battery terminal points under the bonnet

Hi all, got a bit of a strange trail of thought, the choice of fixed based seats is far wider and cheaper than removable base ones, is there way or has anyone else done it of putting a jump start battery terminal point under the bonnet whilst still having the battery under the passenger seat? i wont need to get to the fuel tank on the drivers side so not worried about that, on our sprinters at work they have this in place as the battery is in the passenger foot well, there is a small red plastic thing that pushes back to reveal a metal terminal for the live and the negative from what i can work out is literately just earthed out on the wing?

all thoughts welcome!

Not the same motor but the same sort of idea.....

You already have one on the starter solenoid!

Oldseadog said:

You already have one on the starter solenoid!

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Yep just pop the lead on to the hidden starter solenoid and enjoy the spark show whilst you are doing it
The plugs in the pics is going to be very vulnerable to damage and especially corrosion
Why not just bolt an anderson plug on the front of the seat box, very short cable runs, easy to do?
Of course you then need to fit an anderson plug to one end of a set of jump leads

Shows just how much I have to learn lol, where is this hidden starter solenoid and the Anderson plug on the seat box will it be ok if the seat box is carpeted? No risk of fire etc?

I put an Anderson on the seat box but found it a bit restrictive when parked at side of road, or jump starting someone else. An Anderson under the bonnet was found to be better as you can usually get to the front of a disabled vehicle without blocking by being side by side. Also this way you don't need your leads to be as long.

jacksta said:

I put an Anderson on the seat box but found it a bit restrictive when parked at side of road, or jump starting someone else. An Anderson under the bonnet was found to be better as you can usually get to the front of a disabled vehicle without blocking by being side by side. Also this way you don't need your leads to be as long.

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had this really annoying problem the other day when jump starting my 90 from a crafter van( a merc sprinter shell different engine and nose )

the terminals under bonnet on the van wernt there so had to park vehicles side by side and block the road for a few mins ( parked outside a local shop the 90 was blocking 1 lane already but is normal there )

id borrowed the van from a local commercial workshop I worked for a few years ago just down the road but I had to leave the 90 running !!!

yellow90 said:

had this really annoying problem the other day when jump starting my 90 from a crafter van( a merc sprinter shell different engine and nose )

the terminals under bonnet on the van wernt there so had to park vehicles side by side and block the road for a few mins ( parked outside a local shop the 90 was blocking 1 lane already but is normal there )

id borrowed the van from a local commercial workshop I worked for a few years ago just down the road but I had to leave the 90 running !!!

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Agree completely, with normal length jump leads you may also have to leave the door open as well making the side by side even wider. It doesn't take much more cost to run some welding cable to the front bu mper or under bonnet. Might also be worth adding a cut off switch to avoid any one mucking about with a short cIrcuit on the Anderson.

The newer land rovers with the battery in the back have a set of jump terminals under the bonnet so it can certainly be done. If you're planning to carry jump leads with you all the time, I'd fit an anderson connector somewhere under the bonnet and to one end of the leads- it's neater and probably more reliable. Mount it high up to keep it away from the wet and the dirt, and it might be worth fitting an isolator for when you're not using it.

Initially fitted my Anderson plug on the seat box facing out towards the door, when it come to using the plug, the door restricted access. Refitted it to point upwards again annoying as we had to run the jump leads through the window. Best going out the bonnet for accessibility and plenty of places to mount aswell. Definitely get another Anderson plug fitted to a set of jump leads.

The big advantage to having an Anderson on your jump leads is no one ( except those with Anderson) will be able to borrow your leads. You only need them when they are not there!

I like this idea, as clamping on to the terminals always feels a bit dodgy to me!

I have more than one vehicle, so I am contemplating putting a socket in each car, lead with a plug on each end, plus a pair of Anderson to crocodile clip leads for linking to other vehicles.

Trouble is that looks expensive, and I hardly ever use jump leads anyway!

Maybe if I started going to rallys and such?

Just had a look on ebay for an anderson plug to connect to my jump leads and they seem to come in all amp sizes? Not too clued up on these so could some one let me know what amp plug i would need? cheers.

mick the builder said:

Just had a look on ebay for an anderson plug to connect to my jump leads and they seem to come in all amp sizes? Not too clued up on these so could some one let me know what amp plug i would need? cheers.

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I just bought some from ebay, 135AMP and they are fecking huge, think its a 35mm cable, my jump leads are only 25mm but I guess better having them oversize than too small. I'm now wondering what size cable to run to them, I assume 25mm will suffice and squeeze a bit harder to close the ends off?

You want the grey ones 175amp iirc, be aware the different colours are different power rating and they do NOT fit each other even if the same size, ie the red and grey 175 will not fit each other.
175 are used a lot on commercial vehicles so are readily available, be aware as said above, if not protected with waterproof grease/oil the terminals do corrode

As previous post, 175a is the most commonly used.

fankuverymush

One more question, if i were to use meter tails from the battery to the 175amp plug, what size tails should i use? I have a roll of 10mm cable in the shed, would that do?

Not sure of cable size, but be careful crimping the Anderson connectors as just squashing them in a vice as they are too big to fit in plug.
Hope this helps.

Last lot I did I soldered them,mate told me a good way last time I did some, put the terminal in a vice open end up, heat it up and fill 1/2 way with molten solder, then insert your pre stripped cable into the solder and hold it very still until the solder hardens, simple and doesnt melt the cable insulation.