I noticed my battery was leaking so I replaced it with the Pettit battery relocation kit. Now my car is idling much smoother and seems to run stronger.. so I'm wondering if a stronger battery makes the car run better or could it be a better ground the gas tank strap bolt.. of is it all just in my head???

Anyone know if a weak battery affects performance I thought once the car started the battery was out of the equation???

Thx
7zoom
94 touring

 

Yes and Yes.

And a search provided this, which you may or may not know about.
https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...07&postcount=4

 

Thanks for the link.
I noticed he dropped his amps a idle so what does that mean/affect??
I've heard the alternator has a clutch and can be used less with a properly charged battery so could my new battery be running the alternator less and reducing the load on the motor?

Thx
7zoom

 

The "deader" you're battery is, the harder the alternator has to work to charge it. It will reduce the load on the alternator, and the motor, but not something so drastic that you'd notice it. You shouldn't see you're lights dim when you have everything on, and come to a stop, if you're charging system is in good order.

All that said, do the ground mod. It's relatively inexpensive, and for this car, almost a must do.

 

The alternator has no clutch.
One thing that might make your alternator more efficient is to add a large gauge wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the alternator....in parallel to the stock wiring.

 

Correct - but the voltage regulator will have a similar effect of increasing/decreasing drag on the engine as it charges. A bad battery will definitely increase engine load as the regulator tries to bring the voltage to where it should be.

 

That's why I suggested a way to make it a bit more efficient to reduce load as much as possible.