Put a golf cart battery in my 5.0, saved 24lbs for $70

[steve13gt]

I have had this issue on track with the stock battery. Ended up just having it shut off in the tune, no more issues. Only happened under extreme situations at high speed (got sideways at 110 mph), never turned itself back on under autocross situations no matter how sideways I got.

Also had this same issue, I think Terry noted it was common. Stock Battery.

 

[Vorshlag-Fair]

Well for some mysterious reason, my advance trac kept coming back on in the middle of autocross runs so I took it out. Can't say with certainty it was due to the battery, but it definitely seemed to happen more with the deka.

Yea, I was able to "break" the AdvanceTrac many times in our TT3 classed 2011 Mustang - on track and autocross both.

My co-driver Paul Costas and I both experienced this for the first time at a ProSolo autocross back in March of 2011, just after we prepped the car for SCCA's STX class. Didn't happen when my wife drove the car at this event in another class, just to me and Paul - who are both aggressive Left Foot Brake abusers.

Even with little 265mm street tires we were able to freak out the ABS/Traction Control systems. It was unique to this event surface and didn't really rear its head again for a while longer.

After moving out of this dead end class in 2012 to ESP and NASA TTS classes, where we moved up to 315mm R-compound race tires, it started happening more often - but the bigger issue was the "steering shudder". We found out that the 2011 model cars had a bad tendency to put the new electric steering rack (EPAS) into a feedback loop that was maddening. Only affects the 2011 GT and mostly only those that have altered the front LCA bushings to poly, or with really big R-compound rubber (or in our case, both).

The steering shudder was an easy fix - a $1000 Ford Racing steering rack to the rescue. Again, this is only an issue on the 2011 GT, as the 2012-14 cars got different programming.



This video is a good example of when I got the AdvanceTrac to fault multiple times in a lap - what a nightmare session. You can't see the AdvanceTrac dash light flashing from this vantage point but the car is fighting me all throughout the second lap, turning the TC back on and applying rear brakes. Somehow it was a new TT3 track record, but there was lots of time left by NOT having the rear brakes randomly applied. This was the last event I did before fixing that for good...

This ABS/TC module completely disables the AdvanceTrac system (its not something that a ECM tuner can just "turn off" - from what they have told me) and it makes the ABS work better for racing situations, both for street and race tires. I wish I would have gone to this unit sooner, because we never again had an ABS or TC issue and ABS braking was more aggressive after this. BUT using one of these Ford Racing modules does turn on ALL of the dash lights and chimes once every ~5 minutes. Don't use it in a street car if that bothers you, or just deal with it.

I doubt this ABS/TC issue had anything to do with the battery, but we ran an Odyssey PC680 in this car for over 5 years. Daily drove it for 2 of those. From my experience a PC680 lasts about 3 years with regular use, and shorter if you let it sit uncharged for too long between uses. We put a trickle charger on this car when it was no longer daily driven, as it might sit 2-4 weeks between events.

There are dozens of pre-made battery mounts for the PC680, including some made by Odyssey (West Coast Batteries). Just google "odyssey PC680 battery mount".

This battery is used in so many forms of racing - from off road trucks, to drag racing, to road racing, to autocross - that there are countless options to mount it properly.

No offense to the OP, but the way you show it mounted with that "drill a hole in the strap" trick is pretty bad. I've worked tech for SCCA Solo and our shop is a NASA approved tech shop - I'd fail that ghetto-mount strap setup in tech, every time.

Sorry guys, it does not secure the battery in 3 axis safely in a high g impact and the hole in the strap is guaranteed to rip in a crash or over time with just normal engine vibration. I've put out two engine bay fires started by a battery that broke free of a strap-type mount before, and the damage that can do is enormous. Just do something better. Some of the sheet metal "3-axis" mounts I linked to are only $25.

I'm not perfect myself, and have made some crappy "2 axis" battery mounts myself in the past. And some of those failed tech, so I had to learn from those mistakes. The home-brew mount above is done wrong. The top plate has to be tightened down too hard to secure this battery well and eventually it deforms the case and ruins the spiral wound plates inside.

But you can do a good mount on the cheap. I made this 3-axis mount for a PC680 about 15 years ago for a friend's E46 BMW. It was built out of material and bolts I bought at Home Depot. I cut the aluminum angle with a saw and drilled a few holes, but if you notice there is something holding the battery case in all 3 directions it could be thrown in a crash. No welding, no fancy tools, just a little forethought and about $10 in supplies.

Lastly, I'll mention Deka. I found this brand about 12 years ago, after the prices on Odyssey and "Braille" started to shoot up. Deka's are made in the same sizes as Odyssey - the "18" in this part number corresponded to 18 pounds (more or less), which was what the Odyssey of the same size and shape weighed. And yes, they cost about 40% less.... but.... after years of using several of these Dekas and a decade+ using Odysseys, I noticed that the Dekas don't last as long as the comparable Odyssey battery of the same size/weight. I'm cheap, but I'll still spring for a real Odyssey AGM battery.

Just my two cents. Your mileage may vary. Don't eat a wooden nickel. Hail Hydra.

 

[Mark Aubele]

This ABS/TC module completely disables the AdvanceTrac system (its not something that a ECM tuner can just "turn off" - from what they have told me)

Yes it is. Shaun at AED turned my Advance Trac off completely in my "race tunes". Turns the dash into a xmas tree of lights, but the ABS is still active and after a weekend (first weekend of competition with the car, '14 GT) of dealing with the Advance Trac repeatedly turning itself back on (big Hoosiers, etc.) the problem never came back. Just load "street tune" back in when I don't want to see the dash lit up although I usually just deal with it. Not aware of another tuner that provides this service although I could be mistaken, and he developed the tune specifically for this issue.

Having said all that, the Boss ABS computer I am sure is a very worthwhile upgrade, not sure of ESP legality so I never even looked into it.

 

[Vorshlag-Fair]

Yes it is. Shaun at AED turned my Advance Trac off completely in my "race tunes". Turns the dash into a xmas tree of lights, but the ABS is still active and after a weekend (first weekend of competition with the car, '14 GT) of dealing with the Advance Trac repeatedly turning itself back on (big Hoosiers, etc.) the problem never came back. Just load "street tune" back in when I don't want to see the dash lit up although I usually just deal with it. Not aware of another tuner that provides this service although I could be mistaken, and he developed the tune specifically for this issue.

Nice! I've never seen this done yet. I wonder what he found to disable the TC? The guys we use for tuning looked high and low, called SCT and other companies, and struck out. Good stuff.

Having said all that, the Boss ABS computer I am sure is a very worthwhile upgrade, not sure of ESP legality so I never even looked into it.

Well like so many things in SCCA, you never know what's legal until you are protested. And even then, its a crap shoot.

 

[Mark Aubele]

Yeah, not sure Terry. All I know is it fixed my issue.