Weak Battery on Touring

Molatte · Aug 17, 2016

Hello.

So after about 1000 miles or so and around a month of owning my Touring, I got a little surprise as I was about to commute to work yesterday:

And that surprise was.. my touring wouldn't start up. And I was very surprised because...well...its only been 1000 or so miles and there weren't any prior indications that the battery was about to die.

So I called road assistance and immediately booked to have my battery replaced that same day. I went to the dealer and waited about 2 hours and got the battery completely replaced. I should note that, after I got the car jump-started, several errors appeared in my infotainment system such as:

1) 12 Volt Charging Problem
2) ACC Problem
3) Brake System Problem
4) CMBS
5) Tire Pressure System Problem

And when I got the battery replaced (through warranty ofc) these problems still appeared in my infotainment system. To which I just ignored and eventually they disappeared by themselves.

Today, I decided to go to the park and everything was still fine. It was on my way back home that these problems re-occured on the infotainment system.

My question is...do I really need to go back to the dealer and have this sorted out? Or is this just a malfunction that appears every now and then?

Has anyone had this problem before (the errors appearing on the infotainment system)?

Thank you.

Molatte · Aug 23, 2016

Providing an update. Its been a week since I've had the first battery problem and had my battery replaced through warranty. Tomorrow I am planning on heading over to the dealer once more to deal with a similar issue. The battery is DRAINING or there is something wrong with the alternator, I think. My car stutters when I try to start it, sometimes it starts sometimes it doesn't. The remote start definitely isn't working anymore. The issue seems to be very apparent on a cold start.

If anyone else has had this problem, please respond to this thread. Thank you.

tcl · Aug 24, 2016

I recall seeing a similar thread many months ago and the problem was a loose connection from what I remember. The poster with the problem inserted a photo of the problematic connection that his dealer found. Try searching for it if no one else responds.

JediSkipdogg · Aug 24, 2016

Molatte, we have had your second set of issues on not one, but two vehicles. They replaced the first one due to all of those errors. They keep placing the blame on us when I believe it is not enough power in the vehicle. I think both the battery and the alternator are too small for this vehicle. They however refuse to acknowledge that but instead tell us not to use the cigarette lighter, which is simply a power source.

corbygray528 · Aug 24, 2016

JediSkipdogg said:
but instead tell us not to use the cigarette lighter, which is simply a power source.

It always pisses me off so much when service guys say something like this. It's a part of the car, I should be able to freaking use it. If I can't use it, what the hell is it there for?

Civics4Ever · Aug 24, 2016

I had a new CRV in 09. The battery gave out after 2 weeks. Honda uses cheap batteries in their cars. That's not to say, you may have something draining it.

corbygray528 · Aug 24, 2016

Civics4Ever said:
I had a new CRV in 09. The battery gave out after 2 weeks. Honda uses cheap batteries in their cars. That's not to say, you may have something draining it.

Wife's 2012 CR-V had her battery start dying not long after we got it. Turns out the power door lock was in a state where it was constantly drawing power and had been recalled (we bought it used) but the recall work had never been done.

Molatte · Aug 24, 2016

Hello everyone,

So basically I'm now at my dealer waiting for the results. So basically, I went to the service station or whatever and told them that exactly a week ago I had my battery replaced, because the original battery failed the battery test. The guy doesn't believe that my car's battery is the problem, so he does the battery test in front of my eyes and says the test is good. BUT the crank power is the problem. This is something that I don't quite understand myself but he says that my crank should be at about 500 or so but its only at 93. Then I notified him of the popping sound on my audio and I told him MAYBE there's a drain there or some sort.

I would upload the result of the battery test but the guy is holding it because he has to take the car in for inspection. Basically, its about 60% only after a week . So there is a drain there.

What really flipped me off was that, prior to coming to the dealer, my car completely died and I had to call Roadside Assistance for the SECOND time and it was the same guy that jumpstarted it. The service guy was talking to me like I'm crazy that my car has a hard time starting up. He doesn't believe me, so I show him a VIDEO of the car struggling to start before it completely died. Nothing else worked. Windows, alarms, hell, the car was stuck in accessory mode when I tried to start it. He (roadside assistance guy) was shocked that my car is having this much problem. He did point out that the cable connecting the battery is somewhat loose and it shouldn't be as loose.

This is the SECOND attempt and the lemon law in my state permits up to three attempts. This is frustrating because I really am tired of taking this car back to the dealer for problems.

LX16 · Aug 24, 2016

The battery isn'tthe problem if it keeps happening, definantly some electrical part somewhere. Hope you get it lined out.

Molatte · Aug 24, 2016

LX16 said:
The battery isn'tthe problem if it keeps happening, definantly some electrical part somewhere. Hope you get it lined out.

The battery is just a victim of an underlying issue, which is a drain or some sort. I really don't want this to go any further than it needs to, but hey if there is a third attempt at this somewhere in the near future, I'm definitely going for lemon law. Its just hard to love this car when 70% of the time I'm driving it there's a problem.

tcl · Aug 24, 2016

I found the thread that I mentioned earlier. The link below is to the post that shows the loose wire. Scroll back for information leading up to the discovery.
Faulty Wipers/Car Will Not Start

tacthecat · Aug 24, 2016

Molatte said:
Hello everyone,

So basically I'm now at my dealer waiting for the results. So basically, I went to the service station or whatever and told them that exactly a week ago I had my battery replaced, because the original battery failed the battery test. The guy doesn't believe that my car's battery is the problem, so he does the battery test in front of my eyes and says the test is good. BUT the crank power is the problem. This is something that I don't quite understand myself but he says that my crank should be at about 500 or so but its only at 93. Then I notified him of the popping sound on my audio and I told him MAYBE there's a drain there or some sort.

I would upload the result of the battery test but the guy is holding it because he has to take the car in for inspection. Basically, its about 60% only after a week . So there is a drain there.

What really flipped me off was that, prior to coming to the dealer, my car completely died and I had to call Roadside Assistance for the SECOND time and it was the same guy that jumpstarted it. The service guy was talking to me like I'm crazy that my car has a hard time starting up. He doesn't believe me, so I show him a VIDEO of the car struggling to start before it completely died. Nothing else worked. Windows, alarms, hell, the car was stuck in accessory mode when I tried to start it. He (roadside assistance guy) was shocked that my car is having this much problem. He did point out that the cable connecting the battery is somewhat loose and it shouldn't be as loose.

This is the SECOND attempt and the lemon law in my state permits up to three attempts. This is frustrating because I really am tired of taking this car back to the dealer for problems.

Loose battery clamp will cause all your problems - it has to be tight but not so overtightened that you "stretch" the connecting clamp.

Molatte · Aug 24, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Here to provide a latest update. So basically, what happened was that it turns out after several testing, the battery that they claim was fine had to be replaced due to a bad cell. But they checked alternators and everything else for a drain (especially the amp since I told them to check on that) and everything else was checked off. Nothing was draining when the car was turning off. So for now, they just changed the battery for the hell of it because it failed the third battery test later during the test.

They HOPE that this doesn't happen again but in the case that it does, they tell me to drop the car early in the morning and I would be provided a FREE rental (with deposit) so I can resume my daily activity. The service guy states that the head tech made LOTS of notes about my car since this is probably their first case over at the dealer with the battery being changed back and forth in a span of a week.

But should this happen again, this would be my third time and at the moment they have no clear idea or fix as to why the car stutters or the battery keeps dying. My lemon law would be in effect the next attempt.

tacthecat said:
Loose battery clamp will cause all your problems - it has to be tight but not so overtightened that you "stretch" the connecting clamp.

Right as I read your message, I went back and inspected the same loose cable the Road Assistance guy pointed out. This time it was firm. Let's hope nothing else happens. Because I am tired of going to the dealer. Hell, I even remember all of the salesperson' faces by now! -_-

BoringOhio · Aug 25, 2016

Do you have a Touring with the amp? I (and a few others here) had this same exact problem with battery drain and it was traced back to the factory amplifier as the cause. It was staying on and drawing power even while the car was off and causing the battery to die.

I would let the dealership know others have had this problem and have them check to see if the amplifier is drawing power while the car is off. Please let us know what they find or say.

Edit: Just read that yes, you do have a Touring but you had them check the amp. If you still have problems after 2 new batteries I'll be very surprised if it isn't the amp causing the drain. Just because they said they tested it and it was fine doesn't mean they actually did he test or did it right. It took them over a week to diagnose my car even after knowing it was a battery drain and others have reported the same problem with the Touring.

Molatte · Aug 25, 2016

BoringOhio said:
Do you have a Touring with the amp? I (and a few others here) had this same exact problem with battery drain and it was traced back to the factory amplifier as the cause. It was staying on and drawing power even while the car was off and causing the battery to die.

I would let the dealership know others have had this problem and have them check to see if the amplifier is drawing power while the car is off. Please let us know what they find or say.

Edit: Just read that yes, you do have a Touring but you had them check the amp. If you still have problems after 2 new batteries I'll be very surprised if it isn't the amp causing the drain. Just because they said they tested it and it was fine doesn't mean they actually did he test or did it right. It took them over a week to diagnose my car even after knowing it was a battery drain and others have reported the same problem with the Touring.

If you don't mind, could you please upload the picture of the paperwork that had the factor amplifier as the cause of the battery drain? If I had that and the problem does come back, I'll just show him the picture of the paperwork and from there he could check everything out.

But for now my analysis is probably because of the loose cable connecting to the battery, which creates a short supply of electricity then causing the cell in the battery to go bad. This is my amateur analysis though and the amp being the cause is probably more likely, hence causing the pop sound every now and then.

Weak Battery on Touring

Molatte

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Molatte

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tcl

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JediSkipdogg

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corbygray528

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Civics4Ever

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corbygray528

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Molatte

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LX16

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Molatte

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tcl

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tacthecat

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Molatte

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BoringOhio

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Molatte

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