Mysterious dead battery in 2000 Honda Accord

How old is the battery?? Anything near 4-5 years old and it's time for a new one.

with the car running put the multimeter on the battery to see what your alternator is charging at. It should be above 13.5vdc or so.

does the car get driven on a regular basis?

A jump start may get you going, but your alternator won't fully charge your battery. You need to slow charge the battery with a charger.. alternators only quick charge batteries.

Chas

1. Your wife left the dome light on and didn't tell you.
2. Your teenage daughter has been making out with her boyfriend in the car in the garage with the radio on full blast to hide the noise.
3. Something intermittent is coming on, like a faulty latch that sometimes doesn't close the glovebox completely.

A popular failure mode is for the alternator diodes to fail and the battery to discharge through the alternator when the car is parked. But if this had been the case, you'd have seen it on the ammeter.

--scott

Ammeter? I think the newest vehicle I've seen with one of those was an 80's Dodge pickup truck...

nate

It's from 2009. Checked out at the auto parts place (load test).

Not every day, but at least 3 times a week. Given how warm it is outside, I find it hard to believe that there's not enough driving going on to charge the battery.

Yeah, that's what I did this weekend. Took the battery out (no garage here), placed it on a charger and set the charger to 2 A.

Could be, but she swears she didn't. She'd be aware of that because one of us did that before.

Girls too young for that.

:-)

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about cuz it sounds like a b*tch to diagnose.

woger151 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@t2g2000yqe.googlegroups.com:

How about this: charge if overnight again at 2A. Make *sure* it registers more than 12v and then leave it *unconnected* in the garage for a full day and then test it again. At least that eliminates the battery one way or the other.

That is a crock! What are you a battery salesman?

After that comment, it's apparent that you are not a battery salesman. :^)

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about cuz it sounds like a b*tch to diagnose.

Common offenders are (1)lights, as in glove box, trunk compartment, dome, etc that are not always going off. (2) Brake light switch intermittently activating and depleting the battery. (3) Any of many relays in the car activating at their own will. (Mine was a seat belt retractor relay in a Regal.. Nearly NEVER found that scoundrel) There are others. In odd circumstances the battery and or alternator can mimic these symtoms.

Since it is likely intermittent, it is 100% good some 90+% of the time. Sometimes a maximum indicating VOM, set on amps scale, can help. Or, you can start removing fuses one at the time overnight and see if you can pick out the misbehaving circuit.

My condolescenses

If you can pop the filler caps off, see if it is dry. Could be all the electrolyte has evaporated or leaked out some how.

If it is dry, add enough distilled water to get to the bottom of the filler holes.

Batteries in Houston, Texas last about 3 1/2 years.

That is pretty much the experience I have had with them. Maybe a few more years but not too much. The heat, the abuse, etc just seem to limit them.

If your ammeter has a min-max or some sort of recorder, leave it on overnight. If it stays at 12 ma, it's either the battery or an intermittent problem.

All of the advice above is good. You can check some of those things easily - pull the glove box door out slightly - it it takes very little movement to turn on the light, that's probably it. You can apply that principle to most of the other possibilities. I doubt that car still used door jamb switches, but that would be another thing to check.

It might also work to put a test light in line with the battery cable to help you see when the various switches trip.

Also, do you park the car in a garage and leave the keys in the ignition? That has been an issue on some vehicles.

Here in New England, batteries from Sears, AutoZone, etc seem to last ~5 years or so,

I bought a genuine Toyota battery for my old Corolla in 1999. It drove until 2004, sat for 2 years and then the battery was pulled and put in my Mazda in Dec 2006. I just replaced it two weeks ago.

That would seem to be very good performance for a battery that was left unattended for a couple of years. I rather doubt that most would give this type of service, granted the same conditions.

Have either of you guys tried Continentals? They make them right across the border for the Texas market and they handle the high temperatures a lot better than typical car batteries.

--scott

Phantom battery drain

diogenes wrote in news:Xns9DD7C73415EF3doghousecom@94.75.214.90:

if it is dry,chances are the plates are sulfated and you need a new battery.Every time I've refilled a low or dry battery,it didn't last very long.

Paul wrote in news:i4f7jj$b7j$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:

Heat is the Number One enemy of car batteries. Vibration is #2. hold-down brackets are important.

As soon as a new battery is installed (lead acid car batteries) and the vehicle driving begins, the battery plates start deteriorating.It is like rust, rust never sleeps.

Once in a while, put a spoonful or two of baking soda in a cup of warm water.Clean off your battery and the battery cables connectors.Don't let any baking soda - water mix get inside of the battery. cuhulin