2nd battery dead in one month ?!?

[smartpolak88]

I am getting in my car (2009 Honda Fit Sport bought Oct 2008) today in the morning, getting ready to go to my first class. I turn the key to start the engine and guess what, the battery is almost dead, car won't start! Which wouldn't be weird except this is the 2nd time it has happened within a one month time span, AND to add to that, this is a NEW battery. Basically it seems there is some power left but not enough to start the car. I didn't leave the lights on nor any other power draining device, I am 110% positive. I drove it yesterday around town and the car worked fine. This is a 1 month old Honda battery bought from a Honda dealership. I have no mods on my car besides an LED key ring.

I also had this problem about a month ago. I didn't drive the car for two days and when I got into it Monday morning it wouldn't start. I was gonna go to the dealership where I bought the car so they could check out the car and battery. Unfortunately I didn't have any time to do that so I just went and bought a new battery at a closer dealership.

******This is my question: Would an LED key ring drain the battery? If it was hooked up wrong (I have almost zero electrical experience)? Like in the worst case scenario is it possible? I thought LEDs use barely any power. Here is the key ring I have: FS: LED cupholders and LED keyrings + Foglight protection!! FREE INSTALL!

I will go to the dealership this week to find out what the problem is but I would really like some of your opinions

[Cat]

Sure any part electrically that is not hooked up properly could be a problem. I have to say my Fit is a 2007 and I have twice left my overhead light on without realizing that it was still on when I left the garage. Each time I just hoped it would start up and it did like nothing was different. I was at a car show yesterday and my friend who owns a 2005 Honda Accord was saying how tiny the Honda Fit battery is compared to his Accord. I told him about leaving the light on and he was shocked that it did not kill the battery. I would have someone who knows electirc hook ups to check your key ring and then if that is good - I would go back to the dealership you just purchased that battery from and demand a replacement. Let us know what happens

Cat :x

[Steve244]

uhhhh I'd go back to the dealership and ask them to check if the battery is being drained faster than normal. If not the next thing is a charging and starting test.

The battery has a 3 year warranty from what I've heard. You shouldn't have had to buy a new one.

Edit:
ON the LED's, they have such a low power requirement that they shouldn't drain the battery noticeably faster than all the other electronics that stay powered after you switch off the car (remote entry, alarms, power to ecu pmc whatever) even if they stayed lit. If they're hooked up wrong I'd expect them not to light, to light all the time, or to blow a fuse. It's possible I guess you may have inadvertently powered another circuit that's normally off and could be draining the battery.

I'd guess the battery isn't being charged correctly. Bad alternator maybe. Have the dealer check it out.

[smartpolak88]

Unfortunately I think the problem is with the key ring . I installed it end of August/beginning of Sept, and Sept/Oct was when I had the first ever battery problem. I'll take it out. How much would I have to drive to recharge the battery to an acceptable state (lets say so I could start the car without jumping it). Is 30 minutes going 60-70 mph enough? Of course, I can go to the dealership to test it but I really don't have time until the end of this week and if its just the small problem (the key ring) why waste time?

[Steve244]

Originally Posted by smartpolak88

Unfortunately I think the problem is with the key ring . I installed it end of August/beginning of Sept, and Sept/Oct was when I had the first ever battery problem. I'll take it out. How much would I have to drive to recharge the battery to an acceptable state (lets say so I could start the car without jumping it). Is 30 minutes going 60-70 mph enough? Of course, I can go to the dealership to test it but I really don't have time until the end of this week and if its just the small problem (the key ring) why waste time?

Do you drive it daily?

Yes, 30 minutes @ 60-70mph will do it. Actually letting it idle 15 minutes should do it but I'm not so confident about this with the Fit's low idle speed and anti-vibration countermeasures lowering the voltage at idle.

Run into an auto parts store and have them put their smart battery tester on it. It is possible you got a hold of a bad replacement battery, but unlikely.

[MugenAP2]

You have a short in your electrical.

[Selden]

Originally Posted by smartpolak88

I am getting in my car (2009 Honda Fit Sport bought Oct 2008) today.... This is a 1 month old Honda battery bought from a Honda dealership. I have no mods on my car besides an LED key ring.

Why did you buy a new battery -- it should have been covered under warranty for a car that is only a year old.

[Black3sr]

Originally Posted by Selden

Why did you buy a new battery -- it should have been covered under warranty for a car that is only a year old.

Oh why oh why do people not go back to the dealer? I can't believe how they will go spend money on something that should be covered under warranty.

I got a feeling somebody screwed up his wiring when installing the keyring LED. He does admit to knowing nothing about wiring.

[Virtual]

Originally Posted by Black3sr

Oh why oh why do people not go back to the dealer? I can't believe how they will go spend money on something that should be covered under warranty.

I got a feeling somebody screwed up his wiring when installing the keyring LED. He does admit to knowing nothing about wiring.

He did buy the battery from a Honda dealer, just not the one where the car was purchased. Btw, it's not required to go to the same dealer for warranty coverage. The dealer that sold the battery should have mentioned the warranty when he asked to buy that battery.

Note: If the cause of the dead battery is in fact the keyring or some other alteration then the warranty no longer applies.

[Selden]

Originally Posted by Virtual

Note: If the cause of the dead battery is in fact the keyring or some other alteration then the warranty no longer applies.

Which is beginning to sound like the case. On the other hand, I had a 1996 Nissan Quest that started eating batteries around 2001. As long as it was driven daily, no problem; if not operated for 3-4 days, it would flatline. Neither I nor two different dealers ever found the cause — everything always tested out OK. Eventually I wired a trickle charger under the hood, and just plugged the damned thing in every night.

[txmatt]

It's a bit tedious, but somebody with some electrical knowledge should be able to troubleshoot this.

First thing to check (probably already been done) is the battery and charging system via tester. AutoZone may do this for free.

If that checks out okay, with a fully charged battery, put an ammeter in series with the battery to measure current draw. It would be helpful to have another Fit to compare the measurement from, but anything over maybe 0.5 amps (once all the interior lights go out) would be a concern. Even that is possibly high. If that reading is high, you can go through the fuse panel one fuse at a time, pulling fuses to see how that impacts the current draw. Once you get it narrowed down to a circuit or two, you just have to find what on that circuit is the vampire.

[Wopasaurus]

Originally Posted by MugenAP2

You have a short in your electrical.

This...

There's probably a short in one of your wires when you installed that keyring. And when you turn your car off, the short is making your battery drain power.

[MugenAP2]

Originally Posted by Wopasaurus

This...

There's probably a short in one of your wires when you installed that keyring. And when you turn your car off, the short is making your battery drain power.

Exactly.... Even though they are LED's it does not matter if you have a short in the wiring!

[lostpacket]

A short is two or more wires that has crossed. That is totally different that someone connecting to a circuit with constant power when they only need "key on" power or triggered by a door opening, etc...

simple steps to see what is wrong
1. load test the battery when FULLY charged (if it will charge, if not, it is sulfated)
2. test the charging system to make sure it is getting 14.1v to 15 when above idle
3. see how many amps are flowing from the battery when it is off and has sat for a while (bus needs to drain)
4. simply disconnect the power wire for the LED and measure the amps. If it is the same, then the LED and wiring is not at fault

[kenchan]

smartpolak- wire up the keyring to your dome lights. i have both my GE and GD wired up to LED's and they never drain my battery like that.

check the interior section where i asked about where the dome light wires are on the GE.

[BigWonton]

Maybe a diode somewhere in your circuit that failed-short and if you have a current limiting resistor inline with that circuit, then it could drain the battery without blowing the fuse. Best bet, as suggested above, is to put an ammeter in line with your battery and look at the current draw. Take off your mods and look at the current draw again. You'll have your answer as to whether the LED key ring is the cause of your dead batteries.

[Chad T]

got RED, WHITE, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW(amber), ORANGE AND NOW PURPLE led keyring lights! They stay on when the key is NOT in the igintion and they turn off when the car is on.

I'd say this is your problem. Not that the LED would drain it but since it's constantly on, wires touching or grounding slightly would cause your battery to drain.

I wouldn't take this to the dealer.

[mhrivnak]

This is exactly what should be done. If you're not sure how to use an ammeter, swing through a Radio Shack where you can buy one, and they'll show you what to do with it.

A 0.5A draw would be terrible for most cars, especially a Fit. Our cars have relatively small batteries, probably no more than 40Ah. If the car drew 0.5A when off, it would completely drain the battery in under 4 days of not being driven. Also, starter batteries are not designed to be drained more than about 20% and often suffer permanent damage when drained too far.

If you measure current draw of more than 0.05A, I'd be concerned.

As stated previously, wait for all interior lights to go off. Also, my navigation unit has a cooling fan that will sometimes keep running for a brief period after the car is turned off. If you listen carefully, you can hear it running. Make sure that is off as well.

Originally Posted by txmatt

It's a bit tedious, but somebody with some electrical knowledge should be able to troubleshoot this.

First thing to check (probably already been done) is the battery and charging system via tester. AutoZone may do this for free.

If that checks out okay, with a fully charged battery, put an ammeter in series with the battery to measure current draw. It would be helpful to have another Fit to compare the measurement from, but anything over maybe 0.5 amps (once all the interior lights go out) would be a concern. Even that is possibly high. If that reading is high, you can go through the fuse panel one fuse at a time, pulling fuses to see how that impacts the current draw. Once you get it narrowed down to a circuit or two, you just have to find what on that circuit is the vampire.

[Lyon[Nightroad]]

Just for fun Im gonna say its proabbly not a short. gut instinct.

[einstein77]

I have a 2008 and 2009 Fit Sport. The 08 has never had a problem with starting since new. The 09's battery died after 6 months. Would take a charge fully, view hole in battery "full blue". On load test would hold a good charge after one load test, but after second test the battery was useless at 8 volts, and would never recover as it should. Honda dealer tested it out and agreed with my findings "garbage battery". I talked to the Parts guy. He told me that the early 2009 batteries had been returned at a high rate but that the newer replacement batteries were not having problems. The new battery has no blue view hole... not that that mattered with the old battery... showed blue even when it couldn't crank the engine. I think that most of these battery problems are due to bad production quality. The old battery checked out fine with everything but the load test. I'm hoping this new battery is truly better.