On December 26, me, my wife and my son all went to get in the Fit to run & visit family. When I turned the key though, the car was dead and wouldn't start. At the time, it had been sitting motionless in the garage for about 10 days and during that time we had about 3 days with single digit temps. On the 26th, though, the temp had climbed to an unseasonable 53 degrees and there was condensation everywhere - in fact, the battery was actually wet. I wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it - a short caused by moisture discharging the battery maybe?

Anyway, the car was fine and it has been driven pretty regularly lately. In fact, I drove the Fit on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (it didn't go anywhere on Sunday.) But this morning when we were all jumping in to leave for work & daycare, the car once again would not start.

When this happened the first time, I blamed it on the fact that the car had sat for 10 days in cold temps, even though our other cars have never done this. But the battery in the Fit almost looks like a toy it's so small, and I've wondered if it's just not up to doing the job. Or if the problem lies with the alternator and it's not getting a sufficient charge when it's being driven. It doesn't help that the car doesn't have an battery meter to tell you the charge rate.

Any thoughts or observations? Either way I think I'll be needing a visit to the dealer. I thought Honda's never needed service!!

 

AWDturbo,
Was this on an '09? If so, that sounds like a defectve battery, or a problem somewhere in the system. On Dec. 23rd, I experienced a similar scenario. I was amazed that the OEM battery gives no warning. It fired up normally and got me to Starbucks...then 10 minutes later, with a carmel machiato in hand, it wouldn't start. At 2yr 8mo, I think my battery died of old age. I eventually replaced it with an Optima D51R. I am so used to the Fit's reliability, that I couldn't believe that I was actually "stranded."

 

I haven't had any issues and have let the car sit in my unheated garage for 4 or 5 days or more at -30C temps.

Make sure that everything is turned off and that your doors are properly closed. An unlatched door could leave the interior lights on. If nothing was on then I think you should have your dealer check the alternator.

 

I was told that if a battery gets completely drained, even if you jumpstart the battery it will never retain a full charge.

Ofcourse once started the alternator will keep the electricity flowing, but the battery will not be able to hold a charge, and will drain rapidly once the car is shut off. I used to have similiar problems in my older cars, it was worse when the cold weather hit.

 

"Stranded".....brought back a few memories I bet while you were sitting there thinking of what to do. Stranded is a feeling we suppress once we buy a new car, heck any newish car.

Been a while since I was in Strandedsville, once I ran out of gas on a bridge, under age driver and my dad would be home in two hours. Ended up locking the keys in the trunk (got in through the rear seat) and using a rubber floor mat as a funnel for the jerry can....the 15 minute joy ride turned into a stress filled two hour event. Good thing it was my car, that gas smell was a dead give away of my afternoon deed.

Car batteries are good for 5 years, anything beyond this is gravy. Winter is a killer on batteries, more so if you never plug in and always park outside. Battery warmers are golden, used to have one. Now I park indoors, heated.

 

Thats true, I'm having that Issue in my GF's LS400. We never drive it, its gone through 2 batteries, and I went to go put a solar battery tender in it a week ago and its totally flat. I have 3 different trickle chargers, and some pretty nice battery chargers. I broke out my digital automatic rapid charger and it just throws E-7 which is Battery is defective. Gotta see what sears will do with the warrantee on it. Probably jack shit. Even if you aren't gonna drive, if your car is gonna sit more than a couple days(especially single digit temps) its good to have a solar charger or trickle charger hooked up, or just start it, let it warm up and idle for about 10 minutes, and also add some marvel mystery oil to oil and gas. It makes cold weather starts much faster

 

It apparently is a common problem as several have noted this including me.
If youre going to be gone a week you can disconnect the positive battery clamp and insulate. Be sure you know your radio code before you do that.

 

i talked with gerry from prm.

there isn't a drain in the battery holder. so when he installs his CAI, (you need to take off the battery first) he drills a hole in the battery holder so it drains. not sure if this would help you.

 

Thats why the solar chargers are nice. A constant 1.8watt trickle charge just from sittin in the sun. They also make 5w solar chargers. That way all your audio settings and radio code are still stored. Plus, if you have an alarm, even the factory one, Your car will not be armed if the power is disconnected. I know costco even has a 2pack of the 1.8w panels for 24dollars. You could plug both of them in and be extra sure. The batteries suck in the GD's as well. The fan constantly turns on/off and you can see all interior and headlights dim substantially at night. When I go to the snow I am bringing a JumpPack with me and the solar charger just to be safe.

 

sorry to hear about the problems with your FIT i left my fit sit out side for about 30 days never started (i was gone) and i when i got back it started up just fine there was even a ice storm wile i was gone so might want to check for other problems just in case cause in a new car there are bound to be a "Friday night car"

 

If you're going to try a solar charger, you'll need to wire it in since the 12 volt/cigarette lighter plug isn't hot when the ignition is turned off (at least on the 09's).

 

Hey AWDturbo,
Right after sending off my earlier post, I went to the Honda dealership to pick up some wiper refills. I happened to mention to the parts guy that my '07 battery died after only 2 years and 8 months. A service tech overheard our conversation, and noted that if an OEM battery fails within 36 months, a new one can/will be installed free of charge. After having this confirmed by the service manager, I immediately went back home, took out my new Optima D51R, re-installed the dead OEM battery, jump started my Fit, and drove back to the Honda dealer. Sure enough, they installed a brand new one at no charge! Oh, and they even installed my wiper refills while they were at it...also at no charge! No wonder all my vehicles are Honda. Ever since my first Honda back in '83, they have always taken care of any issues that I've encountered.
-macbuddy-

 

The ones at costco have terminal clips too, you can just clip it directly to the battery. Almost all cars have a switched ignition power source. Very few have constant on. My boat is constant on. I pop the solar charger on my jump box, so its fully charged, and always on. it has an inverter for laptops and stuff, light, air compressor, pretty sweet unit. I would actually like to hard wire a 3outlet power point in the back of the fit, because one is not enough in todays gadget world.

 

my dd's are parked outdoors in IL and have not encounted this problem on the
FitS.

if you aren't going to be driving your car for a while unplug the battery (-) or
have someone start it every 4-5 days and let it run for 10min. that'll get the
alternator to charge it pretty well, but you waste a lot of gas.

on my hobbycars that hibernate in the winter time (3months) it is plugged into
the wall on a battery manager. those can be had for like $30 at amazon.

 

the 10min run works best, seriously. And you can get trickle chargers from harbor freight for like 8 bux a pop. Works wonders. I don't even trickle charge my racebike, I just have a light kill switch and run it every couple days if I haven't ridden it. Starts like a charm.

 

Just an FYI for those who care...

The culprit was my Valentine One.

I have it hardwired to the map light wiring, which is not a switched power source. Three times when it was extremely cold and I left the detector on, the battery was dead (2x) or nearly dead (1x). Since noticing this, I've turned it off each night and not had a problem.

That little V1 must draw a fair amount of current just sitting there!

Anyway - not Honda's fault - all my own - lesson learned!

 

Do some rewiring to connect it to a switched power source.

 

It's rather evident that would solve my problem - and I would have done so if such a source was available up in the roof area. But in this particular car, there's no such source anywhere nearby, necessitating a power wire running down the A-pillar to either the fuse box or a switched power wire.

A lot more work, and maybe something I'll tackle when it's nice out again.

With our Subaru's, there's been switched power nearby due to the auto-dimming mirrors with compasses. With my Audi, I ran the power wire down the A-pillar, but the Audi A-pillar trim pops out rather easily. Someone on this forum mentioned directions somewhere on how to pop the Fit's A-pillar trim, so I'll need to dig that info up before doing this.

 

Thanks for the update AWDTurbo, glad you found the issue! I'm not sure if this is the thread you were looking for, and it's for the GD, but it does have a nice step-by-step for running wires through the A-Piller. Cheers!

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...er-07-fit.html

 

your 10min run will rust your mid pipe.

tickle chargers are not the same as battery managers. trickle chargers can end up over charging your battery where as battery managers will float at
100% charge.



kill switch is a good idea. i like to keep my batteries connected to
the circuitry so that it does not loose memory to the compass,
clock, stereo, garage door opener code, etc. on my hobby cars.