Battery Size?

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Ronzuki
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Location: Lancaster County, PA

:roll: A tad over 4 years....pathetic. Batteries.... EV's? No thanks.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
SamirD
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Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:07 pm
Location: HSV and SFO
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Yep, but I plan to check if it's corrosion tomorrow. I saw a thin layer on the positive terminal so it could be just this. Plus, the car sits a lot more than it did when it was in the midwest where it was used at least once a day. In AL, it's lucky if it's driven once a week. And the crazy thing is that it is in the worst shape ever since I haven't had time to go through it like I was every 6 months before. :( :cry: :cry:
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

Ronzuki wrote::roll: A tad over 4 years....pathetic. Batteries.... EV's? No thanks.
Car battery chemistry and EV battery chemistry aren't even the same. Hybrid and EV batteries far outlast *gasp* CVTs. :lol:
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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Ronzuki
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Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

I would hope so for that kind of coin. The problem remains that when they need replaced, and they will, 1) it's not something you're going to be able to do yourself very likely and 2) it's massive money...as in time to buy a new car. My financial advisor recently learned the lesson with her pristine old Honda. Guess what she bought new this time around? yeah, back to a good old fashioned fuel efficient gasser :roll:

And, please, spare me the eco-friendly BS regarding electric vehicles, as well as any other carbon-neutral political non-sense. The masses have proven their complete lack of knowledge (or willingness to admit) the toxic nightmares, waste, and by-products (trucked to, and buried in, their local land-fills) that are created by the industrial scale production of the materials and processes required for these so-called eco-friendly, carbon neutral technologies. Nothing is for free or w/o harm in life. Every battery production facility known to man is essentially a super-fund clean-up site in the making. You want to drive something, anything, pollution is going to happen. Period. The pandemic has demonstrated the best way to save the environment and the planet.

Point being your everyday car battery used to last a helluva lot longer than 3 or 4 measly years if maintained...why not now? With all of our wonderful technological advancements and whatnot? Oh, yeah, not selling enough thus generating enough profit. EHow's all that play out with eco-friendly and save the planet?
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
SamirD
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Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:07 pm
Location: HSV and SFO
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Didn't get a chance to check for corrosion yet. And there's a good chance I'll have to connect it to a battery tender or call AAA to get the car moving the next time I need to drive it. Poor Kizashi deserves better than this after how good it has been to us. :cry: :cry: :cry:
SamirD
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Nope, not the terminals. Car has refused to start on 3 occasions now, 2x where I needed AAA and they took over 4 hours to come because they were 'too busy'. Looks like I also need a new roadside assistance too. :roll:

So I got the Braille B7548 this time around that I discussed previously. Mainly because the exact Interstate I got last time was no longer available.

And now that the Interstate is out, I noticed that it was sitting on a spacer. And I can't recall now if I tried positioning it without the spacer and with. Bad on me to not have kept notes. :(

I'm going to see if I can find any notes, but then the next thing to do will be to test fit the braille without the spacer...in fact, I haven't even checked if it fits in the factory plastic tray yet. :facepalm:
Lots of details I missed so far...
SamirD
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Okay, so the Braille is installed now. No beeps after I swapped it like with the Interstate, but there was almost an hour while I fiddled with mounting and tie-downs so maybe the car had enough time to completely drain any idea of being molested by thieves. :lol: When I did start the car, it started quickly and then almost stalled out. I guess it has to re-learn itself a bit so I'm letting it idle as I type this. :D

Okay, so now some notes on the Braille battery--it is not a bolt in affair. To even install it, you have to not install the factory rubber tray that sits on top of the metal tray. Why? Because the flared flanges on the base of the Braille are too big for that tray. In fact, they're even too big front to back for the metal tray by a few milimeters. You can position it and use the tie down to help snug it down further, but it's never in place like the factory/Interstate.

And the real drawback to this is that the Braille is about 1/4" wider side to side than the Interstate. Why does this matter? Well, this puts it dangerously close to your brake fluid reservoir--only 1/4" away. In fact, while putting the battery in, I actually tapped it a few times--not hard enough to crack it since I'm gentle as can be when working on my cars, but anyone else could have cracked that reservoir and the next thing you know, your brakes don't work! :o Couple this with the potential the battery could move from not being tied down and you have a recipe for disaster.

So then came connecting the terminals. Our kizashi has a really nice positive terminal cover that snaps into place--well, it won't work with the Braille because the cover can't even close. I had to move the terminal at a 45deg angle just to get it to come down somewhat. No where near factory or the interstate setup. The rear terminal went into place fine.

I didn't use a spacer considering it was not needed since there was enough for the bolts for the tie down. And you can always use some washers or grommets to push the tie down further, but it's not necessary even if the battery were to eventually fit in the tray (which I think it will over time with vibration). So I'll be forever tightening the tiedown to make sure the battery doesn't slide over and knock out my brakes. :o

All in all, if Interstate would have made the same battery, I would have gotten it again even though it lasted only 5 years--just because it fit right and was spec'd right.
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