some here were aware I had a battery issue earlier this summer, the car had set a couple days and went dead. I was concerned about its longevity but have not had any issues with it since and it has now been 9degree tested after a couple days of sitting and it fired right up no problems.

 

I had my windows tinted today. They turned the ignition on to raise and lower the windows during the preparation and tinting. The ignition was left on for about 2 1/2 hours. When they finished, there wasn't enough battery power remaining to start the car. The car started fine with a jumper box and has been OK for the rest of the day with stops and starts in 40 degree weather. The car is ten days old.

 

Yeah I had done the same thing installing Sirius. The problem that caused the issue when sitting was apparently from a unit I had plugged into the OBD 2 port. Even though the ignition is off it wakes the computer up to check conditions periodically. Honestly I think the battery is just to small for any additional loads.

 

I'd be curious to see with a clamp meter what the amperage draw off the battery is with just the ACC on. I'll do this later today.

 

These stories are what motivated me to purchase a quick jumpstarter battery/air compressor for my daughters car. It is rather heavy, so I also purchased a cable to attach it to the car floor, in the back. I would not want that thing flying around in a wreck.

 

There is some irony in Honda undersizing the battery so severely that owners are motivated to purchase and carry a second battery around with them in the passenger compartment. Definitely a liability concern.

I've not much confidence in those "jumpstart" batteries. All they do is add a bit of juice to the starting battery so you have to have to be patient, allow the starting battery to recharge for several minutes, and then hope that it is enough.

 

I agree. It is one thing to keep a book bag in the back of the Fit, even with a cargo cover. However, once I added the battery, and realized how heavy it was, I would not let my daughter drive the car until I could secure it with a cable. It is still under the cargo cover, but I have no faith in the cover being able to stop something as heavy as a battery (small as it is), so the cable was necessary.

Good tip about being patient and allowing the battery to charge the starting battery for a few minutes. I will make sure to point that out to my daughter when she is home for Thanksgiving.

 

Same thing happened to me. I had my windows tinted the day after I got my EX-L and the ignition was only on for an hour or so. Had to jump it to get it started. Leaving one of the heated seats on may have contributed too!lol

 

Braggart....I have no heated seats.

 

Leaving the ignition on for this long was just pure negligence! Do that with an older car and you can do severe damage to the ignition system!

Was the radio also set to their favorite station when you got the car back?

 

I replaced my OE battery last week (09 Sport 5MT bought in 09/08) when we left a map light on overnight. The battery wasn't really toast but I didn't want to deal with a 6yo battery for the upcoming winter.

 

When the guy that was doing my windows turned on the ignition, I mentioned to him about my concern for the battery. He then turned off the ignition, applied the parking brake and then turned the ignition back on...head lights were now turned off. He stated that this was a normal wiring set-up on some older cars, but he wasn't sure about the Fit. Nonetheless it worked, and I never knew about that configuration. Glad I mentioned this since I didn't worry about the battery. Any one else?

 

We replaced our OEM battery earlier this year in our 09 Sport...it gave us great service and provided a slow-start warning . We actually found the best deal at our Honda dealership...3 year replacement and 80 months proration for a Honda battery at $110 (we had a $15 coupon).

 

Good post. My Miata is set up the same way. The hand brake disengages the driving lights. I didn't even think to try that with the Fit while my windows were being tinted.

 

My battery died in 30 minutes while waiting in my car with the accessories on. It could be because both the head lights and fog lights were on, and both heated seats were on. The gauges started to freak out as the battery died so I turned off the car but then it wouldn't start up again. So I turned off the lights and heated seats, waited about 10 minutes, and finally the car started.

 

Heated seats, and head lights pull some serious power.

 

Being a 51R starting battery its only able to provide high current for short bursts. As others have pointed out it is not the size of the battery it's the quality of the battery. I'm sure the battery is properly sized for starting. Unfortunately the size of the battery means that it has very low reserve time when engine isnt running

If someone wanted to add a remote located battery, there are dual battery kits you can buy. It ties the aux battery with the starter battery when the engine is running. Id suggest a deep cycle battery for the aux battery

One could rewire such a kit to tie the bats together when the engine isn't running, like say when the aux power panel is energized. That way you draw on both batteries instead of the 51R battery alone. Deep discharging the starter battery causes permanent damage to the cell plates inside. DC bats are built to withstand this more so that starter bats.