I've seen similar threads but have some additional questions. We bought this car new and haven't had any problems of a battery nature until the past six months it would be somewhat slow turning over and then about a month ago it wouldn't start so jumped it. Mechanic at local gas station replaced the battery and two days later that battery was dead. He chalked it up to a "lemon" battery because the new battery was indeed drained and replaced that battery. For the past 3 weeks since this new battery it has started okay but occasionally is a little hesitant starting. Now this morning it wouldn't start again and had to jump it. Am taking it back to mechanic again but want to be better researched since he said all tests show nothing wrong with starter or alternator. I am reading here about parasitic draw and things like that, but is it normal to have parasitic drain problems all of a sudden when nothing new has been added to the car (no new radio, sound system, or anything). Does a normally functioning electrical component in a car suddenly start draining a battery when the car is off?

A couple of other things I would like to point out...for the past couple of weeks I have noticed the horn "toot" when the car is locked has been sounding tinny and higher pitched. Also, in terms of use of the car, this car on many days of the week isn't driven much. In fact some days it is started in the morning and driven about 4 blocks to a train station and then back again in the evening. I would think any battery charging/draining issue is exacerbated by the car not being run very much? Thanks for anyone's thoughts.

 

Suggest checking for parasitic draw. Anything over 50 mA may be a problem. Following link may be helpful.

Battery Drain Parasitic Draw Testing

Suggest purchasing a Battery Monitor ( ) and monitoring battery voltage. A fully charged battery should be about 12.6V and charging should be 13.5-14 volts.

Inspect positive and negative battery cables for corrosion and/or looseness and repair as indicated.

good luck

 

Had the exact same thing happened to me on my '03. It turned out to be the main chip that wouldn't turn off some equipment which drained the battery. It was about $500 for the new chip and installation and I had this done about 5 years ago. I measured some leakage current and changed out a relay which I thought was the problem before taking to Honda. Honda dealer thought the same thing and changed out the same relay before calling HQ to change the chip. It was troubling as they gave me no assurance that it was the chip, but their explanation was what else could it be after that?

 

Thanks for the response. Do you recall how they diagnosed the chip? Did they test fuses or something?>

 

Thread-starter here. Mechanic called and said they think it is the starter motor and wants the go-ahead to order the part and it will cost close to $400. I am skeptical. How would this explain that when we jump the car it starts right up? Wouldn't a faulty starter keep the car from starting no matter the battery?