Leaving FIT unattended for 30+ days -What to do with Stock battery?
 

Happy '19 to everyone and hats off for all the help...Ok i've got a quickie, I need to leave the FIT unattended for ATLEAST 30 days, i know my stock battery is hella weak so should i just disconnect the cables or leave it connected ? Dealing with the annoying radio code is one thing but how cheap are they making the batteries these days ?? Btw the car has only like 38K original miles. thanks.

Zero2Hero

I would use a trickle charger on the battery. And when you replace it, go with the 51R battery.

EDIT: Should have written battery tender of intelligent charger instead of trickle charger!

+1 on a battery tender or similar device

Frenzal - Thanks, just what i needed, and they are cheap too.

Note that a trickle charger and a battery tender are not the same thing. You want the latter.

If it's only about 30 days, you can probably just disconnect the battery. Keep it above freezing. If the battery is in decent shape it'll be fine.

I dont think a simple disconnection will work with my battery..but I am confused with the trickler/tender part. I was thinking of plugging the battery to a wall socket and leaving it plugged until my return...it looks like the trickler is much cheaper than the tender..please advise.

So what I'm saying is I was thinking of getting the trickle and leaving battery charging in my absence..would this be ok for the battery?

A trickle charger just keeps charging.

A tender is a "float charger" that senses when the battery needs topping off. Most of the time it isn't actually charging.

Just leaving a trickle charger on is NOT safe. It can destroy the battery, including the possibility of causing it to explode.

So it's better to go with the tender then..it sounds safer atleast.

so, battery tender ftw?

It's not simply the better option. Leaving a trickle charger going is dangerous. A float charger/tender is the only option if you want to keep it topped off.

Personally, I'd disconnect it and leave it as long as it can be kept above freezing temps. I've overwintered a couple Miatas and have never used a tender even leaving the battery in the cold. It was only an issue if the battery was worn anyway. Granted, they were nice capacity AGM batteries...

If the battery dies and won't take a charge when you return, just get a 51R as stated above.

Perhaps just disconnecting and seeing if it will start when I return will give me an indication of whether or not I need to replace the whole battery, or not. How much should I expect to pay for a 51R battery?
thanks

That would be my thinking. 30-ish days is not a long time. If the battery is dead after that short a time, it's worn. Even the dinky toy battery in the Fit should survive if it's in decent condition.

As for cost, Google it. It can vary depending on manufacturer.

Yea I'm sold on the idea now..I'll just disconnect and hope for the best.
Thanks for coming through for me yet again.

Just buy an intelligent charger that is able to charge the battery when needed, then apply a floating voltage to keep it charged.
I have 2 cars that I don't use in the winter (storage), and both have a small intelligent charger connected from November to April every year.

As said above, you don't want a charger that keeps charging all the time. That is dangerous and could possibly destroy your battery.

As for the 51R battery, it is cheaper than the stock 151R. 51R was used in the 96-00 Honda Civics (and on many other Honda models). Search here for many threads about it. Did it 2 years ago and couldn't be more happy with the change!

If this 30+ day leave of absence is a rare and probably NOT to be repeated occurrence, then I think just doing what you are planning, disconnecting the battery and seeing how it fares is a perfectly safe and viable approach. As long as you know there is a chance you could return and not have your vehicle start. And are prepared to deal with that reality if it happens.

If it's likely you'll have more future long non-operational periods? Then I'd look at battery maintenance options, as recommended.

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For clarity's sake, you said a trickle charger before, which is a different device. Terminology is important here as the wrong device can lead to disaster. Please understand I'm not attacking you. Just being clear for future readers of this thread. Obviously you know the difference and were probably just responding quickly.

Good to hear the 51R is cheaper! I have not needed to replace the battery in mine yet, but have already planned on the 51R. The battery tray in my 2017 is sized for it anyway.

No harm done. English is not my first language, so sometime I might not use the exact word. I'll my first post clearly for future reference.

Thanks to all for weighing in on this..it now appears that may absence may be more like 4-6 weeks. But i think i'll do the simple disconnect and see what happens. I remember once i left the dome light on and the battery was dead in the morning..i also remember i couldnt engage the transmission to neutral so i could push the car to into position to jump start it with a neighbours car..so for the record, if the battery dies, there is no way to roll the car in neutral ? I could always call Gieco for a jump if needed but still wondering if the car can go into neutral gear with a dead battery.

Is your Fit automatic? If so, there is that key-slot next to the transmission selector that allows you to shift the car to Neutral.