Dead battery!

Sslick

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So, the Si has been garaged all winter. I just can't bring myself to drive her on the salty roads up here in the Northeast. I come out to the garage once a week or so and start it up and let it idle for a bit. It always cranks slow after sitting for a week or even a couple of days. Daily driving during the warmer weather months it's fine. Today tho...was the first time that the battery was dead, dead. All I got was click click click. Anyone else experience this? My '94 f-150 can sit for a month or more and I can hop in and it'll crank right over. I think I should take the Civic to the dealer to get it checked out but I just don't know enough about these new cars with all of the electronics to know if this is common. Anyone?
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gtman

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It's pretty much a fact that that battery Honda put in our Civics is weak. There's tons of posts about it all over the forum.
 
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Sslick

Sslick

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A weak battery is one thing, but something is draining it while it sits for a while. I had 10 volts and 10% charge today...not enough to turn the motor over.
 

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Find out what battery Honda puts into the Canadian Sis. I hear on this forum their stronger. Mine has been garage stored since November and the battery seems to be as strong as the day I put her away. Started up last week without issue, and a couple times this winter I’ve listened to long sessions of music on accessory mode
 


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Sslick

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I have a couple of those...but damn, it's a new car! We really should not have t
I use these hooked up for when my car sits during winter: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S

I have one of the plugs just hardwired into the battery, so I just have to open the hood and plug it in.
I have a couple of those, but damn...we should not have to constantly charge batteries on our new cars, just bc they sit for a while. But, I guess it's common with these.
 

jred721

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Yeah the battery from factory is horrible. Hell, people who are flashing KTuner to their cars have experienced issues because the battery wasn't strong enough to let the flashing process finish. Mine's been fine but I wouldn't be surprised if something happened within the next year or 2.
 

gtman

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Yeah the battery from factory is horrible. Hell, people who are flashing KTuner to their cars have experienced issues because the battery wasn't strong enough to let the flashing process finish. Mine's been fine but I wouldn't be surprised if something happened within the next year or 2.
Matter of fact, last time I uploaded a tune, my battery tender was hooked up. Better safe than sorry, right?

IIRC, a couple members here were listening to music in ACC mode for something like 15 minutes and the battery croaked. Sheesh.
 
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Sslick

Sslick

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On a different subject...I am waiting anxiously for the weather and the roads to clear up so I can install my hondata flashpro! I plan on driving the car for a day or two in stock form...it's been garaged all Winter and I want to be able to feel the difference. I am chomping at the bit! C'mon better weather :headbang:
 

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Bought my 16 Civic new and still on the same battery. Is there a stronger battery for this Civic?
 


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Bought my 16 Civic new and still on the same battery. Is there a stronger battery for this Civic?
This might even be an improvement. :cool:

Honda Civic 10th gen Dead battery! 522BP-2_273x0
 

Gruber

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So, the Si has been garaged all winter. I just can't bring myself to drive her on the salty roads up here in the Northeast. I come out to the garage once a week or so and start it up and let it idle for a bit. It always cranks slow after sitting for a week or even a couple of days. Daily driving during the warmer weather months it's fine. Today tho...was the first time that the battery was dead, dead. All I got was click click click. Anyone else experience this? My '94 f-150 can sit for a month or more and I can hop in and it'll crank right over. I think I should take the Civic to the dealer to get it checked out but I just don't know enough about these new cars with all of the electronics to know if this is common. Anyone?
If you start the car once a week and then let it idle for a bit, you just keep discharging the battery and then recharging it a very negligible bit.
If the battery was additionally not at full charge to start with of course it will die.
People are upset that short drives cause oil dilution. But short drives can also kill a battery. It is absolutely required to recharge the battery externally if the car is not driven all winter. The fact that some batteries (depending also on storage temperature) could survive so long without charging, doesn't change anything. They will still get significantly discharged and possibly suffer some damage.
The anti-theft system and keyless entry also must take some current continuously. If they draw only 10 mA for 100 days it will cost you 24 Ah which is more than half of this battery's capacity.
 

blackie X

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So, the Si has been garaged all winter. I just can't bring myself to drive her on the salty roads up here in the Northeast. I come out to the garage once a week or so and start it up and let it idle for a bit. It always cranks slow after sitting for a week or even a couple of days. Daily driving during the warmer weather months it's fine. Today tho...was the first time that the battery was dead, dead. All I got was click click click. Anyone else experience this? My '94 f-150 can sit for a month or more and I can hop in and it'll crank right over. I think I should take the Civic to the dealer to get it checked out but I just don't know enough about these new cars with all of the electronics to know if this is common. Anyone?
just get a trickle charger from amazon for like $30 i think it was, last year i did the same thing as you are doing this year but got tired of starting it up so many times in the winter. this time i got the trickle charger so the battery will be ready to ROLL when i pop it out after the SALTING is done for the year
 

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I left my car sit for three weeks in winter when I was out on an international trip, and it started just fine on return. I drive short distances (commute < 2 mi.), and starts like a champ every time. My car sits outside too. Your problem is you're starting your car and not driving it - that doesn't give the opportunity to charge the battery.
 

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I left accessories on once, (Stupid me), and it of course flattened the battery (6 month old battery that had never given any problems). Battery voltage (off load) was down to 8 volts, and of course the car would not start, started would not even try to engage.

So I put the battery ON CHARGE, using an INTELLIGENT Charger, that I have had for some time, and always use with my other car.

What really surprised me, was that, even though I set the charger to 2 Amp Range, 10 Amp range or 30 Amp range (Max)< the battery would only accept about a 5A charge, which did not increase at all as the battery started to re-charge. (NOT RIGHT !!)

IF (when) I have done this on my other Non-Honda car, if the battery is that low (because I have been messing with the aftermarket Android unit for too long, with the engine not running), the battery will accept a much higher charging current, 30 amps if I set it to 30, that will decrease as the battery reaches full charge.

So, I find it disturbing, that the Honda battery would only charge at a max of 5A , even though it was reasonably flat -- but not 100% dead.

Many others have posted with various concerns about the Factory Fitted Honda Batteries -- in particular, not having much CAPACITY., so I will throw in this additional finding.

Also, since some have reported getting a Warranty replacement oem Honda battery, and still experiencing problem, I am beginning to think that I should just go out and buy a decent battery and fit it myself.

I know Battery should be under WARRANTY, and the Dealer should fit a new one, but that is not going to seem so great, when I am stuck 100's of miles away from home, on some deserted road, with a flat USELESS Honda battery !!!

BTW: even at the Low discharged 8 volts, Radio (and I assume other electronic computer devices in the car) did not loose their setting... Good to know.

I needed to use the car, so I quickly charged it for few hours and then moved on, but maybe I should repeat that failure, and verify if the limited 5A recharge is repeatable.

I did measure and note the charging current every 10 minutes or so when it was recharging, and the total AH put back into the battery was close to its capacity, and it did charge up to full charge voltage .. but there appears to be something wrong with these Batteries that is not being disclosed to the owners.
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