Mysterious dead battery in 2000 Honda Accord

woger151 wrote:
> Last weekend my wife reported that the battery was dead in our 2000
> Honda Accord V6.
>
> I charged battery overnight; started fine after I put it back in.
> Looked for drains with a multimeter; after a few minutes, current went
> down to 12 mA, which AFAICT means there's no way it could empty the
> battery. (Car had been parked at most a couple days, and it's pretty
> warm here.)

Batteries in Houston, Texas last about 3 1/2 years.

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> woger151 wrote:
>> Last weekend my wife reported that the battery was dead in our 2000
>> Honda Accord V6.
>>
>> I charged battery overnight; started fine after I put it back in.
>> Looked for drains with a multimeter; after a few minutes, current went
>> down to 12 mA, which AFAICT means there's no way it could empty the
>> battery. (Car had been parked at most a couple days, and it's pretty
>> warm here.)
>
> Batteries in Houston, Texas last about 3 1/2 years.

That is pretty much the experience I have had with them. Maybe a few more
years
but not too much. The heat, the abuse, etc just seem to limit them.

On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:12:44 -0500, "hls" > wrote:

>
>"woger151" > wrote in message
>news:00c6b230-32f0-4793-992f-
>
>>
>> 3. Something intermittent is coming on, like a faulty latch that sometimes
>> doesn't close the glovebox completely.
>
>Yeah, that's what I'm worried about cuz it sounds like a b*tch to
>diagnose.
>
>***
>They can indeed be a bitch to diagnose. And I think this is the likely
>problem.
>
>Common offenders are
>(1)lights, as in glove box, trunk compartment, dome, etc that are not
>always going off.
>(2) Brake light switch intermittently activating and depleting the battery.
>(3) Any of many relays in the car activating at their own will. (Mine was a
> seat belt retractor relay in a Regal.. Nearly NEVER found that
>scoundrel)
>There are others. In odd circumstances the battery and or alternator can
>mimic
>these symtoms.
>
>Since it is likely intermittent, it is 100% good some 90+% of the time.
>Sometimes
>a maximum indicating VOM, set on amps scale, can help. Or, you can start
>removing
>fuses one at the time overnight and see if you can pick out the misbehaving
>circuit.
>
>My condolescenses

If your ammeter has a min-max or some sort of recorder, leave it on
overnight. If it stays at 12 ma, it's either the battery or an
intermittent problem.

All of the advice above is good. You can check some of those things
easily - pull the glove box door out slightly - it it takes very
little movement to turn on the light, that's probably it. You can
apply that principle to most of the other possibilities. I doubt that
car still used door jamb switches, but that would be another thing to
check.

It might also work to put a test light in line with the battery cable
to help you see when the various switches trip.

Also, do you park the car in a garage and leave the keys in the
ignition? That has been an issue on some vehicles.

On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:43:55 -0500, hls wrote:

>
> "Paul" > wrote in message
> ...
>> woger151 wrote:
>>> Last weekend my wife reported that the battery was dead in our 2000
>>> Honda Accord V6.
>>>
>>> I charged battery overnight; started fine after I put it back in.
>>> Looked for drains with a multimeter; after a few minutes, current went
>>> down to 12 mA, which AFAICT means there's no way it could empty the
>>> battery. (Car had been parked at most a couple days, and it's pretty
>>> warm here.)
>>
>> Batteries in Houston, Texas last about 3 1/2 years.
>
> That is pretty much the experience I have had with them. Maybe a few more
> years
> but not too much. The heat, the abuse, etc just seem to limit them.

Here in New England, batteries from Sears, AutoZone, etc seem to last ~5
years or so,

I bought a genuine Toyota battery for my old Corolla in 1999. It drove
until 2004, sat for 2 years and then the battery was pulled and put in my
Mazda in Dec 2006. I just replaced it two weeks ago.

"Hachiroku ãƒ�ãƒ�ãƒ*ク" > wrote in message
...

>>
>> That is pretty much the experience I have had with them. Maybe a few
>> more
>> years
>> but not too much. The heat, the abuse, etc just seem to limit them.
>
> Here in New England, batteries from Sears, AutoZone, etc seem to last ~5
> years or so,
>
> I bought a genuine Toyota battery for my old Corolla in 1999. It drove
> until 2004, sat for 2 years and then the battery was pulled and put in my
> Mazda in Dec 2006. I just replaced it two weeks ago.

That would seem to be very good performance for a battery that was left
unattended for a couple of years. I rather doubt that most would
give this type of service, granted the same conditions.

hls > wrote:
>"Paul" > wrote in message
>>
>> Batteries in Houston, Texas last about 3 1/2 years.
>
>That is pretty much the experience I have had with them. Maybe a few more
>years
>but not too much. The heat, the abuse, etc just seem to limit them.

Have either of you guys tried Continentals? They make them right across
the border for the Texas market and they handle the high temperatures a
lot better than typical car batteries.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Phantom battery drain
http://kick-fix.com/drain/drain.html
cuhulin

diogenes > wrote in
:

>
>> How about this: charge if overnight again at 2A. Make *sure* it
>> registers more than 12v and then leave it *unconnected* in the garage
>> for a full day and then test it again. At least that eliminates the
>> battery one way or the other.
>>
> If you can pop the filler caps off, see if it is dry.
> Could be all the electrolyte has evaporated or leaked out some how.
>
> If it is dry, add enough distilled water to get to the bottom of the
> filler holes.
>
>

if it is dry,chances are the plates are sulfated and you need a new
battery.Every time I've refilled a low or dry battery,it didn't last very
long.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Paul > wrote in -
september.org:

> woger151 wrote:
>> Last weekend my wife reported that the battery was dead in our 2000
>> Honda Accord V6.
>>
>> I charged battery overnight; started fine after I put it back in.
>> Looked for drains with a multimeter; after a few minutes, current went
>> down to 12 mA, which AFAICT means there's no way it could empty the
>> battery. (Car had been parked at most a couple days, and it's pretty
>> warm here.)
>
> Batteries in Houston, Texas last about 3 1/2 years.
>

Heat is the Number One enemy of car batteries.
Vibration is #2. hold-down brackets are important.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

As soon as a new battery is installed (lead acid car batteries) and the
vehicle driving begins, the battery plates start deteriorating.It is
like rust, rust never sleeps.

Once in a while, put a spoonful or two of baking soda in a cup of warm
water.Clean off your battery and the battery cables connectors.Don't let
any baking soda - water mix get inside of the battery.
cuhulin