fschuindt

Hi, all!

I bought a used Civic 2013 LX from a private party two days ago. I live in San Ramon, CA and before buying it I went to Ace Auto Repair and asked them to run a pre-purchase inspection. All was good, only a leaking in the transmission that I'll fix with the dealer (the previous owner paid a extended warranty on it). Nothing was wrong with the battery according to this inspection. Today, my wife got the car to work and it was ok. When she was leaving the office to home, the car simply got stuck in the parking lot and wasn't starting. In the panel was saying "check brake system" and the car didn't start no matter what she tried. The brakes were evaluated as good by Ace Auto Repair too. I tought that was something related to battery and asked my insurance to have someone there to help (I was far away from her work) and do a jump start. The guy went there, did it and the car started after. And brakes were good. My question now is: two days ago Ace Auto Repair said that battery was ok and today went down? Or am I having another electrical issue? Anyone have an idea of it? Thank you in advance!

ezone

1) Warning message of any type: What fault codes does it have stored? (must be able to scan ALL systems, not just engine)
2) Brake pad condition has nothing to do with this problem
3) Someone sitting in the car with the key on/engine NOT running (listening to the radio, charging a phone, whatever) can drain a perfectly good battery in a matter of minutes, discharge far enough that it can't operate the starter on its own.

Jump start and driving home could be sufficient for the alternator to recharge the battery again (test battery to confirm)


Low voltage causes all kinds of problems for computers. ABS/VSA system probably has a code stored with a similar definition, some other control units could have similar codes.
If all is well now we might blame it on operator error.

fschuindt

Thanks for the answers, ezone.

So, today morning I run a battery test using MDX-P300 and got this as result:

Good. Recharge:

Volts: 12.45V
Measured: 314CCA
Rating: 410CCA

Bat. Type: Regular
Bat. Location: In Vehicle
Battery Temp: Above 32F

Also, a Starter Test:

NORMAL - Volts: 10.16V

And a Charging Test:

Volts: 14.41V

In the evening, I connected a OB-II Scan into it, turned the car on and got this as live data:

DTC_CNT: 0
FUELSYS1: CL
FUELSYS2: N/A
LOAD_PCT(%) 15.3
ECT (C) 88
SHRTFT1 (%) 3.1
LONGFT1 (%) 2.3
MAP(kPa) 25
RPM(/min) 723
VSS (km/h) 0
SPARKADV (degrees) 3
IAT (C) 37
MAF (g/s) 2.04
TP (%) 12.9
O2S B1S12--B2S----
O2B1S2(V) 0.64
SHRTFTB1S2(%) -2.3
OBD OBD2
RUNTM(sec) 103
MIL_DIST (km) 0
EGR_PTC(%) 0.0
EGR_ERR(%) 99.2
EVAP_PCT(%) 27.8
FLI(%) 67.1
WARM_UPS 244
CLR_DIST (km) 3863
EVAP_VP (Pa) -239.25
BARO(kPa) 99
EQ_RAT11 1.017
O2S11 (mA) -0.023
CATEMP11 (C) 92.50
VPWR(V) 14.400
LOAD_ABS(%) 17.3
EQ_RAT 1.013
TP_R(%) 2.4
TP_B(%) 30.6
APP_D(%) 19.2
APP_E(%) 9.4
TAC_PCT(%) 2.4

It also showed no codes after the scan...

Any idea what is happening here? Thank you!

ezone

Has the problem reoccurred?

fschuindt

Oh yeah, forgot to mention it...I got the car today to my office, worked, went for lunch, got the car in the end of day and it worked normally.

ezone

So it's not having a problem while you drive it.....Maybe you can ask questions about what happened leading up to needing a jump start? Ffigure out if the other person inadvertently drained the battery like I described earlier.

Does the car still have the factory battery in it, or is it a replacement battery?

fschuindt

I've been trying to use the car normally and it's working fine. I didn't get the problem again. About the other person forgetting something on in the car that could drain the battery, I double checked again with my wife and she really didn't let anything turned on. The battery seems to be the one from factory. I will try to keep observing it.

The guy on the auto shop said to me that there are cases for the Honda Civic that this problem can appear and disappear suddenly later and not show up never again. Is that possible? Thank you!

ezone

Or won't admit the mistake, or maybe really doesn't understand that (whatever actually happened) caused the battery to run down ......lol


Sooo many customers refuse to divulge the complete story if it means admitting they made a mistake, anything from leaving a map light on to hitting a curb and damaging the suspension

Got a pic of it to post? If it's truly an original, it's on borrowed time. 6+ years is OLD for a car battery. Every car, every brand, every model can have seemingly random, intermittent, and even one-time-event issues.