Noco On Board Battery Charger MKZ installation

[LincolnLover-Zed]

Hello,

I live in the North where it gets very cold in the winter time, and my dealer recommended that I get a battery maintainer to help keep my battery charged. I don't drive my MKZ every day so it will be nice to keep the battery topped up.

I wanted to get some opinions on whether my choice of location seems okay to others. There is just enough space under the cover at the front of the engine bay to install a Noco Gen5X1, and the lights are even slightly visible with the cover back in place.

My questions are, do you think this location is okay? Do you think the airflow into the airbox is restricted at all with this mounting location?

Do you have a recommendation for a better location? There isn't a lot of room under the hood.

I tested the hood latch a number of times and there does not seem to be any interference.

Thank you very much.

 

[bbf2530]

Hello,

I live in the North where it gets very cold in the winter time, and my dealer recommended that I get a battery maintainer to help keep my battery charged. I don't drive my MKZ every day so it will be nice to keep the battery topped up.

I wanted to get some opinions on whether my choice of location seems okay to others. There is just enough space under the cover at the front of the engine bay to install a Noco Gen5X1, and the lights are even slightly visible with the cover back in place.

My questions are, do you think this location is okay? Do you think the airflow into the airbox is restricted at all with this mounting location?

Do you have a recommendation for a better location? There isn't a lot of room under the hood.

I tested the hood latch a number of times and there does not seem to be any interference.

Thank you very much.

Hi LLZ. In your photos, it does not look like it would interfere with airflow. If there is no hood/hood latch interference, and you can properly secure it there, it seems like it would be fine in that location.

On a related note: I also do not drive my 2018 MKZ "every day". I live in NJ, where the winters do get cold (maybe not as cold as where you are, but certainly cold), and have never had any battery issues, other than the normal end of battery life situations. Battery life nowadays is not like the old days, due to the electrical/electronic/computer intensive nature of modern vehicles. So a 3-4 year battery life is pretty much the new normal. Mine have lasted approximately 3 1/2-4 years each. Yes, they can/will sometimes last longer, but we got our moneys worth if we get a full 3-4 years. Anything after that is gambling with house money.
Opinion here ... You don't mention how long you have owned the vehicle, how old the battery is, if you get "Battery Saver" or other system warnings etc. If not, you can save some worry and money by not purchasing/installing this. However, I understand if you prefer the peace of mind, so certainly go ahead and install it if you’d like to.

I am sure others will also jump in to help, so keep us updated and good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[LincolnLover-Zed]

Thanks for the information. I have a 2017 MKZ 3.0T AWD which I bought new. I replaced the battery in 2021 and again a few months ago. My battery is new. My screen does still occasionally say it is "Off to save battery," but my car is starting perfectly these days. I agree, getting 4 years out of a battery is the best that I can hope for. I suppose I am just looking for the peace of mind with a battery maintainer.

 

[Action]

The critical air flow is through the radiator. The location for the charger will not interfere with that air flow.
And that location should work well.

Do tie off the wiring so there is no wires that get caught up in fans or moving parts.
And make sure the connection to the battery (or better at the other end of battery cables) is more or less permanent not clamped on.

This may prolong battery life as well since there is some non-avoidable current draw when the engine is off.

Action

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[batchman]

Hi, LLZ.

+1 on the above, looks like a nice clean install - nicely hidden yet accessible. I will hope the plug in cord is as well situated and you're able to avoid the "gas nozzle syndrome", driving off while still plugged in.

We use a maintainer on our Miata, but oh the horror we use clip attach as the box sits above the car, sharing the power drop with the garage door opener. I hope to take my 3.0 MKZ off the road once salt treatments start (it came from a climate that does not eat cars!), and will try a solar maintainer so I won't have the "cord problem" with my snowblower LOL.

To BBF's point it's not just the car's demands, it's also the batteries themselves. Very little lead mining is done here, and the few smelters left only handle reclaiming. That activity mostly gets shipped somewhere without environmental concerns, effectively exporting our pollution as it's cost prohibitive to process here cleanly. Search for lead reclaiming in Nigeria, hope China learned from our mistakes. So the processing just keeps degrading, standards lowering, over and over...

Later,
- Jeff