What is that round electrical device in the bottom of the battery tray on my 96 Sport? Two wires to it from under the case. Disc pops up on a spring washer when battery is lifted out.

???

 

Battery temp sensor.

 

yep, batt temp sensor, I almost ripped it out, the first time it crossed my path. The wires attached made me reconsider. Believe it or not, it has a function (but given the distance between the sensor and the battery, plus all kinds of ambient influences, I doubt whether it's a sensitive enough sensor for what it's supposed to be doing, really.

 

Never noticed if my 99 had one or not, the way it was treated before I bought probably not.

 

Gee, I always wanted to know what my battery temp was. But the dash gauge for it was not on my 96 Sport options list. Hmmm. Just kidding. I suppose it sends a signal to the ECU for some data crunching purpose. Thanks for the info.

 

The explanation I read somewhere is that the computer adjusts voltage based on battery temp.

Since the data is reaching the ECU, I imagine that OBDII vehicles can actually display the battery temp in Torque. Just for giggles, I might see if that gauge is available next time I'm messing with it.

 

My 99' does not have one.

 

Batt temp is for your ECU to take into account when regulating alternator output.
You will never know what your batt temp is haha. Which is safer, because you wouldn't know what to do with it either.