2012 Honda Fit Sport is acting up

[M1Accord]

A few days ago, my wife said the car made beeping sound while she was driving back home. I drove it for about 100 miles the next day and didn’t hear anything. But it rained some today and high humidity and I noticed the following while driving home:

1) Headlights flickered a few times.
2) Dash showed the steering and airbag lights. They went out on their own and came back on a few times in the period of 10 mins. It was almost like when the car was accessory mode but I was driving.
3) Power steering (drive by wire so all electronic) got stiff a bit whenever the power steering light came on.

What I think is the problem:
1) Battery is on last leg. This battery is at least 7 years old. It is a 151R so it is very little with barely any capacity.

What I plan to do:
I need to take it to AuroZone and AAP to have code check. The last time I went to AAP, the kid didn’t want to run diagnostic check because there was no check engine light on. It was late and I didn’t want to talk to someone who obviously is a low-skill hire.

What do you think? I gave away my OBII scanner a few years back when we moved. Probably need to buy another one. Any recommendations?

Thank you for bailing me out again.

 

[dishdude]

IMO, time for a new battery before you start any further diagnostics.

 

[TheBeaz]

Headlights flickered a few times

That suggests an alternator or ground issue.

I need to take it to AuroZone and AAP to have code check

Unless it's changed in recent years, their scanners typically only read powertrain codes. Those steering and airbag codes may not show up on their report.

Let us know what the codes are. Try to get them before replacing the battery and losing them.

 

[Nukeman7]

^^^^^^ I'd also suspect the battery first. If you go to AutoZone or Advance Auto to have them scan for trouble codes, you should also have them test the battery and charging system while you are there. Being 7 years old, I'd be surprised if it has more than 250 CCA.

 

[M1Accord]

Any good recommendations on an affordable scanner? I figure I get it from Amazon tonight and have it maybe Sunday to check.

 

[TheBeaz]

Any good recommendations on an affordable scanner? I figure I get it from Amazon tonight and have it maybe Sunday to check.

That's tricky because you need one that can for sure read electronic steering codes. Most of those are in the $400+ range.

Here is one that claims to do everything on a Honda for $200.

 

[Bud_One]

My mom's 2014 Civic did this very thing.. all the warning lights lit up on the dash and electric power steering quit working while running .
Tested the battery was extremely low. Charged it on a trickle charger for 24 hours. Problem gone.
Car had been setting for about a month and a half.

 

[M1Accord]

OP here

My mom's 2014 Civic did this very thing.. all the warning lights lit up on the dash and electric power steering quit working while running .
Tested the battery was extremely low. Charged it on a trickle charger for 24 hours. Problem gone.
Car had been setting for about a month and a half.

OP here

thanks for the input.

This car is used almost daily but most of the trips are 7 miles one way in urban driving so drive time is about 15-20 mins. It is a small battery so I am not sure if that means anything.

We do normally drive longer distance and time on weekend (Sunday) for about 100 miles spread out over a to and from long drive of 40 miles and then 20 miles of bouncing between stores.

I did check the battery just now on my multimeter and it reads 12.67 V wjen thr car is off. With the car on, it reads 14.4 V. No light is on now. I did notice thr negative could use some cleaning so I did that without disconnecting the battery.

I am going to turn on A/C and have it blast (35 deg so I am not sure if that is true load).

Battery test under load: Battery voltage read from 14.35 V to 14.48 V witj A/C on max, fan on max, and high beam on.

Leading up to the trouble, the Fit was driven 100 miles on Sunday, 30 miles on Monday, 80 miles on Tuesday, 14 miles on Wednesday, 14 miles on Thursday when it beeped and one light was flashing on my wife, and 35 miles on Friday when the trouble of headlights flickered and power steering and airbag lights came on with me losing power steering momentary.

 

[M1Accord]

That's tricky because you need one that can for sure read electronic steering codes. Most of those are in the $400+ range.

Here is one that claims to do everything on a Honda for $200.

That is a nice one. Looks similar to the basic one I had for many years and gave away because Honda normally don’t require owners to have one as most things get replaced before problems occur.

Yeah, I am nervous about paying $400+ for a food scanner because I may end up using it once. I think I used my old one three times for the 4 years I had it and two of those times were for my neighbor’s vehicles.

 

[fdcg27]

At this point the battery owes you nothing and should be replaced.
I would not be surprised if this cured the problems you're seeing.

 

[M1Accord]

Both AAP, AZ, and Oreily said battery is bad. AZ said cranking amp is 90.

Going to Wally to get a drummer tool to cut the bracket off to put in 51 instead of 151R. Or at least find a battery. No shops here has 151R.

And Wally discontinued 151R too. Dremel too it is.

 

[14.1 Grms]

I'd never heard of a 151R size; google'd it, and it is only slightly larger than the battery for my Honda fourwheeler. Oof.

 

[M1Accord]

OP here:

51R installed after 2 hrs of trying to get the battery bracket out so it can be cut with air circular saw.

Now at Wally to find longer battery brace to hold it down.

Negative terminal fits fine. Possible terminal doesn’t fit that well as Honda use a giant clam and packaged it with red plastic. I may need to replace the positive terminal cable clam with something smaller.

Quick question: I got butter finger (very cold here) and dropped the new battery on the ground from 2 feet height. Any concern? No visible damage.

 

[bullwinkle]

OP here:

51R installed after 2 hrs of trying to get the battery bracket out so it can be cut with air circular saw.

Now at Wally to find longer battery brace to hold it down.

Negative terminal fits fine. Possible terminal doesn’t fit that well as Honda use a giant clam and packaged it with red plastic. I may need to replace the positive terminal cable clam with something smaller.

Quick question: I got butter finger (very cold here) and dropped the new battery on the ground from 2 feet height. Any concern? No visible damage.

One of these might work for your clamp issue, a battery post shim. I would probably just put a bungee cord on the battery temporarily for a hold down.

 

[M1Accord]

View attachment 205219One of these might work for your clamp issue, a battery post shim. I would probably just put a bungee cord on the battery temporarily for a hold down.

Sorry for the confusion. Not that kind of clam issue but rather the positive terminal housing is too big, so I cannot fully rotate it to sit it properly onto the post. Honda use an elongated part of the clamp and package it in a weird square or rectangle housing. With the tight space around a battery there is no way to fully turn the clam to properly sit it into thr post. It is on there now, but not sit at 100% more like 80% so a little bit of the crime is sticking out past the post

 

[fdcg27]

Dropping the battery is never a positive but the good news is they'll warranty it since you'll forget the dropped part if you have to return it (hint).
I have no idea what the positive terminal clamp issue is, but I'd suggest a quick visit to a Fit site since others will have been in the same situation and you can benefit from their having been there and done that.
Just Google "fit battery replacement" and you'll find something that should help.
You can't be the first owner who installed a larger than OEM battery.

 

[Nukeman7]

I have no idea what the positive terminal clamp issue is, but I'd suggest a quick visit to a Fit site since others will have been in the same situation and you can benefit from their having been there and done that.
Just Google "fit battery replacement" and you'll find something that should help.
You can't be the first owner who installed a larger than OEM battery.

 

[tiger862]

ArtiLink600

The ArtiLink600 is an automotive computer scan tool. It provides professional-level diagnostic features at a reasonable price-point and comes with an improved 3.5” LCD Color Screen. The user-friendly interface will allow beginners to run essential and advanced diagnostic tests with ease...

www.topdon.us

You are going to need it for battery replacement.

 

[troymcclure]

Ah yes the old 51R switcharoo. The folks over at the fitfreak forums also have a bunch of tips and tricks to make it work. I elected to keep using the 151R in mine because I didn’t want to hack anything up but I know the struggle of finding fresh stock in that size.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Both AAP, AZ, and Oreily said battery is bad. AZ said cranking amp is 90.

Going to Wally to get a drummer tool to cut the bracket off to put in 51 instead of 151R. Or at least find a battery. No shops here has 151R.

And Wally discontinued 151R too. Dremel too it is.

This is what most people do. Replace the 151R power wheels toy battery with a real battery.

51R is easy enough like you've done, but even better if you can fit a 35 in there.