The 51R is in! It takes a little wrangling to get it in, would be a lot easier without that fusable link mess Honda put on the positive battery terminal. But its in and it works, you don't need battery shims or anything extra, Im going to look in to eliminating the fusable link to get a cleaner install, I think the battery will sit in there straight and square that way. One important thing to know, you will need the security code for the radio after replacing it, so make sure you have it before you take the battery out. OK quick update, did end up needing the battery shim, it seemed tight without it but it popped off

 

Did you have the 51R during last winter, and did you ever have trouble with not being able to get the car to start in the morning?

 

I have a 2013 Fit with stock battery. With the last cold spell in northern Alberta, temperatures dipped to -30 C (-22 F) and the poor little car couldn't get enough juice from the battery to start.

Next day though with slightly warmer temps, it started on its own.

I started researching an auxiliary battery install but am still undecided on best route to wire it in. I was thinking of putting the battery in the hatch area however like I said, not too keen on the idea of hiding the wiring in the interior.

Has anyone done this on theirs?

 

An auxiliary battery will have to same problems as then one you now have in that they loose cranking capacity as they get colder. So you will have two cold batteries trying to crank the engine. Also if you have the aux battery in the rear it will have to run through a longer cable which further reduces it's cranking capacity. Placing two batteries in parallel you will find that the weaker one will discharge the stronger one down to it's level. There is also some small risk of battery explosion if one battery develops a shorted cell.

All of that said, if you still want to do this then install a high amp capacity (200 or so) relay in the lead going to the rear battery. Connect the relay coil to the ignition. This way the aux battery will be on line while the engine is is starting and running (for charging) and disconnected when the key is turned off. A battery combiner is an even better solution with the manual combine lead hooked to the starter solenoid.

In my opinion a better solution is to install a higher capacity battery like the 51r. Then if necessary get a starting pack that you can take inside and keep warm. Use the warm starting pack in those rare situations when you need it.

If you have 120 volts available when you are parked, a battery warmer or or a small 1 or 2 amp battery charger will also keep your battery warm in below 0 F. weather. Last winter at -19F my daughter's 2009 original battery (4 years old then) started her Fit OK. I honestly did not expect it to do it. So I'm guessing from her's your experience that you are right on the operational boundary line at -22 F. with that OEM 151R battery.

I have worked up your way in the winter. Usually we looked at plugging in our vehicles when it got below 0 degrees F. Most of them had engine heaters but on a few we only heated a battery. When we had no 120 volt and knew we would be outside parked for up to 8 hours we carried a 800 watt 2 cycle 50:1 mix generator and ran it to supply our 120 volt heaters or battery chargers. The generator weighed around 40 pounds and would run 8 hours at our small load on 1 gallon of fuel. We also placed the generator under the front of the vehicle (when we had clearance) so the heat off of the generator would travel up an into the engine area. The last thing we did was to throw a blanket (usually an old sleeping bag) over the hood and grill and also glued insulation on the inside of the hood to keep as much heat under the hood as possible. I do not know where you are located but if you are anywhere in Alberta especially north of Edmunton you might want to look at any or all of these ideas.

Good Luck.

 

Andrew, how about updating us (with some pics)?

 

How do you do that?

 

Hmm. Good question.

Anyone?

 

^^Good report, Laurence.