I sent the following e-mail to Honda Motor Corporation:


My Blue 2008 Honda Fit Sport 5 speed Automatic with less than 5,000 miles (bought 4/1/2008) had to have its battery replaced and a lead-acid battery supposedly would not work in the car. I suppose that the Honda Battery is a nickle-cadmiun battery.

Is the alternator also different and will not charge an emergency use of a lead-acid battery?

The dealer said that a San Antonio Honda Dealer has 26 Honda Fits awaiting battery replacement.

Should a recall be issued?

 

Fit's battery is Sealed Lead Acid. No modern cars use anything other then lead acid type batteries for starting.

Whats the brand of battery everyone is having troubles with? Mine is Yuasa and I tested it last weekend at ~375CCAs when 100% charged.

 

which yuasa do you use? and how does it fit?

 

Came with the car from the dealership. I've seen a few engine bay shots with people who also have Yuasa batteries.

 

I believe everyone's Fit battery (for first gen Fits, anyway) is made by a single manufacturer: Yuasa. I Googled Yuasa. Their main page indicates they primarily manufacture motorcycle and boat batteries. I guess this explains why the Fit's battery is so tiny.

When my battery was failing, it tested at around 340 CCA, then 317 CCA, then 200-something CCA -- all within the space of a month. It finally fell below the threshold for failure and will be replaced under warranty.

The memo I quoted in this thread says Honda is having trouble keeping up with demand for "SNC batteries" for Fits and hybrids.

I was assuming SNC meant "sealed nickel cadmium". Is there something else SNC could stand for?

 

31500-SNC-00100M - Genuine Honda Battery (44b19l-S)

 

I'm pretty sure SNC wouldn't stand for that. Nickel-cadmium batteries just aren't used in cars...they use lead-acid batteries for that, with calcium or antimony plates submerged in a bath of acid.

 

Is the reason that the battery is odd is that it is a 19 volt not a 12 volt? See below ad for a Honda Fit battery:

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16V AGM PERFORMANCE BATTERY

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Sorry, a mistype - 16 volt battery instead of 19 volt.

 

I just sent the following questions to my service advisor at the Honda Dealership in Dallas, TX:

The following questions have come up about the battery in a 2008 Honda Fit:

1. Is the battery a lead-acid battery or a nickel-cadmium battery?

2. Is the battery a small motorcycle battery?

3. Is the battery a 16 volt instead of a 12 volt?

4. Is the alternator in the car different and therefore a normal 12 volt battery will not work?

 

Sometimes 16v batteries are used in racing cars that don't have alternators since cars with alternators generally operate around 14.0-14.4v instead of the 12v the battery is rated at.

If you are at honda and they don't have the Fit battery ask them to test fit a Civic (aka 51R) battery in the car. If they refuse then tell them you want a Civic battery instead of the fit battery and to make a note on your warranty information. Then proceed to install 51R and flip them off as you happily drive away.*


*sterVin takes no responsibility for the actions taken by Honda dealerships and their employees for slipping them off.

 

1. Is the battery a lead-acid battery or a nickel-cadmium battery?
Lead acid

2. Is the battery a small motorcycle battery?
No, but it is made by a manufacturer of motorcycle batteries as well as SLA batteries for mobility and backup.

3. Is the battery a 16 volt instead of a 12 volt?
12V

4. Is the alternator in the car different and therefore a normal 12 volt battery will not work?
No

 

So today was the second time in 3 years that the battery on my '07 Fit was replaced - for a total of 3 batteries in 3 years. I have been told by the Dealer that "batteries just die in Florida" which sounds like garbage to me.
Is there an issue with Fit batteries?

 

That's what we're trying to figure out...

I'm sorry your battery died twice in three years, Tampa Gal. I'd be very frustrated if that happened to me. Being hot can hurt a battery, for sure, but I can't imagine a battery dying from the heat every 1.5 years. My last car ('93 Nissan Sentra) went about 6 years between battery failures when I lived in Florida. I drove the car for 13 years and it had three batteries, total.

I figure something must be "special" about the battery the Fit uses, the operating conditions under the hood, or some other factor I'm not experienced enough to figure out.

I live in Massachusetts. If batteries "just die" in Florida, they also "just die" in Massachusetts. Another poster in this thread mentioned that 20-something Fits were awaiting new batteries in San Antonio. So they "just die" in Texas, as well!

 

Thanks!

The only thing I can figure, then, is that "SNC batteries" (from the memo) is just shorthand for the Honda part number (31500-SNC-00100M) and has nothing to do with nickel cadmium at all.

I'm amazed they can make a lead acid battery so small, though! It looks like a regular compact car battery cut in half. Have they created new technology to increase energy density in batteries? Or does the Fit just not need much power to start?

 

A doctor of mine who drives a Honda said he'd had great experiences with Silko Honda in Raynham, MA. I called Silko up and:

• They had a Fit battery in stock
• They can install it tomorrow
• They were very friendly on the phone, not overstressed and tired like I've come to expect from my local dealer

I'm hoping that I have just found a new Honda dealership to patronize.

 

There's nothing like a lead-acid battery for providing serious cranking amperage, which is why cars still use them. A Ni-Cd just can't do it.

I'm guessing that Honda is using as small (and light) a battery as possible to save space and weight.

 

Actually, some people here in Manila (in the Philippines, where I'm based, which has similar temperatures to Florida) have taken to getting bigger batteries than the stock size (Bosch S40B20L or NS40L). I'm not sure about the details, but the larger batteries should have a better reserve capacity, hence better protection against mistimed battery deaths. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Me, I personally look at replacing the GD battery every two years, preferably in the summer, even if it doesn't need replacement yet. It's relatively cheap insurance given that heat is a natural battery killer. Maybe a little unnaturally swift in our GDs (my old Honda's batteries lasted about 4 years in between), but all the same, heat affects them pretty negatively.

Which reminds me, my current battery's almost at "that time."

Regarding heat: It seems the GD's engine bay gets pretty hot on high-speed drives, and even hotter under aggressive driving. The hood has thermal insulation so it's easy to trick us into thinking it ain't all that hot, but the fenders don't lie...and the battery just so happens to lie close to the left fender. Try touching the fenders when switching off the car after a long drive and notice how toasty warm it becomes!

HTHs!

 

Either way arent these getting warrantied? I know it sucks to get into your car and the car not start. Then youre late to where ever youre going, or you just cant go...

If the batteries are getting changed out under warranty, is there anyway to demand a better battery? Maybe an optima...
Some managers may go for that? Maybe you pay for the remaining price with the OEM batt as core.

Mine still hasnt died. With this colder weather my car does start sluggish, so far my batt is holding up.
Watch it be dead tomorrow.

 

Colder weather as in FL colder weather? If so, ur battery is on its way out.