Hi all,

About two weeks ago the S wouldn't start, battery down to about 9V. I hadn't used the car the two weeks before that; I've not used the car for 2 weeks or more before, hasn't been a problem so far, even during winter.

I charged the battery to about 80% and then drove for an hour with no problems whatsover, so I don't think it's the alternator. Is one hour long enough to charge the battery again?

This morning the battery was dead again, so again after 2 weeks.

I dont't think the interior light stays on (would take less time to empty the battery). I haven't changed anything on the car recently.

I cleaned the engine bay about 4 weeks ago (!) so that's a bit suspect, but I can't really see how rinsing the engine bay gently with water can cause problems.

Any hints on what the problem could be?
- colder weather?
- problem with the alarm?
- short circuit?

Any 'usual suspects' I could check?
- I'll leave the car locked but with the alarm unarmed to see if that helps?
- can I see/hear/feel/smell a short circuit?
- ?

Car is 7yrs old, battery is about 1 year old.

TIA

 

Every so often even a fairly new battery can suddenly fail to hold a charge, indicative of an internal short circuit creating a dead cell within the battery. The battery's total charge level, if perfect, is about 50 amp hours, so an 8 amp trickle charger would take about 6 hours to more or less fully restore the battery.

Here's a suggestion for a simple test, if you have a voltmeter. With car at rest, engine off, measure the voltage. Should be about 12 volts. Turn on the lights, and should not drop more than a few tenths of a volt. Now, run the engine, and voltage should be somewhere around 13.5 - 14 volts. If lower, then the alternator might be defective.

 

Thanks! I'll give this a try this evening.

 

I had an alternator go bad in mine a few months ago. Aside from the dealer trying to tell me it was a bad battery 3 times!!! , I knew it was the alternator because it would die off while I was driving. I'd recommend charging it enough so the car can start, and then try to drive around for about an hour. You'll notice the battery is falling off (because no charging from alternator) when the gage cluster starts to flicker.

I would recommend getting home quickly at that point - there is a major safety issue with a low battery. The EPS will momentarily cut on and off in mid turn, so you're fighting the wheel because no power steering, and then suddenly in mid-turn the EPS comes back on and of course you turn the wheel too far. IMO this was a major safety oversight that Honda made with this car. I keep wanting to write a letter about it, but I'm just too lazy.

Anyway, based on my experience I would suspect the alternator. You can always take the car to an autoparts store and have the battery checked for free. It's only about a 5 min process if they know what they're doing (that can be a crap shoot).