Car battery dying repeatedly

OP
OP

CarNewbie9

Senior Member
First Name
Claire
Joined
Jun 28, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
54
Reaction score
9
Location
California
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX-T
Country flag
I got an update on the car.

No parasitic draw was found and the battery that tested bad at Orielly’s is apparently good. I plan to keep using the Interstate battery since the Honda one was discharged to 10.9 volts or even less once I took it out.

Thankfully they are talking to technical Support for ideas and to see if this is a known problem for this year make and model. I hope they find something. This issue started months after I bought it so it can’t just be normal…
Sponsored

 

EastHon

Member
First Name
Ray
Joined
Sep 28, 2020
Threads
2
Messages
15
Reaction score
5
Location
china main land
Vehicle(s)
honda FIT 3th mt
Country flag
use a multi meter to monitor the parasitical current,and pull out the fuse one by one. then ,you may find which is the problem one. usually,it could happens on some aftermarket electric parts. like audio ,recorder or obd gauge ...
 

tacthecat

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Threads
6
Messages
2,069
Reaction score
891
Location
Cheshire, MA
Vehicle(s)
'12 Civic Si Sedan
Country flag
...
No parasitic draw was found ... discharged to 10.9 volts or even less once I took it out.…
Then you have an intermittant issue - hopefully the dealer can isolate it. FYI a 10.9 volt reading is a "dead battery" or dead cell. It likely won't even turn the engine over and definitely won't fire the electronics to allow the car to start. [The BCM is still the prime suspect.]
 
OP
OP

CarNewbie9

Senior Member
First Name
Claire
Joined
Jun 28, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
54
Reaction score
9
Location
California
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX-T
Country flag
Then you have an intermittant issue - hopefully the dealer can isolate it. FYI a 10.9 volt reading is a "dead battery" or dead cell. It likely won't even turn the engine over and definitely won't fire the electronics to allow the car to start. [The BCM is still the prime suspect.]
Somehow their Midtronics machine ran a 4 hour test and found that battery is still good… I don’t believe it. I had them put the Costco Interstate battery back in the car to see if that helps.

I agree it seems intermittent. I am going to monitor the voltage of the battery every day for at least a week. I changed my apt at the dealership I bought it from to next Friday, rather than tomorrow. If needed I will move the apt out or cancel.
 

DRUSA

Senior Member
First Name
Dan
Joined
Jul 12, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
581
Reaction score
781
Location
Palm Springs, CA
Vehicle(s)
2023 Civic Type R 2000 Honda S2000
Country flag
A lot to break down here:

1.)We test parasitic draw, the draw on the battery with the key off, in amperage readings, not voltage. Look at @themzlab 's posts for guidance, his posts are very accurate and well written as to how to test this. With the key off, a "good reading" is usually anything less than 50mA, a good civic will have like 15ish mA with the key off/alarm set after about 20minutes. The car will go to sleep electronically in stages. It will keep some systems on, like the bluetooth, for up to like 10-20min after you leave the car.

2.)The battery failing was a good thing. If you have replaced the battery with a known good battery, this helps diagnostics. I believe our batteries are Interstate batteries, I can't confirm that though. A typical battery will last about 2yrs, if it lasts more than 2yrs you got your money's worth and you probably live in a mild climate. The test they ran at the dealership was a GR8 test, it's a big battery charger on a cart that will charge the battery and load test it. Yes, sometimes these test can take hours but that is because the machine is charging the battery and THEN testing it. This sorts the bad batteries from the ones that just needed charging.

3.)No, you should not have to start your car for 5min every day, that is not normal. The battery is discharging all the time by design, it just is. So eventually, yes, it will drain and die if you never drive the car, but it should be able to sit for several days with no issue. So you bought some solar panel charger that plugs into the accessory socket that is supposed to trickle charge the battery? You CAN supply the battery voltage via the accessory socket, Honda had a device that did this in order to keep the radio codes/settings when replacing the battery via this method. You shouldn't need this thing, find the fault in the car, don't bandaid it with a trickle charger.

4.)I would like to know what the actual draw readings were. They say they were good, what were they? There is also a setting in the Honda scan tool where you can see the calculated parasitic draw of the last 5 times you drove the car, should be pretty basic stuff here. There is a battery management sensor on all the newer civics to see this reading without even hooking up an amp clamp.

5.)The only thing I've seen lately causing draws on the 10th gen civics are the keyless access door handles, the outside door handles on the driver front and passenger front doors. There is an antenna built into the door handles for the walk up function, I've seen the handles go bad and cause like a 500-650mA draw with the key off. Taking off the door panels and disconnecting the handle and retesting will confirm if the handles are the issue or not.
 
Last edited:


OP
OP

CarNewbie9

Senior Member
First Name
Claire
Joined
Jun 28, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
54
Reaction score
9
Location
California
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX-T
Country flag
A lot to break down here:

1.)We test parasitic draw, the draw on the battery with the key off, in amperage readings, not voltage. Look at @themzlab 's posts for guidance, his posts are very accurate and well written as to how to test this. With the key off, a "good reading" is usually anything less than 50mA, a good civic will have like 15ish mA with the key off/alarm set after about 20minutes. The car will go to sleep electronically in stages. It will keep some systems on, like the bluetooth, for up to like 10-20min after you leave the car.

2.)The battery failing was a good thing. If you have replaced the battery with a known good battery, this helps diagnostics. I believe our batteries are Interstate batteries, I can't confirm that though. A typical battery will last about 2yrs, if it lasts more than 2yrs you got your money's worth and you probably live in a mild climate. The test they ran at the dealership was a GR8 test, it's a big battery charger on a cart that will charge the battery and load test it. Yes, sometimes these test can take hours but that is because the machine is charging the battery and THEN testing it. This sorts the bad batteries from the ones that just needed charging.

3.)No, you should not have to start your car for 5min every day, that is not normal. The battery is discharging all the time by design, it just is. So eventually, yes, it will drain and die if you never drive the car, but it should be able to sit for several days with no issue. So you bought some solar panel charger that plugs into the accessory socket that is supposed to trickle charge the battery? You CAN supply the battery voltage via the accessory socket, Honda had a device that did this in order to keep the radio codes/settings when replacing the battery via this method. You shouldn't need this thing, find the fault in the car, don't bandaid it with a trickle charger.

4.)I would like to know what the actual draw readings were. They say they were good, what were they? There is also a setting in the Honda scan tool where you can see the calculated parasitic draw of the last 5 times you drove the car, should be pretty basic stuff here. There is a battery management sensor on all the newer civics to see this reading without even hooking up an amp clamp.

5.)The only thing I've seen lately causing draws on the 10th gen civics are the keyless access door handles, the outside door handles on the driver front and passenger front doors. There is an antenna built into the door handles for the walk up function, I've seen the handles go bad and cause like a 500-650mA draw with the key off. Taking off the door panels and disconnecting the handle and retesting will confirm if the handles are the issue or not.
I appreciate the reply!

1. I still want to do the parasitic draw test myself. Do you usually latch the hood latch by pushing down on the latch or by disconnecting the wire? Is there any chance the hood latch can be left as is and the car will still go to sleep? I’m frustrated that step is what’s holding me back haha.

2. The first battery came with the car and was from 2018. It actually tested good after dying twice, but since it was old I had it replaced with a new Honda battery in May. The new Honda battery is the one Orielly’s said was bad last weekend but Honda said was good yesterday. I imagine the Honda test is better, but do you think the battery being deeply discharged damaged it? The test result has the little meter saying how good the battery is and it’s only like 1/3 of the way on the scale.

I still have the Honda battery and idk what to do with it. I know it won’t stay good forever, especially without regular charging.

3. Yes I bought a Battery Tender brand solar charger. I now have adapters for both the cigarette lighter and the OBD2 port. I can’t tell if the OBD2 port way is actually helping or not. The battery was slowly dropping from 12.3 to 12.2 volts for the one whole day I used it.

4. I really wish they had told me the amount of draw too. I was told there’s no way to print it out the first time. Maybe it was written down somewhere this time. I’ll ask!

5. That sounds like a possible lead! Doesn’t seem like the draw in my car is that high though.
 
OP
OP

CarNewbie9

Senior Member
First Name
Claire
Joined
Jun 28, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
54
Reaction score
9
Location
California
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX-T
Country flag
Honda Civic 10th gen Car battery dying repeatedly A5465FF2-817C-49AE-8263-075BEB6DBD21

I look under my hood today to find this. I’m pretty sure my brand new battery is leaking acid and look at that install job. Unless it’s something they put on the battery?
 
Last edited:
OP
OP

CarNewbie9

Senior Member
First Name
Claire
Joined
Jun 28, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
54
Reaction score
9
Location
California
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX-T
Country flag
Might be something the mechanic applied to fight corrosion.
Okay phew! I immediately jumped to worst case scenario. Still not happy with how the battery was installed but I guess it does the job.
 


dantwan1

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Threads
8
Messages
127
Reaction score
136
Location
Michigan
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Si Coupe
Country flag
The manufacturers make the wires so tight, you can't arrange them neatly.
It's not about the wires, of course they're cut to specific length. They mangled the insulation around it, looks like they put it in at 4:55 PM on a Friday or something.
 

calonzo

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Threads
14
Messages
1,396
Reaction score
421
Location
New Haven, CT
Vehicle(s)
2016 Honda Civic Touring
Country flag
It's not about the wires, of course they're cut to specific length. They mangled the insulation around it, looks like they put it in at 4:55 PM on a Friday or something.
You mean this?

Honda Civic 10th gen Car battery dying repeatedly 1657311693496


If so, that's pretty picky. LOL
 

themzlab

Senior Member
First Name
Mark
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Threads
3
Messages
125
Reaction score
50
Location
Wisconsin,USA
Website
themzlab.tumblr.com
Vehicle(s)
2016 Civic Touring, 2013 Prius 5,2003 Jetta TDI
Country flag
I have pulled and replaced this battery on my own car. It is a little tricky to get the battery in without folding the insulation or without having it stick out the top.

the insulation is functional. it would be within reason to ask the dealer to install the insulation correctly.

I don't think it was mentioned previously in this thread but these cars have a sensor on the negative battery terminal - it is shown in the picture. I think it can control the charging rate. I don't think it is a sensor that could fail easily, it could be nothing but a resistor in there, but it is just one more complication in the system to consider.

Other thoughts, consider a window switch or moonroof switch that could possibly be causing continuous load, trying to complete the action. But only occasionally.
 
OP
OP

CarNewbie9

Senior Member
First Name
Claire
Joined
Jun 28, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
54
Reaction score
9
Location
California
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX-T
Country flag
I have pulled and replaced this battery on my own car. It is a little tricky to get the battery in without folding the insulation or without having it stick out the top.

the insulation is functional. it would be within reason to ask the dealer to install the insulation correctly.

I don't think it was mentioned previously in this thread but these cars have a sensor on the negative battery terminal - it is shown in the picture. I think it can control the charging rate. I don't think it is a sensor that could fail easily, it could be nothing but a resistor in there, but it is just one more complication in the system to consider.

Other thoughts, consider a window switch or moonroof switch that could possibly be causing continuous load, trying to complete the action. But only occasionally.
Yeah my boyfriend and Iinstalled and re-installed the battery a few times last weekend. I managed to get the insulation on there perfectly so I know it can be done haha. I’m going to be messing with it again this weekend so can fix it.

Do you think the way the wires bent could affect that sensor?

It does have a sunroof.
Sponsored

 


 


Top