Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys.

I'd like to move my battery into the engine bay, to make space under the drivers seat.

Any reason not to? I figure if I pull the air box & fit a cone style k&n filter, there will be ample room behind the offside rear light.

I'm not worried about the wiring, I can sort that.

Thanks.

hot in engine bay, not good for battery ( diesel runs cooler)
alot of work for not much space

The airbox and snorkel were put there to draw fresh clean air in, and the snorkel creates a positive pressure in the airbox, helping to force mixture into the cylinders.
The battery would have to be clamped... It's a hot place in there, as itchy says.
..and it's a bit awkward when you have to move it.
Just my ten pence

Or trying jump start. I toyed with that idea but decided against it. No reason why it couldn't be relocated to a cupboard or under back seat though - if that proves beneficial. I moved my leisure to a cupboard so I wasn't bound by battery dimensions.

One other thing is you'll have to cover it with something waterproof, as if it's under the vent it'll get wet when it rains.

I've got a second leisure battery in the space behind the left hand tail lights. It was a replacement starter battery that I bought but didn't need.

I've secured it with a generic tie down bracket that needed a single hole to be drilled, and it stays quite dry under there since I did the magnetic fridge strip mod. Accessing the terminals is impossible while it's in place (so I simply have to connect them before moving the battery in place) and getting the battery in and out is quite difficult. I also had to move the coil along in it's bracket. I'll post a picture if I remember this evening.

That'd be great, thank you.

Thanks for all the other comments as well guys.
Space is becoming a premium for me.

This is my spare starter battery (wired in as a second leisure battery), located behind the left hand tail lights. To give you an idea of size, this battery was bought to fit the battery box behind the driver's seat.



This second photo shows the tie-down bracket in better detail. I was a bit lazy - at this end it's just hooked under the chassis rail. At the other end, not visible in the photo, I made a hole in the diagonal webbing to take the bracket. It makes it quite fiddly to get the battery in and out (otherwise I'd show you a photo of that end too).

That's great, thank you.

CJH, what stops the battery moving back under hard accelleration or a rear shunt and coming out of the bracket?

Spare starter battery? Cripes Chris, thats paranoia for you

itchyfeet wrote:CJH, what stops the battery moving back under hard accelleration or a rear shunt and coming out of the bracket?

With the bracket tightened down the battery is very firmly held in place. It certainly won't move under acceleration ("hard" acceleration ). I can't remember for sure, but I think the battery is hard up against the metal frame around the light cluster - just visible in the top left of the first photo.

CovKid wrote:Spare starter battery? Cripes Chris, thats paranoia for you

Well it wasn't intended as a spare. I bought it when I thought my existing starter had died, but it was just a fault with my alternator. So having bought it, the best thing for it was to keep it topped off as part of the leisure circuit, AND, if ever my starter battery goes flat because I forget to turn my lights off for instance, I've got a ready charged spare in the engine bay now.

CJH wrote:I can't remember for sure, but I think the battery is hard up against the metal frame around the light cluster - just visible in the top left of the first photo.

It is - I just checked. Also, for completeness, the tie-down bar at the far end is a lot more angled than the one at the front (which helps keep it still under braking), and there's a spreader plate for a tow bar bolt that stops the battery sliding towards the engine, also just visible in the first photo. It's very secure.