relocating battery

[ericsvt]

i installed my red optima battery in the trunk of my stang but it seems like the battery is to weak to start the engine know, what could cause this?? do i need a new battery i know u lose amperage cuz of the length of the cable.

[86capriASC]

what gauge cable? and where is you ground?

[Ltngdrvr]

You need to use at least a 1/0 cable and the ground is critical, it must be to a solid contact point on the car.

And the red optima doesn't have a real high amp output.

[ericsvt]

i have it ground to the rear latch around that area

[ericsvt]

the cable is just about the same size as my middle finger dont know what gauge it is, the cable dosent say the size

[PaceFever79]

I would run a ground cable to the front frame rail and from there to the engine block.

All that unibody between the front and rear creates a lot of resistance.

(I'm not saying that is your problem....)

[ericsvt]

someone told me to try that but havent had a chance to. ill try it tomorrow to see if it helps

[Ltngdrvr]

the cable is just about the same size as my middle finger dont know what gauge it is, the cable dosent say the size

You really need to know all that before you do a trunk mount. Too small of a cable size and poor grounding are what cause problems most often in installations like this.

[ericsvt]

i have a cutoff switch as well should i install it between the ground cable or the power cable???

[cb84capri]

0 gauge is what you need. anything smaller you run into too much resistance. my middle finger is about the size of 4 gauge. i believe to run at the track you need a visible battery shutoff on the back of the car on the positive cable, a sealed nhra approved box that is vented to the outside and secured, and the cable run along the floor outside of the car. this is from memory and why i didn't relocate my battery. i couldn't find the link or i would have provided it.

cale