Odyssey Battery Install

[Lyter]

Howdy all,

 

I have a 2004 RT and my original BMW gel wouldn't crank the way it used to. Thanks to this board, I bought the Odyssey PC 680 and installed it last evening. Bought from Sunn Battery, the guys who sell on Ebay. Received express mail in a couple of days. They go above and beyond keeping you posted by email as to your order's/battery's progress during shipping.

 

Anyway, installation is not as easy as it's made out to be, but then again, I work slow and methodically.

 

First, I ended up removing all the tupperware, and I had to raise the fuel tank some so that I could more easily disconnect - and reconnect - all wires/leads from the battery terminals. After removing the negative lead, the battery did not want to slide out to where I could easily get at the positive terminal. Therefore, not wanting to contort myself and my tools, I resorted to taking off the right side tupperware and raising the fuel tank.

 

Second, the bolt conecting the negative terminal didn't want to give up its position easily. With some prying using a flat screwdriver, I finally was able to work it out. I then had to hacksaw the bolt to get it off of the negative lead.

 

After pulling out the old battery, I tested putting in the Odyssey as to mounting positions. Since the 04 RT has longer leads, I decided to mount the Odyssey battery upright.

 

Now, in that position, the battery strap was going to be too loose. I cut some foam core board that my wife had for her art projects and placed these under the battery to raise it up enough for the strap to be tight (another reason I had to make the battery more accessable).

 

Third, I bent the positive and negative leads so that they would work with the Odessey in this position. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Odessey, it does not have the L shaped terminals like the stock BMW battery. There are places to buy L shaped adapters if you don't want to bend your leads, or others have successfully mounted their Odyssey batteries sideways with the battery's termnals facing to the left. I just went ahead and bent my leads. No big deal really.

 

Lastly, all's well that ends well.... I connected everything up, put everything back together, and I think I've got a good, clean install. Looking back on it all, there were some challanges, but all-in-all, the Odyssey was a great choice, and it looks like it's always been there.

 

I did read extensively on this site beforehand. All related a relatively easy install. Mine may have been the exception, but, again, I would recommend the Odyssey battery to anyone, and I would do it all over again.

 

Thanks again to everyone on this board who posted their experience with their Odyssey battery install.

 

[akasjl]

Wow, I don't think anyone on the board had to go through all of that to install an Odyssey: at least I hope not. I will say the only similar incident I had was getting that bolt off the negative lead. It took me a good 5-10 minutes to work (force) it out. But everything else was smooth sailing.

 

You should really not have had to remove the right side of the tupperware nor raise the fuel tank. Sometimes sliding the original battery is tough to slide out b/c it's pretty tight, but it usually gives after some play. In any event, glad you got the PC 680 installed. Great choice.

[RockLives]

You took the longest way possible...You started wrong and the rest of the steps were not neccesary. Oh well at least you have the best battery around. you will notice that it needs much less time to recharge and much better cranking power.

[SC_Jack]

My bolt was welded in the cable so I cut it off (cut the metal right next to it). There was plenty of metal left to drill a new hole for the Odyssey screw/bolt. Apparently, the factory bought different types of cables along the way because I own another oilhead that had an ordinary cable with an easily removable bolt. I used to own a 2002, R1150RT and it also had a removeable bolt.

 

I think you'll be very happy that you bought the Odyssey. I've been using them for almost four years with no problems. I also use Optima's in my cars (spiral-wound, AGM type battery).

[Chugger]

Jack,

How long does it take you to remove the tupperware?

I bet your pretty Quick by now

BTW I would like to get some input on how you installed you Autocom.

 

Happy New Year, Paul

[SC_Jack]

Chugger: You must have misread my post.

* I no longer have the RT. I now have an R1150R.

* I've never had an autocom.

 

When I did have the RT, I could remove all the Tupperware that needed to be removed for servicing in approximately 10-15 minutes.

[Chugger]

SC Jack, Sorry about the confusion - I was responding to Lyter