Rep Power: 0

Hello, I have a 2012 Civic EX, bought used last year, 2020, first of June, nice car, love the great gas mileage. No problems until last Saturday, got into the car to go somewhere, turned the key and no start, cleaned the battery terminals, tried to start again, no start. Had to jump start the car, before i jump started the car, I checked the battery, 12.1 volts, low from my experience, should be 12.4 volts, jump started the car and the alternator was charging the battery at 14.4 volts, after a few moments the charging lowered to 12.5 volts. I decided to buy a new battery at the local Advance Auto, when I arrived at Advance Auto, the attendant at Advance wanted to check the battery, 12.5 volts (car not running), they told me the battery was fine, hmmmmmmm. Everything was fine until yesterday, got in car, no start, had to jump start again. I did a bit of searching, found out Hondas with the ELD have a problem. If I turn on the headlights the alternator charges at a higher voltage, 14.4 volts but my MPG suffers. What would you recommend? Buy the highest CCA battery? I read where people with the same problem replaced two batteries, replaced the alternator and still had the same problem.

The ELD is $5.00 at the dealer, will replacing the ELD solve this problem?

Is the ELD replaceable in the fuse box of the 2012 Civic (same as replacing a fuse) ?

Thank you for your suggestions.

 
Rep Power: 126

It almost sounds like a questionable alternator. A $5 ELD certainly wouldn't hurt as a starting point (due to it being $5), but I'm not sure that'll be the fix.