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Battery RE-Location

12K views 49 replies 19 participants last post by  Excaliber07 
#1 ·
Before i had the Caliber i had a cobalt that came factory with a trunk mounted battery....is there any way to relocate the battery like in the spare tire compartment?
 
#41 ·
Before settling on the custom CAI design I have now I toyed with a CAI design possibility that swapped the battery and the stock airbox, and it looked very doable. Just some slight modifications; secure the battery platform where the stock airbox was held (same mounting posts). For CVT owners (at least on my 2008) there is a threaded hole right on top of the CVT tranny (right below the stock air box location) that you could use to post a leg or brace to further support the battery platform. Looks very straight forward - just takes some imagination and enginuity... and someone willing to try it out. Just an idea.
Personally I like my custom CAI that I have now, it is working like a charm!
http://www.caliberforumz.com/showthread.php?t=24332&highlight=custom+cold+air
 
#43 ·
Took a look at moving the battery to where the stock intake box was and it can be done. I don't like how close it will be to the PCM. If the battery where to start leaking acid, the PCM would most likely be damaged but I could also fabricate a sheet metal plate that would protect it. I noticed something else when I was under there. After removing all of the stock intake components, I dropped the hood to take a good look at how air is flowing in through that front opening. Basically, it 's not. The weather barrier that is offset in front of the blocks all air from rushing in. When I opened the hood back up, I noticed that they had the weather stripping set up to form some type of channel which I expect was not allowing much air to be drawn in. I am now looking at the best possible options for a CAI using parts from spectre performance which will allow the filter to stay high and dry. It may also be possible to weld up and mount a lower air dam towards the rear of the engine compartment which would direct cooler air up to the intake. I'll keep you all updated.
 
#44 ·
Took a look at moving the battery to where the stock intake box was and it can be done. I don't like how close it will be to the PCM. If the battery where to start leaking acid, the PCM would most likely be damaged but I could also fabricate a sheet metal plate that would protect it. I noticed something else when I was under there. After removing all of the stock intake components, I dropped the hood to take a good look at how air is flowing in through that front opening. Basically, it 's not. The weather barrier that is offset in front of the blocks all air from rushing in. When I opened the hood back up, I noticed that they had the weather stripping set up to form some type of channel which I expect was not allowing much air to be drawn in. I am now looking at the best possible options for a CAI using parts from spectre performance which will allow the filter to stay high and dry. It may also be possible to weld up and mount a lower air dam towards the rear of the engine compartment which would direct cooler air up to the intake. I'll keep you all updated.
Here's the airflow as designed on the standard Caliber.
 
#46 ·
A lot of people don't notice that long strip of rubber that's on the hood that blocks off air (and water) flow.
 
#47 ·
I agree it appears to be restrictive but at least it's cold air
which is more than you'll get with most under the hood remedies.
 
#48 ·
This is an incredibly old thread, but it seems no one has actually had an answer for this. If anyone has relocated their battery please let us know what it took. So I am going to resurrect from the dead rather than starting a whole new one.

I was inspecting the SRT-4 I just got, opened up the floor in the back to see not a spare tire... but a large piece of Styrofoam and a flat tire repair kit in its place. I probably should have known this, but my first thought was how I can better use this space. And of course I thought of one of two things, Audio equipment like amps and such, or battery relocation.

Here's what I am thinking. I get a gel cell battery (better in the winter and won't spill if put on it's side) and a relocation kit and put the battery in the space where the spare would go along with the jack and the flat tire kit (and anything else I would need and can fit back there like a small tool kit). This will not only redistribute the weight better, but also free up some space in the engine bay. Currently the SRT-4 has a 59/41 weight distribution, which is pretty good all considered, moving 40Lbs to the back would improve that by about 1.5%.

After doing so I would now have spare room in the engine bay for... you guessed it... a TRUE cold air intake. Would this make a huge improvement??? I don't know, but at least it would look much nicer under the hood and it would give me something to do, which is really why we (or at least I) enjoy working on cars, that and the benefits performance wise.

Will this make it feel like a whole new car? Of course not. Will hit show a noticeable improvement? Probably not to me. Will it be worth the money? No, almost definitely not, but then again what is?

Here's where i got the weight distribution info, and it has lots of other stuff too.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/cm/roadandtrack/data/CT_2008-Dodge-Caliber-SRT4-vs-2007-Mazdaspeed3_data.pdf
 
#50 ·
Sounds like a great idea! The reason I removed my CAI was the fact that it faced the firewall and was too loud for me, if it had faced toward the front where the battery is, it might have been tolerable.
 
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