Small battery reserve
 

I've had this car since December and I've already had to get 5 boosts. Granted the 1st time was because I left an interior light on overnight and another time was when I was running the radio & had the interior lights on when doing a spring cleaning (neither incident would have been an issue with my Forester - just saying) but the last three times have been when stopped briefly (like 5 minutes) with maybe the key turned on to accessory or the doors open. Today it was when I was loading up my canoe. Honda says this is normal due to all the electronics in these cars.

:bsflag:

Anyone else having an issue with this?

It's a weak battery. I carry a booster pack just for this reason. The interior lights are supposed to shut off after a few minutes, right?

I think the 1st time might have caused a permanent damage on the battery?

The interior lights alone are a high drain (and don't produce much light in return!) but what you're describing just doesn't sound right. The battery shouldn't go down that quickly in my opinion. I would get a proper load test done on it and there are a number of places which will do that for free. If they find a problem with the battery then you can go back to Honda.

Another vote for damage to the battery from a deep discharge. Golf cart batteries and such are designed specifically for deep cycle use without damage, but not sure what the structural difference is inside. Wife has a CX-5 and killed her first battery with three or four deep discharge episodes. Big battery, too.

Consider for the interior lights.

This is my second Fit. I had my first for six years on the original battery, and I'm two years in on the '15 with no battery problems. I did replace all the interior lights with LEDs on both cars, and I don't play the stereo for background music when I'm working in the garage. I suspect the first deep cycle or two may have damaged your battery.

That said, I agree the battery is ridiculously small. It's not much bigger than the battery in my Harley-Davidson, and that battery is barely adequate for that purpose. Car manufacturers are under considerable pressure to increase fuel economy and one way to do it is to reduce vehicle weight, including the battery.

I agree with all of the above.

Our first battery started to do what you're describing at around 120k miles. Replaced and have around 70k on the new one. New one is now "Honda" instead of the original Yuasa. I don't think it's going to last as long as it can only go a few days without getting weak. Keep a tender on it now.

I suspect a couple deep drains killed your battery. I suggest getting a new one and make sure to not let it drain.

Ditto on the LED interior lights as well. Swapped them when the car was new, so that may be helping our battery life.

Some 2015 Fits had a battery recall. Check if you qualify?

You're right! It has a small capacity. No easy fix for that I'm afraid.

Your first time, discharging until flat, really hurts the battery. If you haven't replaced it since then, that is surely your problem and you will see a huge improvement from a new one. Sorry, but there's no use complaining about it; discharge a lead acid battery completely and it can't be restored to new.

If you want consistently improved reserve, it IS possible to install a slightly larger battery. Try searching on the site and I think you can find people who have removed the battery tray to get a larger one to fit; and that will say the battery model too.

From a design perspective the battery should be bigger to begin with. When I got a replacement they had to special order it; it's that uncommon in the US to have a battery this small.

one thing ive learned through the years (not my car but others) is once a regular non deepcycle battery is drained, it doesnt seem to charge back to full. it's like 70% is max, you drain it again and it's down to like 50% or less.

its user error. ive had 4 Fits and none had battery problems. 5-6yrs on original battery and no issue when sold.

I just measured the current draw for the stock interior incandescent and replacement LED lights. Incandescent draw ten times as much current: 625mA vs. 61mA.

On the positive side?
On those rare occasions anyone has approached about getting a battery jump?
I just explain that my car battery is smaller than my watch battery and they don't seem too insulted by my abandonment at a time of need.

Looking down the road, I think a battery failure would be a perfect excuse to get one of those tiny lithium batteries. Even sized for a regular family car or small truck it would probably be way smaller than the factory one.

I used to wonder why the car companies hadn't replaced the old lead acid car battery with the smaller and more powerful lithium battery. Then I started reading all the stories about lithium batteries catching fire and the answer became obvious. Lithium batteries can overheat easily enough on their own and ignite, but place them in the hot engine compartment of a car and ...... Of course you could always place the lithium battery in the passenger compartment where it's cool and run long thick copper cables up to the engine compartment where the power is needed. Somehow that isn't overly appealing. So back to the good old lead acid battery, cheap and reasonably reliable.

Would this tiny batteries be the culprit of the headlights dimming as the ac cycles at night? Or needing a bigger alternator?

i think both the alternator and battery.

Update!
 

Well, Friday I had to get boosted twice. So I booked an appointment for this morning with my dealer and asked them to check everything out. They did a charging system test. It failed and they put in a new battery under warranty.

For those of you who would understand it: They did a GR8 test and the code was PMQQ4-0524C

Thanks for all the input.

Cheers from TO :wavey:

The headlight flickering is a design feature,, The Fit has a regulator that drops the power at idle to save fuel. If you get a Ultraguage and plug in you can watch the RPM and the flicker its very consistent.. Plus you can see all kinds of other fun stuff,, It can even be a cool little mini gauge pod if you want.. :) (It plugs in to the OBD test port under the dash)

This aint at idle, this is highway driving and almost acts like your flashing the brights as the ac cycles... No no low rpms.... just really odd. Does it at idle as well , and I hate it.

yah, its the way it has been on GD, GE, and GK. not saying it's okay, just saying it's normal on this car. and no it is not a fuel saving "feature". more like an unfortunate characteristic.

I replaced all my interior lights with LEDs. 1/3 the wattage, 5 times the brightness. I've left both maps on all night and started the car up in the morning no problem - but in moderate weather. I don't know how this would go in sub freezing weather.

I believe someone has reported putting in a larger battery without having to get a larger tray. I've observed that my tray is actually bigger than the battery - it only squares up with the battery on 3 sides.

I totally agree. I did the same thing with the same results. As for the battery, I slept in my car one day and accidentally left the headlights on (don't ask). I woke 7 hours later to a totally dead battery. I got a jump and the battery seemed ok for about a month but then started to crank slower and slower. A charger stated that it was fully charged but a load charger rated the battery as only having about 100 cold cranking amps. So I replaced it. Two weeks later, I lost first one then the other high beam/DLR headlights. It seems that the constant charging must have prematurely burned out the elements. In short, once your battery starts to go, don't hesitate on replacing it.

Yes, a larger capacity 51r fits perfectly in the oversize tray. It actually fits better than the original battery.

I'm going to make a note of the 51R on my battery for when I need a replacement.

The 51R battery is
2" longer
1/4" wider
1/8" shorter
than the recommended 151R battery.

Someone approached me to get his battery jumped. He had a 1989 buick electra or something. I left my engine running. We hooked up. I ran my engine at about 2000 rpm and at the same time he started right up.

Have you ever needed a jump? It's a huge relief when someone is available to help. It's late, it's cold, you're late, you knew you needed a new battery. I've needed a lot of jumps over the years so, I try to pay the favor forward. I've easily given out four times as many jumps as I've gotten. When assisting women drivers with a dead battery I have her clip the cables on the batteries. It really helps de-mystify the process for them.

I like communicating information to people but I've found that many people, regardless of sex, appear to not want certain things de-mystified. If you try to de-mystify the sort of thing they don't want de-mystified, they don't try to understand what you have said, get agitated, and may even get angry, and accusatory. If they act this way, I feel like I'm being taken unfair advantage of, if I help them out for free. So I demand payment from them to jump start their car. I only ask for $5.00. Usually, rather than give me $5, they prefer to remain stranded, or call a professional mechanic, wait 45 minutes for them to show up, and give them $50.00. If they are willing to listen, and do some of the work, hook up 2 of the cables, I'll show them where to attach the cable, explain why, and I'll jump their battery for free.

I've found that, these days, young women are just as often as men, if not more often, quite capable of attaching the cables properly, and some older women are quite capable too. For both men and women, I give them one end of the cable set, and see what they do. If they hook the cables up, I'll inspect them to see that they are hooked up correctly, and if so I'll connect the other end to my car. If they ask for help, or do the hookup incorrectly, I'll show them where to clip. If they do nothing and say something like "these things just don't mean much to me" I'll offer to show them where to clip, and explain why. If they don't wan't to listen, I'll demand the $5 to do the hookup myself. I've found that sometimes men act this way. It's not just women.

Which lights are these lights for. Do they fit the front Map lights?
Thanks
D

Yes, they fit the map light, the overhead light and the cargo light.

You can't leave the interior light on or headlights/marker on -on a 2015+ they automatically shut off. No setting to take this feature away.

I have a 2015 LX. On my car, the map lights do not shut off automatically. On the EX models the map lights look different but I don't know that they work differently. My dome light shuts off automatically only if you have the 3-position switch in the middle position. The other sw positions set it to always on, or always off. The headlights shut off automatically only if you have the switch set to "automatic." In the "headlights on" position they will set off a beeper if you open the driver door while they are on, but they won't switch off. In the "headlights off" position they will usually be off, but will go on, at night, when opening the door and will stay on for little awhile after you leave the car and shut the door, and then they will go off automatically.