Cool_Man

Hi folks I have another problem with my 09 Civic LX sedan, hoping someone can help. This is the 3rd time it happened for the past 2 months, could not start the car this morning and found that the battery is completely dead, had to jump start the car. I noticed that the driver side cabin light is on, could that have caused the problem? last couple of time when its dark outside early I found that the cabin light was on (somehow?) and just turn it off thinking that I must have turned it on by accident, but the weird problem is that I always lock the car by remote and hear the confirm "chirp" that all doors are locked and secure before I walk away, so the interior light could not have been cause by one of the door not closing all the way. What else can cause the interior light to go on and stay on?

Any help is much appreciated.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

A cabin light left on would definitely drain your battery overnight if the battery is older. You probably left it on, or maybe one of the door switches isn't catching

Cool_Man

The first couple of time I thought I'd accidentally turn it on some how, but I get home around 2:30-3:00 PM everyday and there was no reason to turn the cabin light on. If one of the door close sensor was not working then I when I lock the door using remote I will not hear the "chirp" sound to confirm that all doors are lock, am I correct?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I think that's accurate. You won't get the chirp unless the door is closed.

ezone

Edit: Reading comprehension fail again.

Turning a dome/map light on manually will not affect the alarm operation.

Push on the lens?

Got kids turning the light on? Yes it can kill a marginal battery overnight.
I haven't witnessed any of them turning themselves on so far. The only failure I have seen is inop due to bad switch on the light assembly.

Cool_Man

The driver side map light is on again last night. I went ahead and replace the battery in the afternoon just for the peace of mind, since the car is 3 years old and reading some article on this forum the average Honda civic battery only last about 2.5 -3 years. Went home and park the car on the driveway, came out around 9 PM and notice the light on the driver side is on again, I can turn it off by pushing on the lens, maybe I have a bas switch? can the door opening switch or alarm feature turn the light on?

ezone

The driver side map light is on again last night.

If it wasn't on when you walked away from the car, and now it is on, I'd say a simple bad switch.
Seems odd though, I haven't seen the issue you describe.


I went ahead and replace the battery in the afternoon just for the peace of mind, since the car is 3 years old and reading some article on this forum the average Honda civic battery only last about 2.5 -3 years.

Some last less than one year, some last more than 8 years. Batteries seem to be a crapshoot sometimes.



Went home and park the car on the driveway, came out around 9 PM and notice the light on the driver side is on again, I can turn it off by pushing on the lens, maybe I have a bas switch?

Yes.
You would buy item #10 here, (if I picked the right car--plug in your own VIN to get the right color) http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...INTERIOR+LIGHT

can the door opening switch or alarm feature turn the light on?

No. Both would be on (as long as both work properly) if turned on by the MICU.

HTH

Cool_Man

Thank you very much Ezone.
I'll call the dealer and order that part, and see if it happen again.

ezone

You could unscrew the unit off of the ceiling, unplug it, then make sure the battery doesn't run down overnight......before ordering the part.

I hate guessing, and I don't get paid to guess.
LOL

Cool_Man

I think the switch is acting up, it happened twice this morning I'd notice the light is on, pressed the switch and see it went off and about couple hrs later I fond the light on again, i did took the switch apart and everything seems to be in order, took the entire unit out and will continue to check on the voltage at connector and see if the controller module is acting up.
Hope its just the switch problem.

ezone

If a single light is on, it will be the switch above the lens.
Too bad the switch isn't sold separately.

The MICU (body computer) can only operate the front lights as a pair (both at the same time), not singly.

HTH

Cool_Man

Hi Folks.
One problem solved and here come another one, when I turn on the Max AC setting, the Max, AC and Recirculation lights are on but I don't feel the cold air or not as cold as it suppose to be coming out from the vent, drive it around for about 2 miles still not noticeably as cold as it should be but when I turn the Max AC setting off, I can immediately feel the cold air coming from the vent, what can be the problem?
The car did have the 36K maintenance done by the dealer and the cabin filter was replaced few weeks ago. THe AC system was refilled and tested last week and was working fine. Yesterday was very hot outside and I noticed that the max AC setting does not seem to work.

ezone

Depends on the ambient temperature, and the color of the car.

A dark colored car is much harder to cool down. It takes a LONG time to cool off the interior. (I have checked a black car with black interior after sitting in the sun at noon, and got over 180*F off of the dash. Don't think that will cool off very much in 4 minutes.

If the interior is hotter than the ambient air temp, then using recirculated air will cause it to take longer to cool the cabin.
Roll the windows down to cool off the interior.

Heck, let all the doors stand open for a few minutes before you even try to get in it.
After the interior temp is lower than blistering, put it back on recirculate.
If the air is humid, the AC has to remove the humidity before it can be cooled. Job #1 of an air conditioner is removing moisture from the air.
Another reason to use recirculate.

2 miles is probably not long enough for the AC system to stabilize at a cool temp and cool off the interior.
I give them 10 minutes minimum, running at 2000 RPM, with a large fan pointing at the front to cool the condensor, blower on full blast, before taking temp readings. (Or take it for a 10 mile drive on a highway so *I* can cool off in the summer.)
By the time I get back, vent temps are read and compared to a chart to see if they are within acceptable ranges.

Remember: The AC can only make the temp drop so much. Temperature and humidity of the air that goes into it have a huge effect on the vent temps you feel.
If it is 110*F outside with bright sun and real humid, then 60*F out of the dash vents may be well within reason.

If the AC can make a 40-50 degree drop across the evaporator after the system has stabilized, it is probably doing ok. You can't always tell from the drivers seat if this is happening because the air picks up heat along the way from the evaporator core to the vents far away at the ends of the dash.

Get a digital thermometer and stick it in the center dash vent. Now get on the highway and drive for 10-30 minutes, and have the AC on MAX or coldest and recirculate, and full blast fan speed. See what the temps get down to.

I use these types of digital thermometers for this work. Fast to read and pretty accurate, reads tiny changes in temps within only a second or three. I can watch the temps go up and down as the compressor cycles on and off.

$16


$8
Both work well for me.


HTH

Cool_Man

Thanks Ezone.
I'll try to measure the temperature one the weather warm up, it just got colder in my area recently and will last til the weekend.