Car ?'s

Woke up yesterday, car wouldn't start, 2016 Civic. Indicators/Interior come on but only gives Ebrake error. Probably battery so get neighbor to jump me, kicks right on. Drive over to autozone, battery tester says its good but it had been running for about 10 minutes at that point. Drive 45 minutes at highway speed then after running errands while it sits for 2 hours and it fails to start again the first time but it barely starts when I try a second. Then of course this morning it wont start again but isn't giving Ebrake error, all the interior stuff comes up but it just turns a few times and stops. Battery is probably a little over 3 years.

So question is, should I take it to autozone and assume their tester had a false positive and buy a new battery, or bite the bullet and take it to dealership to see if something is draining the battery?

Don't go to a dealership for non warranty work, ever.

Fogel said:

Woke up yesterday, car wouldn't start, 2016 Civic. Indicators/Interior come on but only gives Ebrake error. Probably battery so get neighbor to jump me, kicks right on. Drive over to autozone, battery tester says its good but it had been running for about 10 minutes at that point. Drive 45 minutes at highway speed then after running errands while it sits for 2 hours and it fails to start again the first time but it barely starts when I try a second. Then of course this morning it wont start again but isn't giving Ebrake error, all the interior stuff comes up but it just turns a few times and stops. Battery is probably a little over 3 years.

So question is, should I take it to autozone and assume their tester had a false positive and buy a new battery, or bite the bullet and take it to dealership to see if something is draining the battery?

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Get a new battery and get a battery tender.

Fogel said:

Woke up yesterday, car wouldn't start, 2016 Civic. Indicators/Interior come on but only gives Ebrake error. Probably battery so get neighbor to jump me, kicks right on. Drive over to autozone, battery tester says its good but it had been running for about 10 minutes at that point. Drive 45 minutes at highway speed then after running errands while it sits for 2 hours and it fails to start again the first time but it barely starts when I try a second. Then of course this morning it wont start again but isn't giving Ebrake error, all the interior stuff comes up but it just turns a few times and stops. Battery is probably a little over 3 years.

So question is, should I take it to autozone and assume their tester had a false positive and buy a new battery, or bite the bullet and take it to dealership to see if something is draining the battery?

Click to expand...

Have you done any voltage drop tests? Sounds to me like a parasitic draw somewhere. Did autozone just do a conductance test? Ask to see the results. A battery can still be in the "good" CCA range, but right on the edge of needing replacement. What's the date on your battery?

Kirun said:

Have you done any voltage drop tests? Sounds to me like a parasitic draw somewhere. Did autozone just do a conductance test? Ask to see the results. A battery can still be in the "good" CCA range, but right on the edge of needing replacement. What's the date on your battery?

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No voltage test, and I didn't see the results of the test, they hooked up the portable tester and just said it was good. Battery is at least 3 years old. Also hadn't used the car in 11 days, so the age of the battery combined with it sitting long enough could've been long enough to be the death kneel for it. Florida weather too as I know that can affect things.

3 years is a pretty short lifespan for a decent battery. Is it just a typical lead-acid? I still think you might have a draw somewhere, which means you're going to be churning through batteries until you get that located and fixed.

Kirun said:

3 years is a pretty short lifespan for a decent battery. Is it just a typical lead-acid? I still think you might have a draw somewhere, which means you're going to be churning through batteries until you get that located and fixed.

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New batteries are pretty shit. Poorly done remans with zero standards. I've had a few go out in 2 years or less, garage kept and charged.

Fucker said:

New batteries are pretty shit. Poorly done remans with zero standards. I've had a few go out in 2 years or less, garage kept and charged.

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Lead-acid battery technology is something that hasn't fundamentally changed in more than 150 years. I understand the appeal of the "things used to be better" sentiment, but it's not really a fair comparison. You can't take a technology from the 19th century, put it into modern vehicles that draw significantly more amperage due to all the onboard electronics, and then grandpa yell into the clouds that "it just isn't the way it used to be."

This is especially true with used vehicles that have passed through multiple owners. People frequently install all sorts of aftermarket shit, many of which are notorious for creating parasitic draws. Over time, those constant small drains can significantly shorten the lifespan of a battery.

At the end of the day, the issue usually comes down to one of two things: either there's a parasitic power draw somewhere in the vehicle that's slowly degrading the battery, or the solution is simply to upgrade to a higher-quality battery(such as AGM, gel, or lithium-ion)that's better suited to the electrical demands of modern cars.