Battery hook up help ???

meego · Jul 2, 2012

First I should explain that I know F All about electrics. Secondly, I'm a ****. Because knowing I know F All, I should have taken a photo before I stripped everything out.
So here is my problem. I stripped out the battery box on my 90 to rebuild it as it was rotten. Thats done and its back in. But I can't remember where the cables go. I know I have one earth going to the gearbox, and I think one also went from negative post to tothe side of the battery box (not sure though). What goes to the two posts in top corner of the battery box (in photo) and where does the brown with white stripe go to. This one comes from the thing on the off side of the bulkhead under the bonnet (also in photo) and what is this thing?

drewster · Jul 2, 2012

one thing is for sure the two posts in the box are negative in pick 1 you have a red wire and a brown wire in the batt connector why ??take the brown one out befor you install the bat and use a multi meter in omes or dc voltage to see

meego · Jul 2, 2012

drewster said:
one thing is for sure the two posts in the box are negative in pick 1 you have a red wire and a brown wire in the batt connector why ??take the brown one out befor you install the bat and use a multi meter in omes or dc voltage to see

I think the brown wire you mention is going to the alternator??? What purpose do the two "negative" posts serve? They are both set in a nylon bush that seems to insulate them from the box. I have a meter but no clue how to operate it!!!

deaftonewonder · Jul 2, 2012

k, iv had this prob several times lol dont panc tho -im a comlete ****wit with electrics too + iv figured it out b4

so you have the 2 terminals +ive and -ive

dont worry about what wires go to where at the mo, just keep whatevers atached to the red or black together.

so whats left over?

meego · Jul 3, 2012

deaftonewonder said:
k, iv had this prob several times lol dont panc tho -im a comlete ****wit with electrics too + iv figured it out b4

so you have the 2 terminals +ive and -ive

dont worry about what wires go to where at the mo, just keep whatevers atached to the red or black together.

so whats left over?

The brown with white stripe. This one comes from the wee black box on the bulkhead.???

discomania · Jul 3, 2012

drewster said:
one thing is for sure the two posts in the box are negative in pick 1 you have a red wire and a brown wire in the batt connector why ??take the brown one out befor you install the bat and use a multi meter in omes or dc voltage to see

That isn't so.

What he has is a split charge relay fitted (the black box).

So you have this, a heavy positive battery clamp also has the brown feed wire that goes to that relay, the wire that comes BACK from that relay (brown and white) goes to one of the insulated studs on the battery box - make sure they are both insulated - they should be. You could do a continuity test, set the meter to the little black horizontal line with the arrow on it and a small verticle line on the tip of the arrow (Google: meter continuity test and look at pictures). Touch the two probes together and they will sit at about 00 - now put one on the stud and the other to a piece of bare metal on the Landy - it should stay as it was as there is no continuity - do that for both - if they both have NO continuity then your sorted.

There will then be a little black negative which runs from the battery neg to the other stud.

Alternator feed goes to the starter motor not into the battery box - saves them a couple of feet of cable.

Where about are you Meego?

meego · Jul 3, 2012

discomania said:
That isn't so.

What he has is a split charge relay fitted (the black box).

So you have this, a heavy positive battery clamp also has the brown feed wire that goes to that relay, the wire that comes BACK from that relay (brown and white) goes to one of the insulated studs on the battery box - make sure they are both insulated - they should be. You could do a continuity test, set the meter to the little black horizontal line with the arrow on it and a small verticle line on the tip of the arrow (Google: meter continuity test and look at pictures). Touch the two probes together and they will sit at about 00 - now put one on the stud and the other to a piece of bare metal on the Landy - it should stay as it was as there is no continuity - do that for both - if they both have NO continuity then your sorted.

There will then be a little black negative which runs from the battery neg to the other stud.

Alternator feed goes to the starter motor not into the battery box - saves them a couple of feet of cable.

Where about are you Meego?

Thanks for this answer DM, it has helped a lot. I am in South Lanarkshire outside Lanark. I had no idea this was a split charge.

deaftonewonder · Jul 3, 2012

did you only have one battery to take out?
prob left over from previous owner

discomania · Jul 4, 2012

That split charge is a LR part, it was probably fitted at the factory, mine was ex police, so special vehicles.

I would doubt an owner would fit a LR split charge as they cost £££££.

meego · Jul 4, 2012

discomania said:
That split charge is a LR part, it was probably fitted at the factory, mine was ex police, so special vehicles.

I would doubt an owner would fit a LR split charge as they cost £££££.

Mine came from Manchester Airport BAA so that would explain that one. Thanks again for your very informative post. It went together a treat last night. There was another earth from the neg post that bolted to the side of the battery box. Would it be good practice to continue that earth to the chassis, as I have got quite a bit of Stone Chip on the whole battery box, and it is probably insulated from the rest of the Landy now?

deaftonewonder · Jul 4, 2012

discomania said:
That split charge is a LR part, it was probably fitted at the factory, mine was ex police, so special vehicles.

I would doubt an owner would fit a LR split charge as they cost £££££.

mines a special veh's + it didnt come with the split charge system so after alot of battery issues i lashed it up with a wolf 1 from work, wired for 12v...

i can well imagine the OEM spec setup would be stupid money but i cant see why -if thats a LandRover relay in the pic id want my money back!

Yeah def continue that earth to the chassis with some good quality braid -the biggest failing on anything landrover electrical seems to be earth related so if you can improve it, its time well spent!

discomania · Jul 6, 2012

meego said:
Mine came from Manchester Airport BAA so that would explain that one. Thanks again for your very informative post. It went together a treat last night. There was another earth from the neg post that bolted to the side of the battery box. Would it be good practice to continue that earth to the chassis, as I have got quite a bit of Stone Chip on the whole battery box, and it is probably insulated from the rest of the Landy now?

Do you mean the thin earth that goes from the battery to the split charge terminals?

I would fit that to the stud, it's only meant to be used for the second battery, if your other earth was to fail, or the impedance went up due to bad join etc, that small earth would take the load - bad idea: smoke and flames!

In terms of earth you should have a heavy earth cable that goes to the gearbox, then from the gearbox to the chassis. Anything other than that isn't a bad thing but will be an addition at some point.

I have new battery cables and I am going to run 3 negs, one from the battery to the gearbox, one from the gearbox to the chassis and one from the chassis to a starter bolt.

discomania · Jul 6, 2012

deaftonewonder said:
mines a special veh's + it didnt come with the split charge system so after alot of battery issues i lashed it up with a wolf 1 from work, wired for 12v...

i can well imagine the OEM spec setup would be stupid money but i cant see why -if thats a LandRover relay in the pic id want my money back!

Yeah def continue that earth to the chassis with some good quality braid -the biggest failing on anything landrover electrical seems to be earth related so if you can improve it, its time well spent!

Not all special vehicles are/were fitted with a split charge though. Special vehicles is just LR's division whereby they will set the vehicle up to your spec.

meego · Jul 6, 2012

discomania said:
Do you mean the thin earth that goes from the battery to the split charge terminals?

I would fit that to the stud, it's only meant to be used for the second battery, if your other earth was to fail, or the impedance went up due to bad join etc, that small earth would take the load - bad idea: smoke and flames!

In terms of earth you should have a heavy earth cable that goes to the gearbox, then from the gearbox to the chassis. Anything other than that isn't a bad thing but will be an addition at some point.

I have new battery cables and I am going to run 3 negs, one from the battery to the gearbox, one from the gearbox to the chassis and one from the chassis to a starter bolt.

No. If you look at my second pic, its the one you see on the bottom of the battery box. Its about 16" long and went from neg post to the larger of the 4 holes above it. My thinking is to refit that (to bare metal) and continue from the outside to the chassis with braided earth ???

discomania · Jul 6, 2012

Yeah, bolt that to your gearbox, it's usually bolted to one of the bolts that hold the gearstick selector body lid down.

Basically you just need to create a good big earth that runs from the battery to the chassis/gearbox etc...

The problem with the engine is that it is more or less earthed as it sits on rubber, the gearbox then leads to the props however there is a plastic coating on the splines of the prop, then the axles are earthed as they connect to the chassis by rubber bushes, you may get a path from the axle via the brake lines back to the bulkhead (not ideal) or via the shocker bolts or the springs, but this is really a terrible route for the starter motors earth.

So good earths interlinking things is a great idea!

Battery hook up help ???

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