I'm slowly building my '17 L494 for exploring/camping/mild "Overlanding". Part of my needs are a second battery. This platform. along with the L405 (I assume), present some interesting problems and advantages. First being that the main battery is already in the back of the vehicle so cable runs are short. Second is that there is already a designed in mounting place specifically for a second battery - because some diesels have an H6 (group 48) as factory equipment.
However, the spot used for the secondary battery is used by either the small start/stop auxiliary battery or the voltage quality module that replaced it on later years. My '17 had the voltage module.
To use the proper location that module needed to be relocated. Luckily, these is plenty of wire to play with. There is a large area just to the right of the factory location, but that void is mostly take up by the storage "recess" in the trim panel. I did find that it fits up behind the upper trim, next to the fuse box. So a few hours playing with the tin snips and a bracket was made that picked up unused factory mounting points.
After that it was a matter of ordering a few OEM battery hold downs and bolts from Europe and installing an H6 battery.
LR038342 Side hold down bracket
LR038343 Top hold down bracket
LR096355 Long bolt for top hold down (2)
The battery is just an empty case for now. The largest H6 lithium battery I can find is 50amp-hours. I'm pretty sure I can build a 100 amp-hour battery in the case as a DIY. Next step is integrating a DC/DC charger and distribution fuses. I also want to make a better (probably CAD and CNCed) bracket. It's an OCD thing.
Hopefully this helps or give somebody a few ideas.
However, the spot used for the secondary battery is used by either the small start/stop auxiliary battery or the voltage quality module that replaced it on later years. My '17 had the voltage module.
To use the proper location that module needed to be relocated. Luckily, these is plenty of wire to play with. There is a large area just to the right of the factory location, but that void is mostly take up by the storage "recess" in the trim panel. I did find that it fits up behind the upper trim, next to the fuse box. So a few hours playing with the tin snips and a bracket was made that picked up unused factory mounting points.
After that it was a matter of ordering a few OEM battery hold downs and bolts from Europe and installing an H6 battery.
LR038342 Side hold down bracket
LR038343 Top hold down bracket
LR096355 Long bolt for top hold down (2)
The battery is just an empty case for now. The largest H6 lithium battery I can find is 50amp-hours. I'm pretty sure I can build a 100 amp-hour battery in the case as a DIY. Next step is integrating a DC/DC charger and distribution fuses. I also want to make a better (probably CAD and CNCed) bracket. It's an OCD thing.
Hopefully this helps or give somebody a few ideas.
