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I had the same issue. I got a Honda fit year 2010. since i bought it if i left the car idle for more than 3 days , i needed to jumper start it. I recently went to an electrician, He isolated the issue. He told me that its the speedometer which is diffective. When he disconnects the speedometer , no battery drain.. So that it i need to buy a new speedometer.
I went through the little OEM motorcycle battery within 5 months in my heavily used ‘18 Fit. Since then I chopped up part of the battery tray and squeezed in a 51R AGM. 100,000 miles later, I can safely say that the ECM stays cool enough and so I can recommend.
I have a 2019 Honda Fit. Battery has died twice. Honda just replaced it two weeks ago. Drove it over 200 miles today, went to fill up at the gas station, and it died again. I will schedule another service appointment for next week.
Is there a known problem with the battery consistently dying on this 2019 Fit model? Please share any information on the repair. I only have 800 miles on it. Thanks!
I have a background in Automotive electrical systems. The Honda Fit electrical charging system has many components that could fail or be defective and cause your problem. You say you only put 800 miles on it. Is that 800 total miles since new on the vehicle?
Anything I gave you as to the problem would only be a guess at best without more history on the vehicle and any electrical modifications / additions installed . If it is a 2019 with 800 total miles, I suggest that you let Honda find the problem under warranty. Out family has owned 7 Honda Fits since 2009 and have never had to replace a battery. Right now we have 2 on the road. One gets about 4000 miles a month. The other stays parked inside an attached garage full of gas on a battery tender for an always available emergency vehicle for my handicapped 73 year old brother who lives alone. That one gets driven about 1000 miles a year.
Thank you for your response. Yes, it was purchased brand new and has only 800 total miles. It wasn't driven much during the pandemic so understandably the battery drained. It is my elderly mom's car so she only takes it short distances to the grocery store for example and never on the freeway. There are no "add ons" to the stock car. Honda replaced the battery a couple weeks ago under warranty. I am surprised it went dead after driving it a long distance i.e. clock and radio presets etc needed to be reset. The car wouldn't turn over at all after filling the gas tank on the way back. I am wondering whether the Fit needed to be reset after the battery was replaced or whether the security alarm system triggered turning off the car for some reason. Do you have an alarm system? There doesn't seem to be any documentation on it. It appears to be a factory security alarm system as they didn't include any paperwork to indicate otherwise. The problem appears to be electronic. I was able to start the car from the gas station after waiting several minutes, and trying again, but it would not start again after we got back to her garage. I have an appointment with Honda service this week. Any guidance will be appreciated.
Start gathering documentation for a lemon law return.
In most states, manufacturers get three attempts to rectify a major problem (dead battery / weak electrical system / won't start) before they are required to purchase the vehicle back at whatever price you paid.
Naturally, Honda will resist this, as they don't want to deal with their electrical issue. This is to be expected.
Yes 800 miles on a 2019 is a problem. I do not know the design parameters on a Honda but I can tell you GM's which ought to be similar. An unattended GM vehicle must be able to start on it's own after sitting for 30 days. This means that the charging system and batter capacity must be designed to accomplish this. No mention is made on the environment it sat it so it is assumed the even in below zero cold the vehicle should start (and run normally). The problem with letting a vehicle sit too long is there is a parasitic drain on the battery from the on board computers, radio memories, etc. Also a lead acid batteries naturally self discharge on their own without the normal parasitic load. So you need to either run it enough to top off the battery or externally keep the battery charged by some other means. Every time you run a batter completely dead, after recharge that battery looses some of it's storage capacity.
So what to do? You need to drive the car once a month for at least 30 miles to top off the battery. Or you need to put some kind of battery tender on it. If the car is parked where you have 120 volt AC available then buy a battery tender for around $20 and keep it on it whenever it is long term parked. Another solution that at least one car maker does (volkswagen) is to install a solar battery maintainer and put it in the window. The sun keeps the battery charged while the vehicle sits on the lo. The maintainer / charger is removed just prior to delivering the car to it's new owner. These were throw away items at the dealership and many times you can find them cheap on ebay. I had one on my motorhome for years until I moved it and parked it inside and no longer could use it. .
A far as your current problem goes. A new battery should not go dead in a few weeks. Honda needs to find and fix the problem for you. After that, consider a battery tender or a solar maintainer for long term parking. I installed a battery maintainer on my brother's 2016 Fit that currently has less than 4000 miles in it. The 120 volt maintainer takes good care of his battery issues. .
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I went through the little OEM motorcycle battery within 5 months in my heavily used ‘18 Fit. Since then I chopped up part of the battery tray and squeezed in a 51R AGM. 100,000 miles later, I can safely say that the ECM stays cool enough and so I can recommend.
51R AGM
I assume that screw is sticking out of the negative terminal because the post is too small for the cable clamp to be properly tightened? A good solution I guess, but I have to wonder though if there's not a better solution.
I have a background in Automotive electrical systems. The Honda Fit electrical charging system has many components that could fail or be defective and cause your problem. You say you only put 800 miles on it. Is that 800 total miles since new on the vehicle?
Anything I gave you as to the problem would only be a guess at best without more history on the vehicle and any electrical modifications / additions installed . If it is a 2019 with 800 total miles, I suggest that you let Honda find the problem under warranty. Out family has owned 7 Honda Fits since 2009 and have never had to replace a battery. Right now we have 2 on the road. One gets about 4000 miles a month. The other stays parked inside an attached garage full of gas on a battery tender for an always available emergency vehicle for my handicapped 73 year old brother who lives alone. That one gets driven about 1000 miles a year.
Let Honda service try to fix your problem.
I have been changing batteries on my 2015 Fit and on the 2016, and 'Honda service' has been shrugging their shoulders and rolling their eyes every time I bring it in for another battery. They won't help....
Isn't there like a fuse box for fits that's pretty large? I believe it's behind that red cover on the positive terminal. Maybe it's allowing a larger drain and killing your battery. During this pandemic my Fit is not driven much. After several weeks, I notice it was struggling to start but still would. I've since put it on a battery tender. 3 days and it kills your battery is excessive though.
Would that happen on all my Fits the 2015 and 2016 as we are the seventh battery and Honda has checked both cars and said they are fine, but yet the batteries keep dying and they keep replacing, but now they are 'prorating' them and charging me for it...
Here's a thought: Are the battery / charging system failures happening on pushbutton start models, or on all models? I have no charging issues on my '16 LX, but that's a sample of one.
I've long believed the reason that starters and power switches burn out on the pushbutton start models is that the circuit is not robust enough to absorb the initial surge. In key start models, the circuit is completed mechanically and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of a surge, at least not the type that burns out a circuit over time.
It wouldn't surprise me if Honda cheaped out on the circuit design, parts or both. Designing a reliable electronic circuit is not difficult in today's age, nor is obtaining parts. Cost-cutting on the loss leader?
I have a feeling it is just the pushbutton models as I have not seen anything on the LX with keys, but might like some input on that..
Purchased a new 2019 Fit around Thanksgiving of 2019. Battery keeps dying after car sits for 3 or so days. We're on our 3rd battery.now Dealer has had car this last time for about 15 days.
Got a call saying the issue appears to be, and on this they were vague, a electrical power commands that sits near the fuse box.
I'm unable to find such a part on Honda Fit part site schematics - anyone know what the part might be?
I've seen various issues on older Fits w batteries dying, but is this a known issue on new cars w less than 5,000 miles on them?
Car has the CVT.
Thanks!
