Auto shop told me “The battery is starting to fail. It has only 336 CCA out of 450 CCA.”

So when I was at Les Schwab (LS) I asked them to replace it. The guy came back and said the battery was in good but it was just low on charge, 70%. Due to my intermittent no start issue, I haven’t driven my fit much for a month but I still turned it on everyday or every other day, making short trip around the neighborhood. I was very scared of this car stranding me at the store with a bunch of bags okay! But a month can push a battery down to 70% charge? He didn’t recommend changing it. I asked how to charge it and he said to drive it more. :-/ okay.

I have a hard time believing him cause A few years ago, I was also at Les Schwab and one of their tech told me my ex-battery was good. He didn’t say the charge. A week later my starter was replaced. And 2 weeks later, my car wouldn’t start. The weather wasn’t even cold.

so what matter? CCA or charge %? How do I determine if my battery would quack on me? I did ask him that and he says there no way of knowing.

Now thinking about that, it spin me into asking - if my battery has low CCA but LS see my battery good with low charge like those two times would I even be able to buy a new one with pro-rated warranty applied?

 

Upgrade to a 51r battery.

More starting power and higher Cold Cranking Amps than the stock 151r battery.

Check youtube.

Search for 51r battery Honda Fit.

 

Let's step back to some basics.
1) Power is pulled from your 12v battery to start your car.
2) Your alternator recharges the 12v battery when you drive.

Starting your car every/every other day will be using the 12v battery each time; taking a short trip around the neighborhood is unlikely to replace the charge just used to start the car (and has other detrimental impacts on your car as well, but you asked about the battery).

In other words, short trips will act to discharge the 12v battery bit-by-bit over time. For a basic flooded lead acid battery, low charge levels lead to rapid degradation and premature battery failure.

When the mechanic said "drive it more" what he/she meant to say, especially if you had relayed the same driving pattern as described above, was "drive it farther when you drive." Alternatively, if you can't avoid many short trips, get a battery tender and periodically charge the battery yourself.

Your 12v battery also slowly discharges over time if the car is not driven. Some recommend buying a larger (51r) battery. The alternative is, again, to use a battery tender. That's what I do and I have had no 12v battery issues over many years despite my Fit regularly sitting for weeks or even months without being driven.

 

This driving around nonsense to charge it doesn't really work too well unless you go on a long trip. Just slap a battery charger on it and charge it up. Then get the cca measured again to see how its doing.

Similarly, short trips around the neighborhood are a waster of time. Put a charger on it every week or two - preferably one with trickle charge capability.

 

Agreed.
I've been able to extend the life of my Honda battery by simply removing it annually to put it on a trickle charger. It's currently about 6.5 years old (Jan 2020 production date) and seems to be running fine from the voltage and overall performance.

 

CCA is a measure of the battery's ability to produce a burst of power to start the car. The battery's measured CCA typically starts a bit above the label value when it's brand new. It then falls slowly over several years to around the label value, then drops precipitously at the end of the battery's service life (4-6 years typically).

Car starter batteries are rechargeable. A fully charged battery has enough energy to crank the engine for a few minutes (though the starter will overheat if used for more than ~30 seconds) or run the exterior lights for an hour or two - it's not exactly a powerhouse. Once the engine is started, the alternator converts some of the engine's mechanical energy into electrical energy, which powers the car's electronics and recharges the battery. It only takes a few minutes of driving to recharge the battery, but you should drive until the car is up to temperature (blue low-temperature light turns off) and then maybe 5 minutes. That's for mechanical reasons rather than electrical.

 

please elaborate more on your "intermittent start issue"...thats probaly actually the crappo STARTER. explain in great,minute detail what happens with that

 

That's what I did. The larger battery cost less than the smaller one, and it was easier to find one.