[Shop-talk] Stranded by a bad car battery.

[Brian Kemp]

My daughter's 2022 Honda HRV battery died while she was listening to music waiting for a friend.  She said every light on the dash came on. Tough situation trying to help a teenager in college on the other side of the country.

The service rep at her local Honda diagnosed the problem as most likely the battery over the phone as did Honda Care service.  Honda Care said they couldn't get to her for about 3 hours so she had a friend with a jump starter get her going and went to the dealer where they confirmed the battery had failed at the 18 month point and replaced it under warranty.  >From multiple forums, it turns out that the HRV batteries are likely marginal at the start to save money and weight.  She now has her own jump box and learned how to use it for when this happens the next time.

I had a 2004 then a 2012 Odyssey and both had batteries fail with almost no warning.  Many current batteries are a case of they don't make them like they used to.

Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: Dwade Reinsch <dreinsch at swbell.net>
Sent: Jan 9, 2024 10:42 PM
To: shop-talk at autox.team.net <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Subject: [Shop-talk] Stranded by a bad car battery.

 
This afternoon I was sitting in the 2016 Honda Odyssey van waiting for granddaughter to finish a theater activity and I went to sleep in the front seat.  Had the radio and inside lights on.  When she finished and came out, car would not start.  Completely dead.  Electric seat would not come back to driving position, etc.
 
Here's the question:  In the old days a weak battery would give notice by cranking slowly, etc., before failing.  This is the car I drive regularly and it gave NO warning.  Luckily, I could call son-in-law and he came to help.  Would not start with good set of booster cables.  Would not start with 15 minutes of charging on cables before attempting to start.  So in the morning I'll take pickup and tools and pull battery, get a replacement, and move the van home.
 
Does anyone have a suggestion for identifying a failing battery before being stranded?  (Battery is about 4 years old.)
 
Thanks,
Dwade



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