[Elemental Guy]

I know there's a lot of "which battery should I put into my Honda Element" threads here but mine is going to be brief.

I replaced the beyond-lame stock battery with a size 35 about 4 1/2 years ago, so the necessary modifications to the battery tray had already been done. The difference in starting from the stock battery was night and day but still not as good as every other car/truck I've owned. I've whined about that here a few times. It was like the Element starter motor was tuned to turn over slower than everyone else's (read, my neighbor's Camry that I would start every two weeks while they were in AZ for the winter. That Camry always started quicker and with more confidence than my Element that I'd been driving daily).

So I read that the 24F (750 CCA) would fit and that's what I put in. I got a Walmart Everstart Maxx for $95. And...

The Element's starter motor turned over as quickly as I'd always hoped it would. BLAM! it started up. No lameness detected. So my advice to anyone wanting to upgrade the stock lame battery, skip the 35 and get a 24F, it will fit once you modify the tray which is no big deal and worth it.

I'm going on a road trip to Middle Of Nowhere, Utah in April and I didn't want to chance a dead battery out there. Glad I did it.

 

[HaroldC3]

Thank you for this. Upgrading the battery is on my list to do before this coming winter.

 

[asinblue]

I know there's a lot of "which battery should I put into my Honda Element" threads here but mine is going to be brief.

I replaced the beyond-lame stock battery with a size 35 about 4 1/2 years ago, so the necessary modifications to the battery tray had already been done. The difference in starting from the stock battery was night and day but still not as good as every other car/truck I've owned. I've whined about that here a few times. It was like the Element starter motor was tuned to turn over slower than everyone else's (read, my neighbor's Camry that I would start every two weeks while they were in AZ for the winter. That Camry always started quicker and with more confidence than my Element that I'd been driving daily).

So I read that the 24F (750 CCA) would fit and that's what I put in. I got a Walmart Everstart Maxx for $95. And...

The Element's starter motor turned over as quickly as I'd always hoped it would. BLAM! it started up. No lameness detected. So my advice to anyone wanting to upgrade the stock lame battery, skip the 35 and get a 24F, it will fit once you modify the tray which is no big deal and worth it.

I'm going on a road trip to Middle Of Nowhere, Utah in April and I didn't want to chance a dead battery out there. Glad I did it.

Does the 24F battery have the red positive located on upper left corner when it is installed (furthest away from the front), like the original battery?

 

[Elemental Guy]

I wanted to see if there was any interest in my story first

so now I'll put up some pics from the install.

I have other pics to show the tight fit on all corners but yes it does fit. A long time ago I took out the plastic shroud for the original battery, bent the tabs like in the image below so the 35 could fit down in there and put a spacer across the remaining "shelf" that the original battery nested down into (I think it fit all the way down in there, been a long time since I had an original/smaller battery in there).

I had bought the aftermarket battery tie downs as you see when I put the 35 in there, which can be adjusted for width but the 24F is virtually the same width, just 1 3/4" longer. I bent the tabs on the sides even more for a little more room to slide the new battery down in there. This time I put a piece of 3/4 oak flooring down there to created a solid shelf first then added a thin "plastic" cutting board to bring it up another 1/4". There are a gazillion ways of doing this but this will work for me.

The way I would describe the 24F, which seems to be different than how everyone else would, is that the positive is on the left side as you're looking down on it and towards the back. Just like the original battery.

That said, you could just as easily put a 35 down there, I did over 4 years ago, but I'm enjoying hearing my starter sound like a real starter for once with the 24F. It's crazy it takes a battery with 925 cranking amps and 750 CCA to do this. What was Honda thinking? It was probably the same engineer that figured we needed such a low 5th gear, ya know, 3800 RPM at 75.

 

[psschmied]

It's nice to know about alternatives.

I replaced my 2004's battery in 2012 with a group 56. Was going to do the same this summer for my 2008 (bought in 2015 with a 51R installed). They are getting harder to find and the warranties on the ones I found easily sucked. (For a quick lookup on anal auto part websites, the group 56 battery was used in the 1984 Ford Mustang GT)

All but one had a max warranty of "2 years" replacement, no prorated coverage for a stated "lifetime". I've never had a new battery fail in less 5 years, but still feel that a prorated warranty over a stated tine period was a direct reflection of the battery duability, based on warranty service cost to the sellers.

The one that dhad a prorated warranty is a group 56 "Gold" battery from Blains Farm and Fleet. It's made by East Penn manufacturing, has a 6 year prorated warranty, with 2 year free replacement.

It's regularly $83 plus $10 core.

https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/g--2502-blains-farm-and-fleet-6-year-gold-automotive-battery.html

 

[Elemental Guy]

No need to go looking for some hard-to-find battery for this. Walmart has shelves of size 35 and my current 24F. Costco did as well but I'd have to renew my membership to buy one of theirs.

 

[te1966]

No need to go looking for some hard-to-find battery for this. Walmart has shelves of size 35 and my current 24F. Costco did as well but I'd have to renew my membership to buy one of theirs.

Hello Elemental Guy.

OK, it's now roughly 11 months since you made this battery swap into your E. How has it been working out?

I'm asking because I am seriously considering doing the very same mod to my '03 EX.

But, my main concern is if there will be any alternator or other charging system issues that may turn up later if I do this swap.

I mean, Honda designed their charging system around a specific battery and alternator combination. Can putting a larger battery into the mix possibly cause any other unforeseen issues?

I'm probably worried about nothing here, but I would like to hear back from you or anyone else here about this.

I too don't like the slow turning sounds my starter is making and want to do something about it!

Please let me know. Thanks in advance! : - )

 

[Marv]

I posted this on 9/08/2016:

I'm a year in on an AGM group 35 battery (a rebadged intimidator sold by Farm and Fleet here in WI and made by East Penn). Before I went that route I looked carefully at the charging voltages on the E and at the charging voltage envelope for automotive AGMs. Thanks to the much maligned ELD and Hondas slightly odd (to my way of thinking) logic for voltage control, the measured charging voltages under my rural driving conditions actually fit pretty well with the AGM requirements. So far so good and it starts very well in our cold but admittedly not Alaskan or NoDak conditions. That particular AGM is actually a bit smaller than a flooded lead group 35 (came with a spacer) and was an easy fit in the E.

That makes me now 3 1/2 years in on that group 35 AGM battery without a hitch or a glitch. It's seen -39F and started the next morning. No garage.

I have a heads up display and though it is normally set up to display the operating temperature in addition to speed and RPM, it cycles through and shows the battery voltage when you start or can be switched to show the voltage continually. Every now and then I do that and the voltages under varying conditions are identical to what they were 3 1/2 years ago.

If I had to do it again I'd do it again.

 

[tjjoiner]

I've got a group 34 in mine right now. I had to take the factory battery tray out and modify it some so the larger battery would sit flat. I initially swapped out the battery wiring for longer cables but strangely this caused my car to not start even though everything was connected the same as the original wiring. I've thought about taking out the large intake box, which some say either has no effect on engine performance or could reduce MPG, to further increase battery space.

 

[deoxy4]

te1966, I installed a 24F battery I purchased from Costco a little over 4 years ago for around $80 with core. I am quite happy with the extra reserve it provides over the OEM fitment. Car turns over quite easily on the coldest New England mornings. I have experienced no issues what so ever.

 

[Elemental Guy]

I just noticed this thread is still active. It's been almost a year since I put in the 24F and all that time my E has been turning over and starting like I'd always wished it would: with authority and quickly. Even more so than with the 35 I had in it before and waaaaaaay better than the lame stock battery size. No problems whatsoever.

 

[zebra007]

I'll also jump in I installed the costco battery 1/11 just needed a jump after car was parked for about a week at the airport. Cables are pretty corroded so might not even be the battery just the connection. Battery doesn't owe me a thing after 8 years with zero problems.

 

[Scoupe]

I just put in a 24F Bosch AGM battery. $146 PepBoys.

Choose to cut-off one of the dog ears on the original location battery metal base (radiator side). I could not bend it down flat to allow for the additional width of the AGM battery.

Put in a SEACHOICE 22021 USCG-Approved Marine Group 24 Series Hold-Down Battery Tray with two self-tappings screws. One side of the j-bracket attached to the oem metal bracket in the original location. The other side used the new tray hook.

 

[BoxyButGood]

It is possible to fit in 24F battery along with a PriorityStart!. All set for the mountains now.

 

[scooterpie123]

@Elemental Guy

I've got a group 34 in mine right now. I had to take the factory battery tray out and modify it some so the larger battery would sit flat. I initially swapped out the battery wiring for longer cables but strangely this caused my car to not start even though everything was connected the same as the original wiring. I've thought about taking out the large intake box, which some say either has no effect on engine performance or could reduce MPG, to further increase battery space.

@tjjoiner @Elemental Guy is there a how to on here to make the necessary tray changes? I would really appreciate it. Looking at the 24F possibly.

 

[scooterpie123]

It is possible to fit in 24F battery along with a PriorityStart!. All set for the mountains now.

@BoxyButGood what exactly is a priority start? @Scoupe is there any link for SEACHOICE 22021 USCG and did you have to mod anything to get it in there (got pics?) TY!

 

[Scoupe]

@BoxyButGood what exactly is a priority start? @Scoupe is there any link for SEACHOICE 22021 USCG and did you have to mod anything to get it in there (got pics?) TY!

Amazon.com: Seachoice 22021 USCG-Approved Marine Group 24 Series Hold-Down Battery Tray, Black: Sports & Outdoors

Buy Seachoice 22021 USCG-Approved Marine Group 24 Series Hold-Down Battery Tray, Black: Trays - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[Scoupe]

There must not have been anything of consequence in the way of mods. There was more than enough space and there have been no issues to date. I just purchased a AWD Element to replace my FWD and I will be moving the batteries to keep the AMG. If there is anything of interest I will post back. This was easy weekend warrior stuff that many of us have the skill set to deal with, imho.

 

[scooterpie123]

There must not have been anything of consequence in the way of mods. There was more than enough space and there have been no issues to date. I just purchased a AWD Element to replace my FWD and I will be moving the batteries to keep the AMG. If there is anything of interest I will post back. This was easy weekend warrior stuff that many of us have the skill set to deal with, imho.

@Scoupe did you upgrade The original ground cables ? I'm seeing some videos of this

@deoxy4 @zebra007

 

[scooterpie123]

"The one that dhad a prorated warranty is a group 56 "Gold" battery from Blains Farm and Fleet. It's made by East Penn manufacturing, has a 6 year prorated warranty, with 2 year free replacement.

It's regularly $83 plus $10 core."

Blain's Farm & Fleet 6-Year Gold Automotive Battery - 75G | Blain's Farm & Fleet

@psschmied wow they are MUCH cheaper than Advance Auto Parts or AutoZone!