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?

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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.

Talked to a buddy of mine who's an industrial mechanic but has worked on everything including his own cars, said he ran into a similar issue. We both only live within 3-5 minutes of our job, his battery's voltage was fine but the repeated small trips slowly just killed the CCA's, so I'll go get another battery tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed.

mkopec said:

Look up your make, year and model and parasitic draw and chances are others have experienced this as well. I looked up mt Expedition that was having that problem and it ended up being my RR windshield wiper. If it was turned off and not in its starting place the motor would run to try and get it there. No matter if the cars 12v was keyed on or not. LOL.

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Only common issue I saw for civics were AC relays sticking, but I haven't used the AC recently considering we're just now exiting winter.

Buy a new battery. They're only good for 3-5 years. Buy a cheap one you'll get 3. Buy an expensive glass mat or lithium and you'll get 5 or 6 with a lot more cranking amps.