I recently had to take my battery out of my 2005 WRX to recharge it. I found the clamp and rods a bit fiddly and spent longer than I would like messing about with them, especially trying to hook the rod in on the far side.
Does anyone know of a better system for holding the battery securely in place, that doesn't require a violinists fingers to work with?

Thread title is misleading, I know there are after-market clamps, real question is, does anyone know of a different technique for securing the battery other than using a pair of rods with a hook on the end of them.

 

I’m pretty sure that you are stuck with those hooks if the battery is left in the engine bay,If you decide to move the battery’s position i.e the boot you will have other options of brackets/housings etc....SJ.

 

It's rubbish, isn't it?
I think your best best would be to fab something yourself. For example; drill a hole either end of the battery tray and then get some threaded bar and hook it through the holes, so that they are free to move back and forwards but won't fall out of the holes. The biggest problem is trying to locate the rods with limited space and vision.

 

I saw a video of how to change a car battery on a WRX on YouTube and the part where the guy was replacing the rods he cut out off the video and came back to when the clamp was miraculously tightened in place, he obviously didn't want viewers to see him faffing around with it for half the video.
Would have thought a strap of some sort which you can just un-click and click to secure would have been developed by now instead of needing 3 hands, one to hold the clamp in place, another to keep the rod hook in its hole and another to tighten the nut on the rod thread and you have to tight down the rods in sync or one rod pulls the other one out, great way to improve your hand eye coordination.

 

This reminded me that I had to fit them to one of my cars today. I can only assume it is a practical joke by the designers. I mean, they can build a car to win the WRC but this is their solution to securing a battery....

 

Why not have 2 lengths welded down the width of the standard battery with a threaded end. Then Put a bar over the threads and lock down.

 

Piece of pi55 to fit

 

I don't find them too bad to fit, tbh.. The first couple of times were a nightmare, but I think I've got it down now.

I do the following:

1. Fit the rear hook through the top bar, with the nut almost as far down as it will go when the battery is fully clamped down.
2. Push the battery slightly forwards, so that you can see the hole where the hook goes in.
3. Put rod into hole, and make sure the keep tension on it all the time by pulling up at the top bar.
4. Maneuver battery into position, so that you can see the front hole.
5. Drop the front hook into the hole, through the bar.
6. Grab the front hook with the same hand that is pulling up on the clamp
7. Fit the nut on the front hook, and don't drop it until it's tight enough to not fall out

 

I left my WRX standing for a week and the battery has drained again. I'm pretty sure its to do with a tracker that was originally fitted on the car that is somehow drawing power, I've seen lots of debate about it so I can't confirm it is the culprit. (I have tested the battery and the alternator already both are good).

Anyhow, I had to get the battery out again, this time I took the tray it sits in, out as well, (which had a pool of water in it, heavy rains recently), I found the front rod hole torn, probably from previous over-tightening, I played with it a bit and ended up snapping the bit splintering off the rod hole completely..

So, I've decided to do away with the rod system and use an appropriate strap to hold the battery in place, (the one in the picture is a general strap I found laying about in my garage to demonstrate the idea).
Another thing I may do is drill holes in the battery tray to allow water to drain out rather than building up, it may just mean the water pools elsewhere but, given there is no water elsewhere around the battery tray there must be drainage somewhere for water to run out.

 

I've gone ahead and implemented my battery quick release solution. It meant getting my Dremel out and cutting a few slits into the battery tray, no bad thing if they can help drain the sitting water out.
I also installed a 'green wheel' battery cut-off on the negative battery terminal, so I don't have to worry about coming back to a flat battery after leaving the car parked up for more than 3 days. Does mean the alarm is disabled in those periods, however where I live if a car alarm is going off its usually ignored until it drains out the battery. Even if someone breaks in and pops the bonnet they'll have to reconnects the battery at which point the alarm will go off and immobilise the car anyway.

Below are a few pics of the process, battery is held in nice and tight, whole lot tighter than I could get it with the rods.

 

Do you anticipate any issues come Mot?

 

MOT should be 100% but a bit of battery acid will make short work of them, they say their sealed batteries but their not really.

 

Based on this video from 1:34
https://www.premiermot.co.uk/2017/03...l-an-mot-test/

Answer is no, I don't anticipate any MOT issues. As long as the battery will not fall out from its position when the bonnet is opened it is a pass. However it should be secure enough to not allow the connectors to work loose and short circuit.