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Brought my 2009 Civic LX in for the Takata recall repair. The dealer did a site inspection and notified me that my 5-year old Interstate battery was tested. The test results indicate that the CCA was 387 and the green-colored "Good" box was checked. But the service advisor tells me that the battery test showed that it was "flooded." They attempted to charge it for an hour and it failed, so a replacement battery was recommended. Granted, the battery was 5 years old, but was the CCA of 387 considered inadequate? And why was the inspection box checked "Good?"

 
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This advisor has no clue how and why batteries do what they do. No big deal, that person is nothing but a salesperson.



Ok, with the dealer battery testers, the handheld unit will always say the battery needs to be charged whenever it sees less than 12.4v, and the "official" next step is to connect the larger charging station to it so it can charge and test, which can take far more time than a waiting customer wants to wait.
Sometimes we have to mentally judge it and give it back to the customer in a timely manner.

What is the CCA rating of your current battery?
Vs. the tested CCA of 387? What's the % difference?
The ORIGINAL battery was rated at 310cca.....but replacements might be rated 400, 450, 500 or higher. An original (310) that tests at 387 would pass, but one rated at 500 would likely fail if it tested at 387. Make sense yet?

Have the battery checked again or elsewhere?

 
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Thanks for taking the time to respond. The battery I had was an Interstate Mt-51R, which is 500 cca, so what you're saying about the current 387 reading confirms that it is insufficient. Thanks for the reassurance that my Civic needed a replacement battery. Happy Holidays, ezone!

 
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The pass/fail cutoff point on our tester seems to be roughly 20-ish % under the stated CCA rating, so 387/500 would likely result in a failed test.

 
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Got it, thanks.