desertfox1955

My daughter is sitting in a parking lot with her car off, she turns the car on and nothing but "clicking", display screen starts flashing, everything but the power windows works, but the car will not start. Car has 9K on it. Calls Honda roadside. Tech says it is the battery, but shows 100%. He starts the car on the first try. This in addition to random tire pressure indicator issues is making me think this is not the car for a young girl....I have discounted as much of the obvious that I can....Appointment at Galpin Honda on Tuesday.. Anyone experience something similar? Today car is fine....So far....Also anyone experience an inordinate amount of flats on those tires? Three so far in six months.. Already she had to start buying budget tires...Thank you

ezone

If the kid sits in the car with it powered up but not running, she's killing the battery.
Jump start it and go. Battery will then charge up and pass test.
If this is what happened, the kid needs to change habits. Don't sit and charge up the phone or listen to the radio without starting the engine.

If it's got a good battery but has a starting problem, take it to the dealership. BE SURE TO MENTION the issue with the windows not working when it wouldn't start (and anything else that didn't work)....and note the other stuff that DID still work at that time.

If the battery has been run down/dead/disconnected, the radio might need unlocked. Follow on screen prompts to unlock it. If the car is equipped with a sensing package it may have several warnings on until the car is driven in a straight line (also normal)


No, 3 flat tires in 6 months are not the fault of the car, nor the tires.
What caused each flat tire? Nails? Curbs/potholes?

Random tire light: Do the tires really lose air, or does the car just turn on the low pressure warning light sometimes? Read the owners manual for info on how the system works, limitations, and most importantly how to reset the system after adding air to the tires.

desertfox1955

Thank u for the response!. Since the car is relatively new I figured the battery should be strong and I thought just sitting with the radio on and phone charging would not run it down. The headlights might have been on as well so that is a possibility. Also, her descriptions of what transpired must be deciphered and translated, so I think u are right, sounds like a battery issue. I will still take it to the dealer and have it checked.

The flats were due to nails in the sidewalls that could not be repaired. She had to switch from the $200 stock tires to the $80 ones. the dealer said these low profile tires are susceptible to nails in the sidewalls. They suggested switching to 45's or 50's..

The tire pressure warning light has been a constant annoyance. We were continually changing the pressure and recalibrating and the warning light was still coming on. Dealer checked it and it was fine according to them. The last time it went on she ignored it and melted the tire. Another nail. Thankfully the radio did not need to be unlocked, I will store that info for next time.
After my dealer visit on Tuesday I will update . Thank u again for your help...

ezone

These cars suck a LOT of power when turned on with the dash lit up but not running. Even a new battery might not last 15 minutes......and a battery that's already old and weak could be depleted much quicker.

Nails can flatten any tire.....no matter what size or profile they are.

What kind of nails were they?
Keep away from areas with home construction.

Reminds me of this one time when I had my roof redone LOL....I must have had a dozen flat tires between 2 cars.
So....don't ignore the light because you don't know when it's not lying. Low profile tires don't "squat" much like a tall tire does when it's low, and a low profile doesn't have as much air in it to lose.

The systems can be quirky and finicky, and we have learned some things the owners manual doesn't tell you.

Sometimes just a mismatched tire will turn on the low tire light.

If the light comes on, you are expected to correct whatever problem it "saw" (but it cannot tell you what problem it saw). If you don't make some kind of change, the light comes right back on again in a few miles.

If pressures are indeed correct when the light came on, you could try doing 3 resets in a row. Reset it, wait 5 seconds, reset again, wait 5 seconds, reset a 3rd time. In about 10 seconds the light on the dash should blink a time or two. Done.

There's more, but that's a highlight.

desertfox1955

Just got back from the dealer. All tests and diagnostics came out normal (DTC's?), no error codes. service manager stated the new batteries are very small and cheap. They may not hold a charge for very long especially if you are sitting in the car with radio, some lights, and charging phones.
I believe Ezone is correct, apparently you just can't sit with everything on and expect the car to start, with my daughter it could have been 4 minutes or 45 minutes. Anyway I believe I convinced her not to repeat that episode.

Tires were a combination of bad luck and perhaps finicky electronics. She drives a lot (9K in 6 months) and drives to downtown Los Angeles from the San Fernando Valley often. Driving on the freeways here is like driving through a landfill, garbage and potholes everywhere. Couple of finishing nails and what looked like a staple. I will try the three resets when it occurs again. She now knows she must stop whenever the light comes on and she has her own tire gauge and knows what a flat 40 series tire looks like. Honda Roadside has been ok except for the one four hour wait time we were quoted that caused us to call AAA.
Thank you for your insight and help. I will update if there are any other issues...