Hey all, I just wanted to update you all regarding my original post about Honda not replacing my defective battery within the 3/36000 warranty period.

Today I went to the dealership one last time before surrendering the issue about Honda not replacing my battery during the 3/36000 warranty period, and to my pleasant surprise, the manager was shocked to hear that someone there told me it wouldn't be covered under the warranty. He asked if I had the old battery yet, and I informed him it's strapped-in in the hatch area of the car.

They took the battery and about a half hour later the manager came out to inform me the battery was defective and they will honor the warranty for the battery by refunding me the amount of money that it would cost to replace it with another Honda battery, which turns out to be the same as what I paid for the larger battery I purchased elsewhere and put in myself.

Sometimes respectful persistence pays, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten nothing.

 

 

sounds good musicalpa! GJ!

 

Sadly, my 2016 Fit with just a little over 15,000 miles on it, the battery failed and is being replaced as we speak.

 

I've got over 60k on my 2015 (manufactured 12/2014) and car starts up everytime (knock on wood)... I'll source a 51R as a replacement when the time comes...

 

Thanks for sharing this. Never considered on getting one. So much better than guessing when the battery will go out... Think I'll choose this . A product with over a thousand reviews and a fakespot A rating should be solid.
What are the warning signs when using these monitors? Should I change the battery once the voltage drops under 12V (no load)?

 

 

Ken,

I just ran across this thread today, while researching an electrical issue I'm having with my Fit.

I'm not trying to be rude, disrespectful or anything like that, but your first point is not 100% correct. All your other advice is excellent, but lead-acid batteries do not suffer from "memory" issues. Running accessories with the engine not running CAN cause the battery to become discharged to a point that it might not fully recharge before you finish your next drive, but it will eventually recharge to full capacity. (Well....minus that lost through normal cycle operation anyway, batteries DO lose capacity slowly as they age.) It can also place your alternator under greater stress temporarily which could shorten the life of the alternator. Modern vehicle charging systems are pretty good at managing this however, so that is mainly an issue for older vehicles.

Batteries with different chemistries do suffer from this effect. Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) batteries are notorious for "memory" issues, and Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries also suffer from this issue, but to a lesser degree. Lithium-Ion cells were at first thought to be free of "memory" effects, but after a few years it was discovered that they also have this problem to some degree. Lead-Acid batteries are the only rechargeable battery that I am aware of that is completely free of "Memory Effect" and, since they have been around since the 1850's, I'd say that it's pretty safe to assume that if they did have that problem, it would have been discovered by now.

Like I said, no offense is intended, and to be honest, I hesitated before posting this. You supply great information here and the forum is better for it, but I decided that in the end, it would be better to go ahead lest someone misunderstand and replace a battery unnecessarily. Electronics is my field and has been for over 30 years, so I felt qualified to go ahead and post. I hope you won't mind.

If anyone is curious, or doubts, a couple or references.

Lead-Acid battery basics

Article about "Memory Effect"

Memory effect found in Lithium-Ion batteries

 

im no battery expert. im just noting from past experience that ive had batteries die more often while draining without charge vs draining while being charged.

ever since putting a slight charge (even 2A) while working on my cars in the garage (either ACC or ON position without engine running), ive not had one battery prematurely die (over 15+yrs). so that is why i posted my experience. i dont deny science, but science is based on repetition.

 

No doubt, trickle chargers are a good idea, I only use them for long-term storage situations, or if I'm going to be using ACC or NO (engine not running) for longer then 10 or 15 min.

I'm not truly a "battery expert" either, I'll leave that to engineers, electrical and chemical, but because of my professional background I've had to work with and learn about most of the common (and a few uncommon) battery types out there over the last 30+ years.

Before my Fit, I don't ever recall having a battery die sooner than 6 years from either new vehicle purchase or replacement despite living in some very cold and very hot climates.. It may have happened, I've owned a LOT of cars over the years, but if so it was rare enough that I don't remember it. I remember that my wife's ole 2000 Montero Sport still have the OEM factory installed battery in it when we sold it in 2009, that battery lasted longer than the alternator did. I replaced the alternator at about 6 years.

 

 

 

Got it. I missed that the first pass.

 

Does it really only need 10 miles per drive? How about ideling for 30 minutes, does this charge the battery?

 

Why would you waste gas idling for 30 minutes?
But anyway, the battery will be charged anytime the engine is running, even if it's just sitting there idling.

 

i dont think idling generates enough current from the alternator. cause one time a dumbarse indian neigbor down da street bugged me to jump his car and i did even though i was busy working on a mod on one of my cars, i told him to go take it out for a good 15-20mile spin before shutting it down..

well he ended up just idling it for, like u said, 30min on his driveway and just shut it off. i was outside da whole time working on my car so i saw him NOT take da car out. i was just shaking my head knowing it probably wont start again. well 10min later da faker came back again asking for another jump. i told him to go bug someone else.

 

Start your car up and just let it idle . Turn the headlights on. Where's that power coming from? The alternator.
Turn on the high beams. No problem. Where's the power coming from? The alternator.
Turn on all interior lights, the radio, the A/C and anything else that uses power. Where's the power coming from? The alternator.

While you're sitting there idling, if your battery is a little low the alternator will start charging it. Thing is though, at idle it's probably designed just do a slow charge and if your battery is fairly flat it may take a long time to get to full charge. So yeah, taking it for a drive should increase the charge current quite a bit.

The alternator is designed to supply almost all the power your car could need and it supplies it at idle. That's the nice thing about alternators and one of the reasons they replaced generators which I remember from my youth. Generators were speed dependent. At idle they produced almost no power and you might even be drawing from your battery running it down unless you put your foot on the gas and revved the engine up a bit..

 

That may be easy for some people, but my commute to work is just 5 minutes over 1.6 miles and I am not going to drive an extra 15 minutes to meet your requirements. Also, groceries are only a half mile away, so I generally have little reason to make a 20 mile drive every week. Before you ask, it's takes too long to walk and I finish at night plus much of my work year is in the winter, so I don't want to ride a bike.

I get what you are saying, but to call it operator error, is a bit of a stretch. I'll probably wire up a battery tender plug somewhere in the grill and start plugging it in on weekends. I just hope I remember to unplug it each time.

 

Put a stickie note on your dashboard to remind you to remove. I hook up a few items (motorcycles, cars) on the weekends and will neverdrive away again with it attached.

Driving short distances like you do - may be one culprit to not having a long battery life and not getting the oil and trans fluid up to temperature will also cause those fluids to degrade faster (water in oil, gas in oil not being able to volatilize out and water+gas leads to accelerated oil ovidation). Not having the battery recharge also leads to faster sulfation of the battery and hence shorter life.

 

Isn't it all about expectations and what you want?
As a chemistry based component, I expect my battery to fail....eventually and inevitably.

Despite it's small size, if my Honda Fit battery failed in less than 2 years, I'd be disappointed, and I'd expect warranty coverage on the issue.

But in nearly any other situation?
My expectations from my car battery is simply for it to do it's job, that is power accessories and start the vehicle. And my expectation is that it will do this with as little intervention and involvement from me as possible. That is, I don't want to hook up trickle chargers and battery tenders.

NOT doing these things will I get less life out of my battery than those doing those things? Probably...maybe certainly. BUT....
I'm going 3+ years on my original Honda Fit battery. And as posted originally,:

I do short trips.
I run accessories.
I listen to my radio on my lunch break with the engine off.

If I go out to my Honda Fit and my battery has died? I'm not going to be disappointed. I'll buy another one. I'm going to be happy that I enjoyed 3+ years with the battery providing service as expected, WITHOUT the hassle of hooking up and unhooking up chargers.
I'm willing to pay for that luxury.

I don't know if it's fluke... or just good luck? My OEM Honda Fit battery has been pretty durable.
But for me the line of where I'm happy or unhappy is at 2-4 years of service. 3+ is all gravy to me. Anything above 4 years is a pure lotto win to me.
Because my expectation is that my battery....and any and ALL batteries will eventually fail. Whether we ignore them in blissful ignorance, OR whether we Frankenstein our care, attaching chargers to eek out every last twitch of possible life.
Sooner or later all batteries fail.