I installed an auxiliary battery recently - the Odyssey 925. All went pretty well, with lots of help from this forum. Thanks all!
My wiring needs improvement, but it’s functional for now. As stated, a good ground is hard to find under the hood - everything is plastic. So I tied in to the main battery.
I had the Honda dealer install some stuff for me - winch and plow kit, street legal kit, fuse block relocation - and I regret that, for a few reasons. One, the $100 an hour (!!!) that they charge is not appropriate for their quality of work. Maybe $25/hr would be more acceptable for the oval-shaped holes they drilled (gotta get me some of those oval drill bits, very unique). Two, I expected something other than a bunch of power-leads stacked on the battery terminals... very unprofessional. So my next step is to clean up the wiring with some buss bars (on order).
Overall, easy project. For my understanding about the transmissions and insufficient electric power problems, an auxiliary battery system is a must-do. In some vehicles (e.g. Ford Econoline), low voltage will burn out very expensive parts (e.g. Fuel Injection Control Module, kill your rig dead in the water), but in the Pioneer it just inhibits shifting? An isolator is the way to go; yeah, you can just double up on battery bank and probably be good, until you’re not, and then you have TWO dead batteries. I spend most of my time mod’ing 4x4 Vans, and running an isolator for all the camper stuff (fridge, inverter, power ports, lights, heater, etc.) to the monstrous 4D aux-battery bank saves your starting batteries for proper engine performance... and starting when you’ve got yourself in the middle-of-nowhere!
My wiring needs improvement, but it’s functional for now. As stated, a good ground is hard to find under the hood - everything is plastic. So I tied in to the main battery.
I had the Honda dealer install some stuff for me - winch and plow kit, street legal kit, fuse block relocation - and I regret that, for a few reasons. One, the $100 an hour (!!!) that they charge is not appropriate for their quality of work. Maybe $25/hr would be more acceptable for the oval-shaped holes they drilled (gotta get me some of those oval drill bits, very unique). Two, I expected something other than a bunch of power-leads stacked on the battery terminals... very unprofessional. So my next step is to clean up the wiring with some buss bars (on order).
Overall, easy project. For my understanding about the transmissions and insufficient electric power problems, an auxiliary battery system is a must-do. In some vehicles (e.g. Ford Econoline), low voltage will burn out very expensive parts (e.g. Fuel Injection Control Module, kill your rig dead in the water), but in the Pioneer it just inhibits shifting? An isolator is the way to go; yeah, you can just double up on battery bank and probably be good, until you’re not, and then you have TWO dead batteries. I spend most of my time mod’ing 4x4 Vans, and running an isolator for all the camper stuff (fridge, inverter, power ports, lights, heater, etc.) to the monstrous 4D aux-battery bank saves your starting batteries for proper engine performance... and starting when you’ve got yourself in the middle-of-nowhere!