Does anyone with expertise care to comment on battery maintenance?

I am on my third stock Honda battery. It has caps on top to add water. This tells me that the battery is not "maintenance free," regardless of what the dealer service department says, and they gave me no paperwork with the battery.

Thanks.




[I searched "battery" on fitfreak.com, but got no hits on this.]

 

FROM SEARCHING 'BATTERY' YOU SHOULD GET HUNDREDS OF POSTS.
fIRST, NO BATTERY IS MAINTENACE FREE, EVEN THOSE THAT ARE SEALED.
Second, if you got no paperwork ewith your new battery there is a breakdown in the dealer service center.
PS I'm om my second battery, and its not a Honda item. So far more than triple the life of my Honda OEM battery.Perhapds you too should go aftermarket.
And my search yielded 147 posts.

 

I've got 5 years as of next week on the stock battery, and its still going strong. Planning on replacing it before next winter though.

Not sure how you could've gone through 3, that's unfortunate.

 

I am aware that it needs to be maintained. Without specific information, the best I can/will do will be to maintain the water level in each cell.

 

So far as I know, keeping the electrolyte at the proper level by adding distilled water is about all the maintenance that you should need to do to any lead-acid battery. At least as important is avoiding abuse, such as deeply discharging it (which is quite harsh on car batteries).

You do seem to have gone through batteries at an unusually quick rate. If you generally only make quite short trips, or if you leave the car unused for relatively long times (weeks), you might well find it worthwhile to get a little battery charger to keep the battery in good condition. If, on the other hand, neither of those apply, perhaps it would be a good idea to have the car's electrical system checked out (to make sure it's charging the battery properly and to verify there isn't an unusually high parasitic drain when the car is parked). A car battery should last three years or more.

 

Thanks, Drew.

The alternator was checked at the install of the last battery.

I do make a lot of short trips. Do you like Battery Tender chargers? I've used them with motorcycles.

 

I think you have added something to your car, that draws the battery down. This makes the battery fail sooner. What have you added? boatfloyd

 

boat, the car is bone stock. No mods.

 

Marrk, aside from float-charging the battery to assure it is not being run down from short trips, then topping off the electrolyte is all you can do.

On our Fit (which has the OE battery from 2007, knock on wood) we have cut around the top sticker so that we can unscrew the caps and add distilled water. We check that twice every summer, especially after the weather starts to cool down and the hottest part of the year is past. Note that on the Fit, the Main Fuse on the + terminal blocks that end filler, so you need to remove the terminal to add water. Have the Radio Code handy and be prepared to do an Idle Learn.

Float Chargers (AKA Battery Maintainers) are available inexpensively from places like Harbor Freight (less than $10 USD). These devices combine a low-amperage charger and electronics that do not allow overcharging. Many folks who own Collector Cars use them with great success. If you don't feel like popping the hood to hook them up, you could run a small wire to a plug and hide it under the LF fender liner or something.

Remember, car batteries are most often damaged during the summer, when temps and charging loads (AC, fans) are greatest. But an owner doesn't realize their battery's cranking power has been diminished until winter sets in.

 

Thanks, Buff!