Bad Alternator or Bad Battery?

[SuperTongue]

Hey everyone, I have a 2016 Civic EX. I was sitting in a parking lot for a bit today and left the car in accessory mode for probably 15 minutes or so.

Went to turn the car on and it just kept clicking. Had my friend jump it and everything came back fine. Drove it for a bit and took it to Autozone to check it out.

They ran a test against the alternator and battery - alternator was just above 12v and battery I think was at 14 (can't exactly remember). He suggested since the alternator was below 14 that it might be going bad and didn't suggest replacing the battery.

The battery is the stock one that came with the car which I purchased in November 2015. Haven't had any other problems with it otherwise and no warning lights came on. I figured because I had the car on accessory mode for so long and the battery being as old as it is would mean replacing it but now not sure.

Going to call my mechanic in the morning to see if they can check it out but wondering if anyone else had issues with their alternator in the 2016. Would prefer to not replace it unnecessarily.

Any advice would be appreciated!


Edit - From looking around, it seems like Hondas might come out around 12.something when idling. I didn't really do anything (turn on heat, press the gas, etc) when he tested the alternator so maybe it's okay? Just a thought.

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[m_kluch]

Seems like both are probably fine. I think that your battery was just dead from you draining it for 15 min. The fact that it was at 14V tells me that your alternator is doing its job charging it. Autozone should have the capability to check the health (charge holding ability) of the battery besides just the voltage.

 

[Honda 4life]

Hey everyone, I have a 2016 Civic EX. I was sitting in a parking lot for a bit today and left the car in accessory mode for probably 15 minutes or so.

Went to turn the car on and it just kept clicking. Had my friend jump it and everything came back fine. Drove it for a bit and took it to Autozone to check it out.

They ran a test against the alternator and battery - alternator was just above 12v and battery I think was at 14 (can't exactly remember). He suggested since the alternator was below 14 that it might be going bad and didn't suggest replacing the battery.

The battery is the stock one that came with the car which I purchased in November 2015. Haven't had any other problems with it otherwise and no warning lights came on. I figured because I had the car on accessory mode for so long and the battery being as old as it is would mean replacing it but now not sure.

Going to call my mechanic in the morning to see if they can check it out but wondering if anyone else had issues with their alternator in the 2016. Would prefer to not replace it unnecessarily.

Any advice would be appreciated!


Edit - From looking around, it seems like Hondas might come out around 12.something when idling. I didn't really do anything (turn on heat, press the gas, etc) when he tested the alternator so maybe it's okay? Just a thought.

Sorry my english are bad anyway Next time if happen again try to set your key to ignition(after accesory mode) but dont start. Move your gear knob from park to neutral(or D) then put it back to P(parking mode) then try to start again. I think its glitch or bug(not sure)

 

[calonzo]

Regardless, you are taking a gamble by running with a 5+ year-old battery, especially the stock one. They are notoriously short-lived.

 

[SuperTongue]

Seems like both are probably fine. I think that your battery was just dead from you draining it for 15 min. The fact that it was at 14V tells me that your alternator is doing its job charging it. Autozone should have the capability to check the health (charge holding ability) of the battery besides just the voltage.

Alright, yea I can't remember exactly what he did but he seemed okay about the battery. Like I said, literally zero other issues with the car prior to this so hoping it's just related to draining the battery / the battery needing to be replaced at the worst.

I did notice right before that the window I had rolled down struggled and stopped in the process of going up (again still while not so smartly sitting in accessory mode). Also got E-Brake alerts. Then went to start and just got clicks.

Regardless, you are taking a gamble by running with a 5+ year-old battery, especially the stock one. They are notoriously short-lived.

I guess my past few cars I've replaced at 3ish year intervals and never really thought about replacing the battery. Guess it just slipped my mind as I've had most other maintenance done regularly. A quick Google search seems to point to replacing or at least monitoring regularly after 3 years and like you said, 5+ years could be a pretty iffy spot to be in.

Would you guys recommend just a battery replacement / additional test or would it be a good idea to have the alternator checked out as well?

Regardless, thanks for the responses!

 

[latole]

Replace the battery

 

[shoegazer]

+1 to replace the battery

 

[SuperTongue]

Thanks everyone, car started fine this morning without a jump but I went ahead and got a new battery at Advanced Auto just to be safe. Have a 5 hour drive coming up and didn't want to have it die on me!

 

[latole]

Replacing battery - need an OBD power source?

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/replacing-battery-need-an-obd-power-source.43638/

 

[SuperTongue]

Replacing battery - need an OBD power source?

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/replacing-battery-need-an-obd-power-source.43638/

Oh yea, the guy at Advanced Auto used something on the OBD 2 port while he changed the battery. I did have to disconnect the battery a few months ago to clear a fuel error from leaving the fuel funnel in and got the same errors / warnings they mentioned and everything cleared.

Didn't get anything this time with the OBD device he used though.

 

[marauderguy]

After reading on here that no power source is necessary, I recently replaced my battery before winter.

No problems whatsoever without using an external power source.

You can feel free to use if you wish but no real advantage to it.

 

[calonzo]

After reading on here that no power source is necessary, I recently replaced my battery before winter.

No problems whatsoever without using an external power source.

You can feel free to use if you wish but no real advantage to it.

I lost some of the entertainment system settings. Not a big deal, but annoying.

 

[latole]

I lost some of the entertainment system settings. Not a big deal, but annoying.

That is what happened when searching with Google

 

[GermanCivic]

Would you guys recommend just a battery replacement / additional test or would it be a good idea to have the alternator checked out as well?

I would say it depends on your situation, if you're doing a lot of night driving or driving arround desolated areas it might be better to instantly replace it.

But maybe the battery will hold up a few more years, as long as you don't leave your car in accessory mode.

I don't know what the average lifetime of a Civic starter battery is, maybe five years is already pretty good. ?

Edit: I just saw that OP already replaced it ?

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