Civic - Honda :: 2005 - Battery Is Draining
Jan 6, 2014
my wife now drives what was originally my 2005 Honda Civic from '05-'10. In the last 3 or so years since she's been driving it, the Civic has developed a tendency to die on her at inopportune times. A quick jump always fixes the problem but I never, ever had this problem myself when I was driving it and I've had the battery tested at AutoZone twice with both techs telling me the battery was in great shape with cranking amps well above its rating. I've offered to just buy a new battery and eliminate the issue but the "it's fine" report from AZ has me puzzled.
I have noticed that corrosion tends to build up on her positive battery terminal very quickly and I suspect she's getting some drain due to that but I'm stymied as to why it happens. The only thing (and its a stretch) that I can think of is she has a habit that her father taught her of cranking the heat, the defroster AND the A/C in her car when it's cold out. Normally I wouldn't think this would make a difference but I wonder if there is somehow condensation developing in that tiny little Civic engine bay as a result?
I've asked her not to do it and see if the situation improves but old habits die hard. The battery does tend to come up dead (of course) more in the winter but it's not an exclusively cold weather situation. Anyway, after jumping her car in single digits this morning before dawn I am ready to admit defeat and just get a new battery but figured I'd throw it out to the many voices here.
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Since buying new my Civic VP automatic, it seems I've been plagued with electrical gremlins. Right off the bat, I noticed the lights would arbitrarily dim and brighten with no rhyme or reason. The dealer checked it and found no problems and could not replicate it. It still does it now at 117K miles with no predictable pattern.
Also, it has always seemed to idle too low while crawling in Columbus, OH, traffic, with the battery light coming on when adding in temperature extremes (while running A/C or defroster) to the mix. At first, I was able to rev the engine in neutral or get out of traffic and open it up to make the battery light go out, but that doesn't seem to work anymore. Also, I can make the battery light flicker just about anytime when I let off the gas. I had to replace the factory battery (under warranty) with one I bought off the AAA service truck.
I had to replace that battery, too, along with the alternator (rebuild), at 88K miles at my local mechanic 2 years ago. It died again yesterday, on the interstate, after my vain attempt at getting up the rpm's when the battery light came on strong. It's at the AAA garage now where they said it needs another alternator (rebuild), but the battery is OK.
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A couple of weeks ago, with the car turned off, keys out of the ignition - about every thirteen seconds you could hear the air injection pump coming on, running for a couple of seconds and then turning off. The next day the car battery was dead (no surprise) so we charged it up and took it to the shop (AAA) . They told us that it was a faulty MAP sensor and didn't give us a price quote to fix it, just an invoice/diagnostic bill. But they did unplug the air injection pump so that the battery wouldn't keep getting drained.
We drove the car home and called them the next day to get an estimate for the repair and they said that they misdiagnosed the problem and that it was actually a MAF sensor that was causing the air injection pump to come on when the car was turned off and that it would cost around 500 dollars for the part and labor. Too steep so we decided to hold off on the repair. Understanding our reluctance to go through with the repair, they recommended that we plug the air injection pump back in and still drive the car but to make sure that we unhook the battery at night/when the car would be sitting for many hours without being started.
Here's where it gets a little confusing (or at least for me). I did take AAA's advice and went ahead and plugged the air injection pump back in and for the last couple of weeks it's been fine. No issues with the battery being drained whatsoever/no air injection pump coming on with the car turned off. But today the air injection pump started doing its thing again.The check engine light was on so I hooked my code reader up and pulled the following codes:
PO128 (thermostat coolant temp below regulating temp)
PO491 (secondary air injection system (Bank 1)
PO2431 (secondary air intake system FLW/Perf B1
Does all this point to a faulty MAF sensor?
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I have an '05 Mercury Sable with not quite 40,000 original mi. on it....recently I thought I needed a new battery, car was not turning over well. Make a long story short, it didn't start well 2 days later with the new battery. Mechanic said the instrument panel is doing something that is draining the battery.....I will be taking it in this coming Monday, and he will be taking, and sending it to be refurbished by a company he said they do a lot of work with. Said it will take about 10 days till I get car back.
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Back in November I traded my sports car in for a more practical 2005 Mariner with 50K miles on it. I had noticed a somewhat delayed start during the test drive (at least compared to what I'm used to) and assumed it was the battery. Car drove great and I loved it otherwise so I made the purchase and went on my way. A couple weeks passed and I noticed the issue seemed to be getting worse and the engine took a couple more turns before firing up. I wasn't surprised as most battery issues surface when the cold weather kicks in. I took it to the dealer and they found a leaky battery and replaced it and again I went on my way. Unfortunately the issue was not resolved with the new battery. I didn't give it much thought thinking it was just the way the vehicle ran until the weather started getting progressively colder and my delayed start became even more prolonged. So back to the service department I go and wait patiently in the lobby with my book, hoping for good news. When they come back to me 2 hrs later they tell me that something is drawing too much power from my battery causing it to drain (alternator is fine) and they need to power everything down for a few hours and investigate the fuses in hopes of finding the culprit to the power drain. Later on I called for a progress check and they're still stumped and would like to keep the vehicle overnight and see if they can figure out the issue after it sits for a night since (as I relayed) the slow starts are primarily in the morning after the car has sat. From what I gathered, the evidence of drain "disappeared" after a while during their little power down session.
Consequently, I have them investigating 2 other issues and I'm wondering if any of them may be related. One- I am having issues depressing the shift button to get the vehicle out of park (also more of a problem in the morning during the first start). Two- on occasion my key sticks in the lock cylinder when I shut off the engine and try to pull the key out. I spent some time online researching all of the above and it seems that there could be some issue with the ignition switch or a bad solenoid somewhere in the circuit... then again, maybe not? The only other bits of info I can offer since owning the vehicle are that I was having some issue with the rear hatch door. I kept getting the "door ajar" light after using the back hatch.. but I'm pretty sure that was due to my own stupidity because the main door release and the top window release are right next to each other and I may have pressed the wrong one- slamming the back hatch hard took care of the light. The other thing is I followed the manual instructions and deactivated the seat belt alarms because I can't stand the seat belt reminder beeping at me when I forget my seatbelt.
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It drove fine for about 3 weeks, and then one day when I went to start the car, it acted like the battery was going bad. This didn't make any sense to me, because the battery had just been replaced a few months before I bought it. It was a weekend, and the car seemed fine otherwise, so I figured I'd just take it to a mechanic on Monday.The next day I drove it to the grocery store, and when I went to start it nothing happened. The electronics came on, but it wouldn't start. No cranking, no clicking, nothing. I finally got it to start by pumping the gas while turning the key. However, even after I got it to start, everything electronic in the car would shut off and then come back on again randomly, and the car would try to stall out every time I came to a stop if the electricity happened to be off. After getting it home, I couldn't get it to start again at all. I didn't sell my trusty old '97 Toyota Tercel. I have driven it across the country and back four times, it has 281,000 miles on it, and it has never given me any problems. That's what I've been driving since all of this started.
And I got the Civic to replace the Tercel. Now I'm thinking I might just get rid of the new car and keep the old one! Haha!I couldn't afford to have the Civic towed to a mechanic, so I had my mechanic friend come and look at it several weeks later. The first thing he thought it could be was the battery, so we went and had the battery tested. Sure enough, the battery was bad, so we took it to wal-mart (where the battery came from) and they replaced it with a new one.Fast forward to three weeks later: all of a sudden I'm having the same problem I had before. Slow to start this morning, and then this afternoon I'm driving down the highway and BOOM everything electronic SHUTS OFF, all gauges drop down to zero, and I feel the car lose a little power. It still drove because it was running on the alternator, but the electronics kept shutting off and coming back on again. It got to a point where about every other second it would blink on and then off again. When I got the car home, I shut it off, switched cars and continued about my business (all of this happened while I was taking a car full of kids to their parents). When I went to start the Civic after getting home, all of the lights came on but the car would not start.I don't know what to do.
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My fiance has a honda civic that has been sitting in an indoor garage for around a year. I move the car about 6 months ago with no issues. Recently we needed to move it again and of course the battery was dead so I decided to push it. With the key on, I released the shifter lock and put the car in neutral but the car wouldn't budge an inch.
Is it possible this is more than just rusted brakes? If it is just rusted brakes do I need to take off the wheels to free them?
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I have a 2007 honda civic lx 4doors my problem is that when the car is sitting overnight the battery gets almost flat when I drive the car in the day everything is perfect I get test the battery starter n the alternator everything is find what is the problem here....
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My 2006 Honda Civic LX has 120,000 miles. About a month ago I stopped for gas, and when I got back into the car, it wouldn't start. It cranked a couple times but then after a couple tries that stopped. The power all came on as normal (lights, radio, everything with no dimming), but the engine wouldn't go all the way. I got a jump and things were fine for a couple of weeks, then it did it to me again, following a brief stop in the grocery store after my highway commute home. Again, jumped the car and went home.
After four days with no sign of trouble, it happened again at the gas station. I then took it to a mechanic who spent 2 days with it and declared my problem a mystery. He couldn't get the car to not start for him and said my battery, alternator, fuses, everything he looked at seemed fine. He thinks it could be the starter but couldn't be completely sure enough to do such expensive work. I also let it sit for two days to see if there was a battery drain, but it started up just fine after sitting for those two days. I did notice that it seems to not want to start the day or two after I use my headlights. Now, 5 days since the last episode, it's starting but the crank is a little slow. My battery is one month old. I'm at a loss and don't want to throw money at the problem without knowing. I'm tired of driving everywhere afraid to turn the car off, too.
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The mechanic I use told me how he repaired a fault with the Honda Civic hybrid battery that kept the check engine light on and indicated a code for a faulty battery. It appears that if the different cells in the battery have a voltage variance between them that is outside of the parameters set, the light will come on and stay on. The customer was told by Honda service that he needed a new battery, but the car was out of the warraqnty period.
The mechanic theorized that he could remedy this if he drained the battery down and recharged it. After two cycles, the check engine light went off. I wonder if this would work for other hybrid owners?
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Tried to start my car this morning and nothing .(headlight switch was off),checked the battery and it read less than 1 volt (did return to 5 volts after being disconnected for a while). Drove the day before with no apparent problems or lights. Battery is a die hard gold about a year and a half old. checked pos battery cable to ground read 1.8 ohms went up into the high k ohms when I removed the horn/stop fuse(which was good) .Also after market alarm installed. Am I chasing gremlins or did the battery just suddenly die.
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Just yesterday I was driving my 2012 Cvic down a hill and the battery and oil light came on. Not but 5 seconds later as I came to the bottom of the hill my brakes went out (the car didn't cut off) so I pulled up the parking brake and cut the car off.
I started to call for roadside assistance but before I did I thought to try to start her up again and boom! Everything works fine! What could have caused this?? Computer system in the car? Brake fluid? Also just two weeks earlier I had full minor service on her. Tire rotation, oil/filter change, brake fluid added etc.
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My daily commute to work is only 1.5 miles. Due to one-way streets along the way, I take different routes going from and to home in my 1993 Honda Civic EX. So only when coming home, I frequently encounter 2-3 red lights with long wait times. To save gas, I would turn off the engine, restarting a few seconds before the lights turned green. I recently had my battery die that was only a little over a year old. Could this could be the result of the frequent restarts over a short distance?
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I have a 2001 Honda Civic with 190K miles. Usually runs fine. The other day it was torrential downpours as I'm driving on the highway. After about 100 miles of rainy driving, I lost the ability to accelerate. All accessories still on, but no response from the gas pedal. At the same moment, the check engine light came on, then -- while coasting off an exit ramp -- the car made a loud squealing noise for about 10 seconds.
I turned the car off, and was able to restart it without problems, although the engine was idling strangely with a faint knocking/fluttering noise. Drove to a Sears where they ran diagnostics on the engine -- the only code that came up was that the TDC Sensor was picking up noise. But the car ran, so we kept driving and the check engine light shut off on its own.
Managed to drive 2 hours to our destination, but had one incident of squealing from the engine (about 10 seconds while slowing down and then speeding up), and lost ability to accelerate again, this time accompanied by the Battery Light coming on as well as the Check Engine.
Today the car is in the shop, with Check Engine light off again but Battery Light still on. Mechanic suggested it might be the Alternator, but that seems odd to me because we just replaced the alternator, battery about 5 months ago and all accessories worked fine when we lost ability to accelerate, and the car was able to restart.
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1995 Honda Civic appears battery is dead, takes 20 turns to start up, then has trouble with RPM's while driving. Even the clock and radio reset I thought the battery was so dead, but the car still starts up every time. And sometimes when I accelerate it has trouble keeping up and chokes a bit. Is this one problem or two? It seems electrical to me.
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05' Civic HX 5 speed with 167K. I picked up the car two years ago with 134K on the OD, and the only service records were regular oil changes.
Did: Timing belt; Valve job; Brake job. Both dealer and tire shop have gone over it / safety checked it twice. About 10K miles ago it developed a racket (rotational noise, as if something was coming apart.) above 1,800RPM. "Can hear from a block away" in 1st gear, to a lesser extent in 2nd, etc (no racket revving, only in gear). CV joints, bearings, anything belt driven, has been checked out.
Figured it was the transmission, but it shifts perfectly - and I've drained the oil twice, perfectly clear, and no shavings on the magnet. I know the clutch is original (doesn't slip, don't want to spend $700 if I don't have to). The car, other then the noise, runs as if it's new, and averages 34MPG, so I'd like to keep it!
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I have honda civic 2005 with 170,000 miles on. My car has been little shaky with cold start in the morning and Engine light finally on. I was told that I need new fuel injectors from local mechanics. I'm a poor student so I decided to fix it myself. I was able to reach down to fuel rail and It was very challenging to take the rail & injectors out. After I finally pop them out with long driver/hammer, It is even harder to put new ones inside, all the way in. I tried put some oil at the end but still did not completely go in. Is there any special tool I need to use to put them in? I tried oils...ect.
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I have a Honda civic 2005 LX, 170,000 miles. I love this car as I went through my tough time with it. I don't want to give it up until it dies if possible. Only issue of this care is AC does not work when temperature is hot. It works really good when it's cold/rain. When I turn on the car and AC in the morning, the compressor works fine for 5-10 minutes and it turns off when the engine is normal temp.(below mid line). I went to one local mechanic and I was told Freon level is good.
They spend about an hour to figure out what's going on and they told me that I need to change my entire compressor, I felt they just can't figure out what exactly causes it and want to just scare me with big $, to make me give it up. (because compressor works fine when it's cold. I think something with temperature) I recently changed my Thermostat, filled up coolant, and changed crutch-AC relay fuse but no change in the AC symptoms. I will need AC for sure when I move into Arizona next summer!
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My husband owns a 2005 Honda Civic with 192K miles on it. For the past 3 months, the thermostat has been floating to hot (H). He took it in to a mechanic who could not reenact the problem and could not find anything wrong. The mechanic replaced the thermostat indicator. The problem persisted without any sort of consistency. It would go to hot on the highway when he was going at high speeds and back down again and would also do it while idling at a stop light. We took the car in again and, again, the mechanic could find nothing wrong. Since then, the problem has become more frequent. Additionally, while the AC is on, when the thermostat goes to (H), the A/C is impacted...it starts blowing warm air versus cool. Again, it does not remain this way. A moment later it could go back to the midpoint and the AC then starts blowing cool air again.
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A bit of a long story, but brought my 2005 automatic honda civic into a mechanic for timing belt changeout (im at 112k miles) but expressed my concern over a noise persisting for approx. a week, sounding like it was stuck in a lower gear... but RPMs were fine. The mechanic looked at it all day and came to the vague conclusion that a bearing in the final gear of the transmission was busted. Brought it in for the diagnostics and had to take their mechanic on a test drive so he would hear what noise I was talking about. OK, days later = new transmission. Within 24 hours I hear a noise mimicking what I heard prior to work. They tell me its a wheel bearing that they couldn't properly diagnose without first replacing the transmission. Why not replace the wheel bearing before the transmission? How can they prove to me what was the real problem if I am still hearing noises?!
48 hours after getting the car back I wake up and start the car to warm her up before driving to work. She sits in park, running, for approx. 10 minutes and when I hop in, step on the brakes and try to pop it into drive from park, she is locked up and will not shift anywhere. In a panic I call honda and they tell me about a little 'trap door' i can pop off next to my shifter and manually flip it out of park. Fine. It works and I get to work, then have no problems getting my car into drive until the next morning when the exact same thing happens. (It is suggested it is a brake switch, but once it got into drive the brake lights worked fine.) So, this next morning I can not manually pop it into drive. It is currently at that Honda dealership, and has been there for 5 days, where, of course, they have not had ONE problem getting the car into drive.
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I have a 2005 Honda Civic and it has a pronounced squeakiness. I have had my steering, suspension repaired and nothing has seemed to work. It's really annoying and frustrating, especially because mechanics have "fixed it", but the noise always seems to continue.
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