wiring under the hood, so running the factory battery isn't really an option. It starts just fine when the temp is around 40 or above, and it really only stays colder than that a few days every winter here. I think I'd be fine if I didn't have 2 amps pulling about ~120 amps of current. Just to be safe, I'm going to get a second pc680 and put it on the other side of the trunk..

My camera is frozen in the car right now, once it warms up I'll try and snap a pic..[/b]

Have you tried turning off your headunit (hmm assuming you have a new one and not factory) and then seeing if the car starts better - or just unhooking the amps and seeing. I would test it out first before just assuming thats the problem and buying a second battery.

 

[SSinstaller]

Have you tried turning off your headunit (hmm assuming you have a new one and not factory) and then seeing if the car starts better - or just unhooking the amps and seeing. I would test it out first before just assuming thats the problem and buying a second battery.[/b]

I'm running both amps off the stock radio. It's not a current draw issue(after shutdown), I've metered the current draw and it sits at about .04~.03 amps when the car is off, and the battery voltage reads about 12.55 under the hood. It just doesn't have enough CCA's to turn the starter strong enough first thing in the AM. I haven't had it leave me stranded yet, but trying to crank the car 2~3 times and having it finally struggle and catch is just not going to work. I'd rather buy a second battery just for the piece of mind....and mabey I'll get a bigger sub amp....

When I get the new battery here(tomorrow), I will take the old one down to autozone and have them load test it for me...

 

[atomix8]

I was worried about the CCA issue too, even with stock electronics. This car takes the most cranking of anything that I've ever owned. Hugely temperature dependent, if I haven't driven it for a week I start wondering if it will start. Meanwhile my beater with a $30 battery starts after sitting for a month under snow. Ahh, Progress.

Baltimore winters BTW.

 

[Gandalf]

I was worried about the CCA issue too, even with stock electronics. This car takes the most cranking of anything that I've ever owned. Hugely temperature dependent, if I haven't driven it for a week I start wondering if it will start. Meanwhile my beater with a $30 battery starts after sitting for a month under snow. Ahh, Progress.

Baltimore winters BTW.[/b]

Ahh another Baltimoron You in the city? I'm down in federal hill.

 

[Emptynapalm]

It's not your radio that's doing it. I've had several mornings where I had crossed my fingers for the car to start. The worst one was when the car SLOWLY turned over twice (took about three seconds total) then fired up on the third rotation. I really hate when it does this, because my oil pressure guage won't start up (I don't know why it's only that guage). If the gauge doesn't work I wait till the car has warmed up, then restart the engine. I'm thinking that the only reason the battery has lasted through the winter is because it is new. I may have to try and fit the stock battery in there next winter.

 

[cleverly_jaded]

I have the Odyssey PC680MJT and the CPE battery tray, albeit mine is in the stock battery location. To date, I haven't had any starting problems with it, even when the temps are in the 20's. Do you think that there may be a problem with your battery relocation installation?

So far, I really love the battery tray mod. Between that and the CAI, it really unclutters the engine bay. If you are considering it, go for it.

 

[SSinstaller]

It's not your radio that's doing it. I've had several mornings where I had crossed my fingers for the car to start. The worst one was when the car SLOWLY turned over twice (took about three seconds total) then fired up on the third rotation. I really hate when it does this, because my oil pressure guage won't start up (I don't know why it's only that guage). If the gauge doesn't work I wait till the car has warmed up, then restart the engine. I'm thinking that the only reason the battery has lasted through the winter is because it is new. I may have to try and fit the stock battery in there next winter.[/b]

That's exactly what mine does. It'll turn really slow and I'll have to try and cranck it 2~3 times berfore it actually turns over and catches..

So far, I really love the battery tray mod. Between that and the CAI, it really unclutters the engine bay. If you are considering it, go for it.[/b]

Yep, it definatly gives you a little more room.

I have the Odyssey PC680MJT and the CPE battery tray, albeit mine is in the stock battery location. To date, I haven't had any starting problems with it, even when the temps are in the 20's. Do you think that there may be a problem with your battery relocation installation?

So far, I really love the battery tray mod. Between that and the CAI, it really unclutters the engine bay. If you are considering it, go for it.[/b]

It's not an issue with the battery relocation. I've got 0 guage run from the battery in the trunk to the cable up front, and several 4g grounds run off the battery to different braces around trunk. There is no voltage drop between the battery and the fusebox.. I'm willing to bet it's just the cold coupled with my short 3.5 mile commute never really giving the battery a chance to charge up properly.

I didn't have any issues starting the car this morning, but it was a little warmer today(and I had the battery on the charger for a little while yesterday). My second battery will be here today so that should be the end of me worrying about being stranded in the cold..

 

[whooosh]

this alternator upgrade will probably solve your short distance drive issues...

http://www.therpmstore.com/product_info.ph...products_id=387
"Iraagi high output alternator"
not a cheap move but may solve your problem.

I've noticed with basically all cars that I've done the battery relocation resulted in battery drain for whatever reason.
I also had 0 gauge wire and multiple grounds. It's just the length of the wire running the length of the car vs. stock that has something to do with it. When I had my GTO, a few guys over at ls1gto.com tried relocating the battery and they had the same problems you are experiencing. Most everyone else (me too) bought a slightly smaller Optima battery to save a few LB's and kept it in the stock location.....similar to CP-E's mod only CP-E's is much sweeter! :drool:

 

[Target:STi]

its the longer wires. it takes more energy to travel the longer distance (longer transmission lines = greater resistance). that coupled with cold weather and a small battery is probably your problem. try going with an optima or something

 

[SSinstaller]

its the longer wires. it takes more energy to travel the longer distance (longer transmission lines = greater resistance). that coupled with cold weather and a small battery is probably your problem. try going with an optima or something[/b]

The resistance of my 17' run of 0awg is only .0017 ohms, if the starter has a draw of 400 amps(doubtful considering that it'll start with 220 cca when its above ~30 deg), that would only have a voltage drop of .68 volts due to the wire. I was seeing ~9 volts during crank(my wideband guage displays E-9 with voltages below 9v). The battery just doesn't have the CCA to start the car repeatedly in temps below 32deg.--Mabey I got a weak battery, but after adding the second odyessey(effectivly doubling the CCA, and weight :angry: ) I don't have any starting issues.

 

[Daishi]

multiple grounds all over the place is BAD. it will cause a ground loop which is BAD. You want to ground everything in the area to the SAME ground. you said you had a sound system? you will want to ground your battery to 1 good spot and then ground your amps to your battery so you have 1 ground. be sure to use 0 gauge from the battery to the ground..

 

[SSinstaller]

multiple grounds all over the place is BAD. it will cause a ground loop which is BAD. You want to ground everything in the area to the SAME ground. you said you had a sound system? you will want to ground your battery to 1 good spot and then ground your amps to your battery so you have 1 ground. be sure to use 0 gauge from the battery to the ground..[/b]

All of the grounds coming off the battery are grounded to structural members of the chassy and measure less than 0.000 ohms of resistance between them(my meter only has 3 decimal places--there has to be some resistance I just cant meter it).

A ground loop(in car audio) is only caused with multiple grounds with different potentials between different components in the signal chain--if your reference ground in your headunit/eq/processor is different from the reference ground at the amps, you can get noise, or in extreme cases actually damage the radio if your amp trys equalize the voltage through ground sheild of the RCA's(good amps wont do this). Because of the noise canceling properties of the differential outputs of the stock bose radio I'd be suprised if anyone has gotten any significant noise from a 4 ch amp in this car--unless their amp was a huge POS, or the install was shotty.

The battery is the WORST place to ground your amps, or any part of any sound system. Think about it this way, if you have 100 different ground paths running throughout your vehicle which point do you think will have more voltage fluctuations/occilations, the chassy(roughly equivalent to a 4/0 AWG cable--According to Richard Clark), or the negative battery terminal where every circuit converges... There may be points on the chassy that have issues(weak welds, alot of factory connections), but generally a proper ground to the chassy is no more likely to have noise than a ground at the battery(and in some cases alot less likely)...

I install car audio for a living. :cheers: If anyone ever needs any car audio help feel free to PM me..:cheers:

 

[HiOfficer]

this alternator upgrade will probably solve your short distance drive issues...

http://www.therpmstore.com/product_info.ph...products_id=387
"Iraagi high output alternator"
not a cheap move but may solve your problem.

I've noticed with basically all cars that I've done the battery relocation resulted in battery drain for whatever reason.
I also had 0 gauge wire and multiple grounds. It's just the length of the wire running the length of the car vs. stock that has something to do with it. When I had my GTO, a few guys over at ls1gto.com tried relocating the battery and they had the same problems you are experiencing. Most everyone else (me too) bought a slightly smaller Optima battery to save a few LB's and kept it in the stock location.....similar to CP-E's mod only CP-E's is much sweeter! :drool:[/b]

Weird. There are OEM's with factory remote mounted batts (typically in the trunk), for example my old 3 series BMW. No issues at all w cold weather starting. Hey, rear engine diesel busses sometimes mount the batts well forward of the engine, maybe for weight distribution.

 

[Daishi]

All of the grounds coming off the battery are grounded to structural members of the chassy and measure less than 0.000 ohms of resistance between them(my meter only has 3 decimal places--there has to be some resistance I just cant meter it).

A ground loop(in car audio) is only caused with multiple grounds with different potentials between different components in the signal chain--if your reference ground in your headunit/eq/processor is different from the reference ground at the amps, you can get noise, or in extreme cases actually damage the radio if your amp trys equalize the voltage through ground sheild of the RCA's(good amps wont do this). Because of the noise canceling properties of the differential outputs of the stock bose radio I'd be suprised if anyone has gotten any significant noise from a 4 ch amp in this car--unless their amp was a huge POS, or the install was shotty.

The battery is the WORST place to ground your amps, or any part of any sound system. Think about it this way, if you have 100 different ground paths running throughout your vehicle which point do you think will have more voltage fluctuations/occilations, the chassy(roughly equivalent to a 4/0 AWG cable--According to Richard Clark), or the negative battery terminal where every circuit converges... There may be points on the chassy that have issues(weak welds, alot of factory connections), but generally a proper ground to the chassy is no more likely to have noise than a ground at the battery(and in some cases alot less likely)...

I install car audio for a living. :cheers: If anyone ever needs any car audio help feel free to PM me..:cheers:[/b]

just tryin to help bro ive had an issue like you were having before and setting it to 1 ground location worked. just about everyone on car audio forums even the guys that have been their long as hell with over 5,000 posts tol dme to ground everything to the battery i have in the trunk and put a 0 gauge ground from the battery to the chassis so everything is grounded in 1 spot and that worked for me.

 

[SSinstaller]

just tryin to help bro ive had an issue like you were having before and setting it to 1 ground location worked. just about everyone on car audio forums even the guys that have been their long as hell with over 5,000 posts tol dme to ground everything to the battery i have in the trunk and put a 0 gauge ground from the battery to the chassis so everything is grounded in 1 spot and that worked for me.[/b]

Is your battery in the trunk the only battery in the car? If it is a second battery for your stereo you would be fine grounding everything there as most of the vehicles accessory wiring is terminated at the underhood battery. But, if it's the only battery in the car the negative battery terminal has the most ground potential fluctuations of any part in the car....Every car is different though, and you may not have any issues...