Dual Battery System For 98 Discovery

[OldDisco98]

Guys

I don't get on here this often and no doubt your guys have mulled over this type of question before therefore if any one can direct me to the right thread / direction / pictures / instructions I'd be most grateful.

Currently putting in a dual battery system in the disco 98. yet..... the air pickup pipe is smack in the way of the new battery, what have you guys done to overcome this problem, not looking to put the a snorkel on, have had suggestions of fitting a "pod " type configuration.

Suprislying I noticed a great difference just running without the pickup pipe tested over about known hills etc, the old girl did pretty good, though I not sure if it’s the right thing to do ….??

Any help, direction greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Noel

[CraigE]

You don not say if its a diesel or petrol. If a diesel a snorkel will be a must. Your only other option is to run the air box pick up from the back of the air box a la snorkl layout and have it feed in from somewhere else to get cold air.

[tombraider]

just leave it off, no harm, no foul...

If its diesel get a snorkel.......... (later)

[awabbit6]

I have a 94 Tdi and have fitted a second battery. Like you, I was concerned about the restriction that it might cause to the air box but I have noticed no effect on performance at all. A snorkel is a good idea and something I will fit at some stage.

[Bushie]

Guys

Currently putting in a dual battery system in the disco 98. yet..... the air pickup pipe is smack in the way of the new battery, what have you guys done to overcome this problem, not looking to put the a snorkel on, have had suggestions of fitting a "pod " type configuration.

Noel

I think we need to clarify what we are dealing with

Tread Title Dual Battery System for 98 Defender

Text dual battery system in the disco 98

Martyn

[CraigE]

Judging by the air box description, I think he is talking 98 Disco. A 98 Defender does not have this issue as the second battery can go where the original is under the seat. A 98 (I had a 97) has a second battery cradle on the passenger side usually hindered by air box intake from guard and jack/chaocks in there. Remove jack and chocks, reposition air box intake, preferablly with addition of snorkel, make up bracket to move power steering resevoir slightly and a large battery will fit straight in.

[awabbit6]

Judging by the air box description, I think he is talking 98 Disco.

I'd figured that too for the same reasons!;)

[Dave110]

a second 12 in battery wont fit under the pas seat in my 98 Defender due to all the air con fuses and wiring etc. just a hassle to shift it all I put mine in an aluminium box in the pas wheel arch

[OldDisco98]

Guys..

My mistake should have sasid Disco not Defender

Noel

[streaky]

I have one of the last 98 petrol Discos. It has a dual Optima battery instalation and a Mantec snorkel that required some clever thinking to get right.
The trumpet can be removed from the airbox without any issues. IIRC it can be pulled out from the airbox by hand, keep it to one side incase you want to sell the car as standard later.
You'll have to relocate the coil, amp, jack and power steering fluid reservoir. None of the above is difficult and only the PS bottle will need a bracket fabricating. Be sure to keep the coil within reach of the king lead....this way you can use an original LR item without having to find an extra long one.

To get the snorkel to fit is a bit more of a pig though. The new 2nd battery will block the air intake of the box and you'll to go in through the side. I used the under arch air intake from a P38 Rangie and grafted it through the inner wing. The finished job looks like factory and I'm very happy with it.
Pictures can be posted if needed later.

The above may not be true with other brands of snorkel....mines a Mantec one. I don't like the forward facing leech as is Safari etc.

Regards.

S.

[sclarke]

We need to clarify what car you have.
If it looks like a Truck and is noisy and leaks water quicker than a gall tank used as target practice, then its a Defender
If it drives nice and is fairly quiet and is nice on the eye and no one waves at you and your pony club car park is full of them, then its a Disco.

[paganborn]

I have not done this been killing me with what to do and where to put the second battery then I saw these....I hope this helps I know it will me.

[streaky]

Oooo...yer lucky bugger, your's is right hand drive!

Try doing that with a left hooker. Servo, clutch reservoire etc etc.

S.

[camel_landy]

The easy way is to swap the air box over with one from a 200TDi...

M

[Tank]

Guys

I don't get on here this often and no doubt your guys have mulled over this type of question before therefore if any one can direct me to the right thread / direction / pictures / instructions I'd be most grateful.

Currently putting in a dual battery system in the disco 98. yet..... the air pickup pipe is smack in the way of the new battery, what have you guys done to overcome this problem, not looking to put the a snorkel on, have had suggestions of fitting a "pod " type configuration.

Suprislying I noticed a great difference just running without the pickup pipe tested over about known hills etc, the old girl did pretty good, though I not sure if it’s the right thing to do ….??

Any help, direction greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Noel
If you get hold of an earlier "milo tin" air filter and canister as in pic, it will give you a lot more room and make it easier to fit a snorkel at a later date, Regards Frank.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/06/862.jpg

[TheLowRanger]

Does anyone have a pic of how the snorkel fits up to the original air box on a 3.9L V8 D1, as I am also going to go these mods in the future and was wondering how it will all fit together.

[streaky]

Is yours the 200 or 300 series Discovery? The 200 had the round canister air filter box (as in above picture) and the 300 has the rectanglular filter box with the flat drop in filter.

If you are looking to fit a snorkel and a twin battery then the above picture is a good solution. It also depends on which brand of snorkel you want to fit. Some snorkel intakes use the original air intake in place of the trumpet, some go in through the side of the air filter box.

Sorry...but it's never that straight forward is it:twisted:.

[GrahamH]

Well, we seem to have cleared up the Defender vs Discovery issue but I'm still a bit unclear as to whether it's a diesel or a V8. However Tank's been the only one to offer a photo so far so I'll volunteer some photos for my '96 V8 petrol Disco.

The battery fits in front of the air-cleaner which has the air-feed from an Airtec snorkel wrapped around in front of the air-cleaner as well, it so it's a bit tight in that area. The bracket carrying the ignition module and the power steer reservoir had to be extensively modified as well but there was still room left behind the air-cleaner for my LPG converter.

The previous owner installed the snorkel and the second battery so I can't offer any first hand advice but he did say it was tricky to get everything tucked in there.

Anyway one picture is worth 1,000 words so ...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/11/165.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/11/166.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/11/167.jpg

[100I]

mine looks exactly the same bar the snorkle, which, looking at those photos, I'm now dreading...

[Tank]

mine looks exactly the same bar the snorkle, which, looking at those photos, I'm now dreading...
By using the round "Milo Tin" air filter and canisteryou gain a lot more space, as you can see from my pic, it is advisable, if you use the round filter setup, to direct the air (from a snorkel) into the end of the filter as shown, as it was designed. The snorkel that attaches to the side of the round canister (Safari) is not efficient as it directs air from the snorkel onto one small patch (about 90mm dia.) on the side of the filter, instead of all over like the original and my setup, more pics in my gallery if you want to look, Regards Frank.

[TheLowRanger]

That is atight fit Graham, but well and truely looks acheivable. I had my converter and electronics for the LPG mounted on the opposite side of the engine bay to make sure I have enough room when it comes to fitting the snorkel. Seems like it was a good idea after looking at the pics of your engine bay. Even if I don't use that space for the snorkel, atleast I should be able to hard wire an air compressor in there in the future.

[GrahamH]

Hi Low Ranger, yip, it's a tight fit all right. Interestingly my car has an ARB compressor on the drivers side so it's a mirror image to your planned installation. Also there's a high capacity relay there for connecting the 2 batteries together although normally I run the second battery off an ETI design (Jaycar kit) battery charge controller which is mounted just behind the main battery - I have a switch to select controller / isolate / parallel through relay for the second battery.

I should add that I'm considering changing the controller to a Traxide SC40 unit as the ETI design doesn't seem to keep the second battery up to full charge all the time for some reason.