Battery relocation on '91-'94

[Bruce L]

Anybody relocate their battery? If so, where. I'm looking to move it back to where the the stock airbox was and have my custom intake end where the battery is now. Any thoughts?

 

[JoeC5]

Doesnt sound like it would be too hard. You will need longer battery cables and you will need to make a braket to hold the battery in place.

 

[Rhett]

What sort of custom intake are you doing? PVC pipe going into the throttle body?

Someone did a battery relo here, except they moved it over to the driver's side where the washer fluid tank is. Was it Ray Lobato? Anyway, I have thought about it myself. Your idea about putting the custom air intake up where the batt is now seems to be a good idea. Almost every single filter car made has it's air filter as far forward as possible, I assume because it's furthest from the engine heat.

I have taken underhood air temp measurements and found that up where the batt is, behind the pass headlight, temps were about 125 degF on a day where outside air temp was 85 degF.

Back where our stock airbox is, at the back where the vac tube hooks into the airbox, the underhood air was 145 degF on the same 85 deg ambient day.

I think 20degF makes a difference. Also, if the air filter is in front, not only are you getting cooler air in, but it also makes it MUCH easier to do a custom cool air induction mod. I.e. you could easily run the insulated dryer hose just a few inches and with few bends to a spot in the front.

 

[Bruce L]

Rhett,
I think you're right on. The temperature data you have is real interesting. I'm trying to get my filter as far from the engine as possible.

I did have a custom PVC system but the engine temperatures warped it. So, I now have my stock tube, maf, with a custom maf/filter adapter, ending with a K&N.

I was ultimately thinking of first moving my battery back and then going to a junk yard and getting a variety of OEM intake tubes off of some cars/trucks. I was just going to go and see what I can make work.

Thanks for the info....

 

[leenjen]

is it possible to get a hood scoop and have cool air from outside the car go directly into an air intake with a K&N cone filter?
that would be the best way. trans ams have the ram air hoods, but what happens when it rains?? does the filter block out the moisture?

i was thinking about making my own hood scoop out of fiberglass, but the rain question is the only thing stopping me. i dont want to do more harm than good.

 

[Rhett]

Bruce L. I am glad you said PVC would not hold up under the heat stress. I was trying to decide on how to fab a custom tube and PVC was one option. I have heard PVC will "heat soak" anyway...that is it will heat up through and through after x minutes of running and then your air entering the engine will be hotter and that's bad. I have my stock tube insulated with heat reflective tape and it has eliminated the ping I was getting on hot days under load.

I was thinking of getting and air intake tube off a 95+ 4.0 OHV Explorer from a junkyard. They have the same size MAF and TBm right? Their air tube is designed to run to just behind the headlight. Don't you think it would work?

 

[Rhett]

Leenjen I have thought about the hood scoop idea too. I don't know enough about them to say about the rain. Ram air Firebirds have it so they must have a way of doing it without jacking the motor with hydro. I'd say look at their setup. Also if you do get a scoop idea going, in my opinion you would want a fake scoop on the driver's side too because I think a single scoop offset looks ridiculous. I'm not about fake scoops but if you have 1 functional scoop that's ok. Two equally offset scoops look cool. Chk the low-profile twin-scoop 5.0 Mustang hoods at Cervini's which is www.cervinis.com I think for some ideas.

 

[Bruce L]

Rhett, just some more info: The PVC I used was thin-walled. It was thinner than the stuff you find at the hardware store. All in all, the PVC idea I don't like. It seems simple, but I don't like the look of it. I'd like to use either some thin-walled aluminum which would have to be custom bent or some OE tubing like you were talking about from a junkyard. Also, what is the possibility of running the filter off to the driver's side instead of the passenger's side of the engine compartment. There seems to be more "open"room. Maybe, leave the battery where it is, move the washer/coolant resevoir over to where the stock air box was and then have the filter over on the opposite side. just a thought...let me know what you think.

 

[Rhett]

The only problem with moving the filter to the driver's side would be that the MAF sensor wires are not long enough to reach over there. Also the breather hose leading to the engine is too short.

Now the batt can be moved to the driver's side. I think whoever did that here cut the washer tank/coolant tank in half. They left the coolant tank in place, and then went to a junkyard and got the smallest washer fluid tank they could find, and put it over where the brake master cylinder is. Then that allowed a big space on driver's side front for the battery. The batt cables had to be rerouted too.

I think that thread is around here, maybe do a search,

If you get it done, you should come over to my house and help me relocate the batt in my truck. ehehe But in seriousness, post back here the tips, good and bad about it if you do it.

 

[leebo]

There's the pic you were thinking of Rhett. That's Rick's second battery. Check out the "tips" page for his write-up.

I've been working on building up my explorer as much as I can till I finish paying for it. Then I'll hop on the suspension. One of the things I've looked into was a second battery. I've looked at a few speed shops and many of them have a battery relocator kit. It comes with a battery box and extended caples. Runs around 50 or so. Add a battery isolator(sp???) and mount the kit in the rear above the stock tire somewhere and your set. I can't see why you wouldn't be able to do the same. Either way though you would need longer cables if you move the battery to the other side. If you want the link to the kit I'll look for it and post it.

 

[Quick]

Relocating the battery on a 91-94?

It's getting hot now-a-days and I noticed (actually I have noticed for some time) that Ford placed the air intake in the back of the engine compartment instead of the front like the 95+ Explorer.

My question is.. would you be able to swap the battery and the intake so the intake can be in front and get the cooler air? That would be awesome and who knows, might improve performance.

 

[leebo]

Mark....I went ahead and merged these two threads together. Hope you don't mind. Here's the part number to the kit from summit racing.

SUM-G1199

 

[Quick]

Well I hope they will reach.. they need probably 1-2 ft to reach. I forgot about the oil thing. Will one from a 95 fit a 91-94?

I'm hoping.

How are you planning on doing this Rhett? Just swaping spots between the filter and battery? I don't know if the battery cables will reach either. I'm hoping. Let me know what's going on. We can talk about it because I am serious and I want to do this.

 

[Quick]

Hmm.. my responses seem to be not tagging on the end.

 

[Quick]

Is anyone planing on relocating the battery?

I looked at my engine and it looks like MAYBE you can just swap the battery and intake. Not sure how you would bolt it down but with the kit from summit you might be able to. I'm guessing the intake tube from a 95+ will work.

I really want to do this. It would be so practical.

The only problem might be the MAF sensor. You might have to cut the wires and extend them but that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Rhett]

Cut the MAF wires! Yikes!

I am also seriously thinking about going to the junkyard and getting a 95+ intake tube from a 4.0 OHV. You would also need to get the breather hose (the one that connects from air tube to oil filler neck) off the 95 as well. I really would need to look under the hood of a 95 to know for sure.

Maybe the MAF wires can reach? Cutting them seems like it would open up a can of worms, just another way for vibration, dirt, and moisture to screw with the very important MAF sensor signals.