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I goofed. I shoulda taken a picture when I took the battery out of my 2017 Expy. (With the sub zero temps we had last month I took the battery out of the vehicle when I put it in storage. I didn’t want it to freeze on me.)
So we have had a few days of sunshine and temps in the forties, so I put the battery back in and was going to take it for a drive while the roads are bare and dry.
BUT, I can’t figure out where each of those four positive cables connect up to the positive post bracket. IIRC, each cable had its own separate “sub-post” where it should connect.
Hopefully some kind soul could pull the rubber guard back and snap a picture of the positive cable connections on a 2017 Expedition and post it to the list.
Got it figured out.
(The positive clamp bracket that holds the 350A and 125A fuse had fallen down under the truck. When I saw it down on the floor, suddenly, I then remembered how it all went together.)
Who'd a thought. One clamp, four cables, a double fuse setup two brackets, four specially coated nuts, and that's all connected to JUST the positive post.
The negative post has a fancy smancy amp clamp built into the negative post clamp so the BMS (Battery Management System?) can keep track of amps in and amps out of the battery.
So if you hook a battery charger or float charger to the battery in the vehicle, don't put the charger negative clamp on the negative battery post. If do the amp clamp (and the BMS) won't see the amps that are being feed into the battery.
Put the negative charger clamp to a good body or engine ground and that way the BMS will see the charger amps passing through the amp clamp.
All this just for what? Maybe a few 0.01s MPG improvement?
Just to wrap this thread up, I'll post a pic or two.
This pic shows how all the positive battery cables connect to the positive battery clamp bracket.
Notice the 350A and 125A fuses on the left most connections.
And that do-dad on the extreme right is a new (to me) style battery clamp.
Nice thing about that clamp is as you tighten or loosen the nut, it doesn't side load and weaken the battery post.
This is a pic of the built in amp clamp around the negative battery cable.
The BMS (Battery Management System) uses this sensor to keep track of amps in and amps out of the battery.
So if you use a battery charger or float charger connect its negative clamp, not on the negative battery post, but on a good ground on either the body or engine.
That way the BMS will know how much current has been added into the battery.
A fully charged battery will not freeze until the temp is like -76 degrees F so simply pulling the negative cable off (in case there is parasitic drain) is way less likely to cause damage than pulling the battery out and dropping it on your fender, dropping hardware on the floor, etc.
I have a garage queen BMW and have a little battery tender on it, but have pulled the negative cable for a number of years while the car has been in storage over the winter and in the spring, the battery will always have a nice full charge.
02-27-2018, 03:39 PM
