2010 - Sudden 12V Battery Failure

I charged mine from the front jump terminals.

Set the BatteryMINDer for AGM and 4 amps, connect the output leads to the jump point (Red + to the jump terminal in the fuse box and the Black - to an engine ground point), check the lights on the BatteryMINDer and make sure they are correct, then plug in the 120V side.

The BatteryMINDer will indicate when charging is complete. Disconnect in reverse order.

 

This post is somewhat off topic since it is about my wife's 2007 Honda Accord but it is about the 12V Honda battery, which is a sealed lead-acid battery.

I replaced the original battery in October 2011 due to discharge and starter dragging. It was just over 4 years old. The Honda replacement was a 100 Month Warranty battery. I charged it with an old Sears manual charger that I have had for years. After fully charging, or when the ammeter went to zero, it was always only in the 12.5 - 12.6V range when I checked. But it maintained this charge.

This week my wife was returning from a 4 hour trip to see grandkids and stopped to get gas. On restart the battery was very weak and she said the car just barely was able to start. I checked it when she got home - 10.5V! I checked the alternator and it was putting out 14.3V. The alternator was obviously OK since she had driven 4 hours without a problem.

I hooked up my new BatteryMINDer charger and interestingly it did not indicate the battery was weak and did not take long to charge the battery and then began maintaining. I left the charger on all night.

In the morning it was reading 13.1V after disconnecting the charger but when starting the car the starter was dragging heavily before finally starting. Turned it off and checked and voltage less than 12V. I hooked the charger back up and this time it indicated a weak battery.

I had my wife take it to the dealership to have the battery replaced since I still have 52 months warranty. They tested the battery and replaced it for 1/2 price.

I do not know what it is with batteries today failing like this in 4-5 years. My wife did say that after getting a new battery that she now realizes that it had been slow to start for some time now but had been so gradual she had not noticed.

I think I am going to plan to replace batteries every 4 years!

 

Pretty much the same with me before the Prius and now the Honda. The new battery technologies are different than the old open lead-acid batteries we grew up with. At least the old batteries gave you a warning when getting discharged and you could usually charge them multiple times before having to replace. The new ones just seem to fail suddenly.

Back then you were lucky to find a battery with any more than a 3 year warranty. Now Honda has a 100 month and Toyota has a 84 month warranty.

Evidently this makes no difference and the batteries still need replacing in 4-5 years. NC is a fairly mild climate and should be easy on a battery.