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Thread: Cold Air Feed to the Battery... IS IT REALLY NEEDED?

  1. #1
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    Default Cold Air Feed to the Battery... IS IT REALLY NEEDED?

    As per the title..

    looking to ditch all the old TMIC internal scoop setup to clean up the hood a little when i get the car back..

    does the battery really need a cold air feed to it?

    Ive never seen a car with one before????

  2. #2
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    Ummmm.....its obviously there for a reason. Not sure why you would want to clean up the look of something thats on the underside of your bonnet ??? Any air going in has to help keep temps down doesnt it.....

  3. #3
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    FYI The MPS 6 does not have this "feature"?? The only reason I can think it needs cool air is due to heat build up at the rear of the engine bay which may cause the battery fluid to evaporate??

  4. #4
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    The ECU is also located in the vicinity of that air feed, helps to keep temps down in that area

  5. #5
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    I have seen many of NA Mazda 3s in the US and even seen a few in Aus...including mine for a while, never had a problem.

  6. #6
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    Ah I never thought about that.... None of my cars in the past ever had this it's clever but I don't see the point... That's just me... For safteys sake I think i will source a sp23 airbox and battery box... They have a different air route for the airbox due to not having the bonnet hump airfeed... I think the plastic shrouding on the bonnet lid is ugly personally

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by tricache View Post
    I have seen many of NA Mazda 3s in the US and even seen a few in Aus...including mine for a while, never had a problem.
    They also don't have the turbo sitting 15cm below the ECU!

  8. #8

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    The air feed for the battery would be to remove the gasses produced when charging. It probably isn't necessary.

    The ECU is actually on the outside of the battery box and doesn't get the airflow from the air scoop.

    I have noticed that cars with electronic rust prevention have a corroded battery bracket. Mine has said E.R.P. and I don't have any corrosion.

    Next time you look in a 3 MPS engine bay, lift the battery cover and have a look.

    If you are going to ditch the intake scoop and you don't have E.R.P., maybe try a sealed battery.
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2XS View Post
    The air feed for the battery would be to remove the gasses produced when charging. It probably isn't necessary.

    The ECU is actually on the outside of the battery box and doesn't get the airflow from the air scoop.
    Snap...*back in my box*

  10. #10
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    Im pretty sure mine is sealed already?

    will look in to it..

    the plastic shit in the hood lining annoys the bejezus out of me especially when i have a pretty FMIC kit :P

  11. #11

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    Normal battery life is about 4-5 years. My MPS6 battery is in a pretty warm location, just up from and left of the turbo, but has a slim layer of insulation around it that would help only a little. However, I am coming up to 5 years' life on my battery now and it has never given trouble or lost fluid in any exceptional way. I'll change it as soon as it shows signs of slow cranking in winter, and I feel that will be this cold season. Five years is good service life; more than that is a bonus. Batteries are dead cheap for what they do and it isn't worth skimping on them just to get a few more weeks out of one. It's usually more expensive getting stood up by a dead battery when you least want it to happen.

    Some cars I have owned have kept the battery in the boot (e.g Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli and XJS V12), mainly due to lack of under-bonnet room. It's a much better location and the battery stays nice and cool, but the ducting for the leads needs careful attention to avoid chafe, and one needs to be aware of gas venting and keeping ventilation ducts clear, and bad leads can lead to significant line losses. My V12 Jaguar Sovereign had a small fan in the battery box dedicated to keeping the battery cool, under the bonnet. That huge lump of engine sure put out some heat!

    Unless your battery has been relocated to somewhere that is not part of the original design, or if you have changed any heat shielding or existing air ducts, I wouldn't stress over trying to cool it. If it's showing signs of boiling off fluid then I'd check your alternator charge rates before messing with cooling mechanisms, as that is the more likely cause of the problem.
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  12. #12
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    Thanks doug... makes sence

  13. #13
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    Cool air to battery is essential, the cooler the battery the longer the life. Anyone ever noticed that the original battery lasts longer than the replacement, happens all the time. Corrosion on battery terminals is caused by some goose straining battery post. They are cast plastic with a small "O" ring to seal the terminal. Any stress in post undoing terminal will crack plastic seal and allow acid fumes from below terminal to corode terminal. ALWAYS USE TWO SPANNERS TO LOOSEN TERMINAL

    Even crapadores and those other blue oval things have cooling ducting to the battery. Putting the battery as far as possible away from heat is always the best, but some put the conversion with the battery faces the wrong way. The plates are best across the car (battery terminals on battery towards the left and right hand side of car)or at 45 degrees. With the plates the other way there is a chance they can swing and touch, shorting out and reducing battery life.

  14. #14

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    My daily drive is a VE commode (worst car I've ever had but that's another story). It has the battery in the boot and it has a drain tube built into the top of the battery. It appears to be the only provision they have made for venting hydrogen over board. Not sure that I would consider that adequate, but then again I'm not sure I would consider any part of the latest commodore adequate.

    I wonder if this means commodores need special expensive batteries at replacement time or whether batteries that are specifically suited to mounting in the boot are coming into volume production?

    Anyway, my point is, we're all just speculating on the purpose of the duct on the MPS3. But IF its purpose is to keep the highly explosive hydrogen gas that comes from the battery away from the potential ignition source of the adjacent PCM, and IF you're going to remove the duct, then maybe one of the batteries with a built in drain tube is the safe way to go.

    Gone to Volvo


  15. #15
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    furry muff...

    Will look in to Sealed Gel Battery :P

  16. #16

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    Maybe worth trying out a Pulse battery. I had one in my previous car, this one to be specific Pulse PHB400. Although maybe go the next one up, I found cold mornings it was a real struggle to start. However it is deep cycle and fully sealed while being cheaper then a lot of the other options out there. It was also tiny which I wanted so I could so a cold air feed, but never bothered in the end.

  17. #17

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    Nepharius, Hi, I have deep cycle batteries on my boat for the "house" bank (lights, stereo, etc) and normal batteries for engine starting. Unless you get a hybrid type battery (always a compromise), deep-cycle batteries just HATE the sudden heavy cranking amp loads required for starting. That is most likely why your DC battery didn't like the cold starts. I'm sure you would have killed the battery in short order. When heavily discharged they also require a good spike charge for a short period, before settling back to a long slow recharge. They are quite unsuitable for automotive (repeated starting) use.
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  18. #18

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    Well... it was designed for automotive applications. I had a feeling most of the really expensive car battery were deep cycle, like odyssey etc. but I could be wrong.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by kmh001 View Post
    Anyway, my point is, we're all just speculating on the purpose of the duct on the MPS3. .
    I don't mean to be rude but - no speculation, FACT - the battery has to be kept as cool as possible. Just read any book on batteries, Auto text books and even on the internet the battery talk on electric cars is all about cooling the batteries.

    As far as hydrogen gas - not an issue. Just like petrol it requires an intense spark to ignite. Any stray sparks under a bonnet will blow the electronics way before it will ignite a battery. There is certainly no sparks in or near an ECU.

    I was leaning over a battery when it exploded a few years ago - my own stupid fault. I had quite a few sample batteries for teaching aids that exploded. All exploded due to a high rate discharge producing hydrogen, not charging.

    The CJ Lancer has holes drilled in the cold air intake over the batery to cool. It defeats the purpose on two accounts. Air in the intake is drawn from the engine not forced, so it won't blow out cool air, and because of air drawn in it can inake hot air from under bonnet - what a waste. Different air intake on the EVO. Evo has a battery box as MPS3 and different cold air intake without holes for battery.

    Come to think of it, I can't think of a modern vehicle that doesn't have battery cooling or the battery is insulated, albeit a crappy heat shield like the MPS6.

    Sorry to be long winded.

  20. #20

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    Nepharius, interesting. I guess I can't comment further without more specific knowledge of your battery. Cheers. :-)
    Last edited by Doug_MPS6; 27-05-2010 at 08:17 PM.

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