If you have looked under the hood you have noticed the battery is more like a plus size motorcycle battery, but really it doesn't need more.

I was installing a Sirius radio tonight and had the car in the run position, of course the lights were in auto so they are on dim and time got away from me as I conversed with Sirius about transferring my lifetime subscription to the new radio. Anywho, this process with installation was about an hour and a half. When I was finished I attempted to start the car and it was freaky, the starter sounded like it was turning but not engaging, it make a funny repetive eking noise and all the lights on the dash flashed. I thought WTF, then saw the rear hatch was open and thought, hmmm must be a safety thing.....nope! Still did it so I had just installed the Ultragauge the other day and went to the volts screen and saw voltage was down to 10.95v! Hooked up my truck and jumped it and everything worked great.

So here is your warning, careful about leaving the car in the run position for any length of time.

On a second note, the install was easy and I put the magnetic antenna right behind the radio antenna and ran the wire in the hatch, it was easy to hide behind the trim all the way up front to under the dash and over to the console. I just used an ink pen with the cartridge removed. Makes a nice pushing tool with a taper to open the trim up a bit.

 

Whoa! So do u think I can have the Fit run with its radio on for those drive in movies? I originally intend to use the magic seats for the drive ins. Maybe it won't last a movie.

 

good question but like I said, the driving lights were on and they are probably the biggest hog of power, also the Sirius with the car radio on and using the Bluetooth to talk to Sirius rep. Might want to run the car for a few minutes at intermission though to be safe.

 

The time-travel feature all the way back to when there were drive-in movies will wear down your battery.

 

We went to the drive-in last week and ran the radio for both features with no problem. I did start the car up for a couple of minutes during intermission to give the battery a little break. By the way, my Fit is a 2010 with the original battery and has performed well through some extremely cold New England winters.

 

Oh cool. Yea I figure w/ the headlights on it'll drain w/ just accessory power on. I tried the idea of having the hatch open and sitting in the trunk when I took it home last night, but was disappointed the trunk light has no button to switch it off. That would be kinda distracting when watching drive-in movies. I guess magic-seat it is.

 

Two ways to solve the cargo light on problem. If you slip a small diameter rod, same diameter as the hatch latch, intro the latch, it will turn the light off. We used a small lanyard clip, which also served as a point to tie down the hatch at a semi-open comfortable viewing angle. (Don't forget to remove when done!) Another way to control the lamp is to replace it with the Accord version. This is s simple, inexpensive plug and play solution.

 

While I appreciate Honda's penchant for saving weight, the motorcycle battery is not a good place to do it. I'd even be OK with it if they had left room for a standard battery when replacement time comes around but by using a small specialty battery they've made replacement more frequent and expensive. 50% more cost for half the CCA versus the standard group 24 I use in all my other vehicles.