New battery already?!

I actually just had my battery die on me for the 4th time in a little over 2 years. Replaced it 3 times under warranty already. This time it hadn't even been a week of it sitting in the driveway before it just wouldn't start up.
The Honda Roadside Assistance guy actually told me this is insanely common now with the civic and he said it is due to the electronics of the vehicle. The drain from the alarm system and no entry apparently is not properly controlled, leading to drained dead batteries.
He advised me to get a battery maintainer for like $20 (which I did) and whenever I plan on going a week without driving it, just plug it in.
He also said to look into getting a bigger battery when the warranty is up, as from the looks of it, we should be able to go one up on the size from the OEM.

mis3 said:

Let me get his clear:
US Civics: Group 51r, CCA410
Canadian Civics: Group 35, CCA550
Strange Honda gives US model a much smaller battery.

My Civics is almost one year old. After reading this thread, I attached the battery charger, Motomaster Eliminator 12/8/2A, in the hope that it will recondition (desulphate) the battery.

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Here is my batter from honda in the US that I posted a few posts back. 500 cold crank amps. LOL 100 month warranty. made it 8. Honda told me this was the last battery they were putting in the car free.

If you're outside of the warranty period then it is a no brainer to change it yourself and put in whatever you choose. If your still covered by warranty, they will change it for free including labor and probably provide a free loaner car as well.

dallasjhawk said:

Here is my batter from honda in the US that I posted a few posts back. 500 cold crank amps. LOL 100 month warranty. made it 8. Honda told me this was the last battery they were putting in the car free.

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More importantly, why did the battery fail ?
Most likely it was NOT the battery itself, so I would be suspicious of the battery being overcharged, due to a fault in the cars alternator circuitry.

But "swapping" out for a new battery, and hoping it will last till the warranty runs out, would be a sneaky thing to do, to avoid dealing with the warranty on a much more expensive Alternator.

Save the Alternator job for a nice expensive Bill AFTER the warranty has expired !

Sorry, I have very little trust in Dealer's Service Departments -
“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

You can get a
Bosch Platinum Series AGM Battery Group, Size 35 (650 cca)
for about $152 if you catch them on sale.
Will last at least twice as long as your average WET Size 35 @ $100 .

You get what you pay for if you do it yourself.
Otherwise - You pay more for what you don't get.

I posted on another thread similar to this... and I apologize if I missed it in this thread but based on the...

kurokitsune said:

The drain from the alarm system and no entry apparently is not properly controlled, leading to drained dead batteries.

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...statement, has anyone just pulled a cable and put an ammeter in series to see what the actual draw is? That would validate or debunk what the Honda rep is saying. My Odyssey make it 3.5 years before it's battery got weak. I charged it and it failed a load test so I replaced it. I can replace $100 batteries every 3 years and not be bothered by it. That statement would lead me to believe people think the cars have an excessive parasitic drain by design. Mines just shy of a year old and has been left twice for 2 weeks and started up fine each time. I've heard a lot of doom and gloom about our Civic's batteries on a few threads. They are a smallish battery and, to have a similar CCA rating, their plates are probbaly thinner than say, my Odyssey's battery and they certainly contain less electrolyte, contributing to a lower AH rating/reserve capacity... but you'd figure a quality battery ought to last through their warranty period. Warranty's periods aren't going to be established to allow the seller to lose money. It sounds like the battery Honda got from whatever manufacturer (ie Exide, GNB, Enersys, etc.) was crap... at least for a while.

I know I see the Subaru banner ad on the site saying, to use Subaru parts and the picture shows a battery getting put in w/a Subaru sticker on it. That makes me smile. There's actually not that many large battery makers in the US... despite all the brands... most are little more than a stickers difference from each other, at least between flooded and AGM batteries.

SCOPESYS said:

You can get a
Bosch Platinum Series AGM Battery Group, Size 35 (650 cca)
for about $152 if you catch them on sale.
Will last at least twice as long as your average WET Size 35 @ $100 .

You get what you pay for if you do it yourself.
Otherwise - You pay more for what you don't get.

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+1 on the AGM. You do get what you pay for. I installed an AGM on my wifes vehicle 5 years ago and it still spins over like its summer at -30C.

marauderguy said:

If you're outside of the warranty period then it is a no brainer to change it yourself and put in whatever you choose. If your still covered by warranty, they will change it for free including labor and probably provide a free loaner car as well.

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I will always use my warranty first, yeah its a pain to go to the dealer, but damn, that warranty is part of the price of the car so Im going to use it as much as possible when necessary.

SCOPESYS said:

You can get a
Bosch Platinum Series AGM Battery Group, Size 35 (650 cca)
for about $152 if you catch them on sale.
Will last at least twice as long as your average WET Size 35 @ $100 .

You get what you pay for if you do it yourself.
Otherwise - You pay more for what you don't get.

Click to expand...

Well considering a battery from Honda is more than the Bosch or hell even the Duralast Gold I just bought, no you dont always get what you pay for hehe.

SCOPESYS said:

More importantly, why did the battery fail ?
Most likely it was NOT the battery itself, so I would be suspicious of the battery being overcharged, due to a fault in the cars alternator circuitry.

But "swapping" out for a new battery, and hoping it will last till the warranty runs out, would be a sneaky thing to do, to avoid dealing with the warranty on a much more expensive Alternator.

Save the Alternator job for a nice expensive Bill AFTER the warranty has expired !

Sorry, I have very little trust in Dealer's Service Departments -
“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

Click to expand...

As for the alternator, Ive had it checked by my dealer each time I went in, and even had another dealer in another state check it (my moms Acura dealer in Kansas ran a test on it when I visited her, we know the adviser and tech well) The Dealer first blamed my intake, then my HIDs but then the tech ran a test on the whole system and said there was no draw from my HID setup. So I don't know, we shall see if this new Duralast makes it 8 months, if it does well then Ill blame the Honda battery. If it doesn't Ill blame the honda electrical system.

I can attest that sometimes you do not get what you pay for.

I bought my previous car, a MB CLK 350 new and the battery failed after 5-6 years. MB quoted me $250-300CAN for an OE battery (parts only) . Based on a recommendation of a MB technician, I went to a shop which specialized in car battery. I went to the place and it was a dump. Good thing was there were literally 1000-1500 car batteries inside. I paid $85CAN for a battery and it lasted 5-6 years. BTW, $85 included installation.

When it was time to change the battery again, I went to the same place and got an AGM one for $120CAN. It was a black box, he brought along few stickers and asked me which sticker I would like to put on the battery! This battery lasted 2 years and then I sold my car.

mis3 said:

I can attest that sometimes you do not get what you pay for.

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You still get what you pay for ... just with the Dealer, you pay a "LOT MORE" for the "LITTLE" that you do get.

dallasjhawk said:

So I don't know, we shall see if this new Duralast makes it 8 months, if it does well then Ill blame the Honda battery. If it doesn't Ill blame the honda electrical system.

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Really looking forward to knowing the results of this. I was considering going for the Duralast Gold too, but also wanted to know if they were better options available.

kurokitsune said:

Really looking forward to knowing the results of this. I was considering going for the Duralast Gold too, but also wanted to know if they were better options available.

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To be honest, I always put the Duralast gold in all my cars when I need to replace a battery. They have never not lasted me at least 3 years before.