Carquest 151R for Honda Fit

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So my Honda Fit is 4 years old, but it is a 2010 as I bought it in November of 2010 on a closeout sale.

The battery that came in the car had some slow starts last year and I figured I'd change the battery before this Winter 2015.

I went to WalMart and bought a 51R, and it fits nice but I wasn't able to fit it diagonally. I didn't want to buy connectors to migrate the positive post over as it makes for a bit of a contraption. So I returned the battery.

I called around and Interstate batteries are around 220$ for this car (called two places). Honda wanted 135$, NAPA wanted 119$

Called Carquest, and they wanted 109$ So I picked it up, as I was pretty sure it is made by East Penn (Deka).

I called East Penn yesterday and they said Carquest and Napa are Deka, Deka directly wanted 135$ and the guy recommended Carquest or NAPA.

So now I am the proud owner of a new Carquest battery. It was 12.3V so it was really low, I have it on trickle charge 2A right now, will probably leave it on for 6 hours before installing it in the car.

I was wondering if anyone knew how to identify a Deka battery?

This thing looks completely sealed, I don't think you can fill it with distilled water at all. It has an awesome carry handle, and is a nice matte finish. Solid looking battery.

It has a electrolyte viewport, with a green gauge at the bottom.

This looks like a really good battery.

Thanks guys.
 
To my knowledge all Carquest batteries are made by East Penn(Deka). And your right thst 151r is completely sealed.
 
A new battery with 12.3 V ??? yikes, take it back bro.

So all carquest batts are made by deka? wow, nice, I think caterpillar batteries are also made by deka.

My fit battery was kinda sluggish, so I charged with with a 20 amp charger, then I used the regen cycle 2x over the weekend, it is working better now
I have the same fit :)
 
I bought a Napa 151R earlier this year to replace my ailing (7+yrs old) Yuasa battery.

So far, no issues. I'm also waiting for winter to come by and see how low I can turn over my fit engine.

(*past winter with my factory Yuasa: I was barely turning over @ -13C*)

Q.
 
Originally Posted By: Falken
The code engraved on the top of the battery is KC3A04.

Not sure how to decode this but I suspect this is an older battery.


IT was made in January 2014.
 
Thanks 29662,

The code sticker said C3 as well (March 2013).

I am not sure which one is correct, but THEY ARE BOTH ANCIENT!!!

Trying to change it this Friday for another battery.

Thanks for your help, I'm pretty disappointed!!

I guess if they refuse to change or [censored] happens, are you sure it is January 2014? That isn't nearly as bad as my date, but I could live with 10 months old I guess!
 
I could be mistaken. I would hope that it's not a March '13 battery. That's a long time to keep a battery on the shelf.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
12.3v when the car is not running is great.



12.3v is only about 70% state of charge. Great would be 12.6+

Curious as to why you are putting it on the charger for only 6 hours, is this a manual charger? I would put it on a 2 amp automatically controlled charger, but let it finish to 100% charge

I guess finding a new battery with more than 12.4v is pretty hard though.

Would I look strange bringing my multimeter into Walmart TLE and probing all the batteries while taking notes about date code and group size?
 
It was on an automatic charger, it went on for 2 hours then shut off.

Called on Monday and they will change it Friday when I pick up another battery (Group 35 for a Mazda 3) and I added two Honda Fit oil filers (Carquest Wix) to bulk up the order to reduce the chance that they say they can't help me.

They did start with the "corporate policy", "East Penn sent us that it isn't us", and "your battery has a warranty anyway".

I told them I was an Auto Mech grad, and I do a lot of outdoor stuff, and I could go to East Penn in Montreal and they'll gladly rotate the stock for me if I brought them the old one, but it would really be a waste of time.

So I said, I am asking only as a favor. So to that he bit. I'm hoping to get two fresh batteries and two oil filters Friday, fingers crossed.

After 2 hours on the charger at 2 Amps, it brought the battery up to 12.8V. The surface charge took 24 hours to go away, and it is stable at 12.65V.

There were charger clamp marks on the lead posts when I first got the battery, so I can't really be sure what this battery will be worth after being in the car for 2 years.

I was really excited about the price, after being quoted a lot for an Interstate, Honda dealer, I grabbed the battery and left without looking at the sticker on the side of the battery that I read about.

Glad I looked it up online to see the date code, but seeing 12.3V on the meter let me know it was pretty old to be depleted that far.

I am pretty sure a 3 month old battery would be at least 12.55V.

Anyway, I'll keep you guys posted how things go with Carquest's service.
 
I picked up the new battery for the Fit today. It is a C4 (March 2014). It is 6 months old, but exactly ONE YEAR newer than the battery I returned. VERY happy with my decision.

The Voltage at the posts was 12.55V. I trickle charged it and installed it, and the car starts with much faster cranking now.

The old battery I pulled out measured 13.05V after I pulled it from the car. Will have to verify my Alternator output tomorrow to make sure it isn't overcharging.

Maybe 13.05V is a symptom of the battery failing, will have to look over my school notes.

The Group 35 battery I got today for the Mazda 3 was 12.65V at the posts, the date was D4 (April 2014).

So I am happy with CarQuests service this time around. Check your date code before handing over your cash is what I learned!!
 
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Couldn't find a 151R battery within 50 miles when I replaced the Fit's battery a few years ago, so I jerry-rigged the holding system to fit a Miata U1R battery. Advance in the next town over had one in stock about 8 months old, so in it went. I didn't care about voltage, only that it fired the car since the car was dead! Thanks for sticking such a junky OEM battery into the Fit, Honda!
 
Haha for sure sciphi!!

When I had the battery on the parts counter I just couldn't believe how small it was compared to the Group 35 battery I was getting for the GFs Mazda 3.

I was like you really could not find a dumber battery if you tried.

It made me extra glad that I really wasn't being fussy pushing for a newer battery.

I love that Deka puts solid carry handles on everything, even the 151R.

The OEM battery did last it's "5 years" though. I owned the car for 4, and the car (for some really strange reason) sat around for a year after it was built just before the Tsunami hit Japan.

I am pretty sure the new Deka battery will last the rest of the life of the car, this battery I plan to absolutely milk.
 
On another note, I really wish parts places would just stop that "you're just being fussy" act when you are buying parts.

Paying big money for a "new" battery that is 2 years old, going to the effort of buying it and lugging it home and installing it...

Then it leaves you stranded at night after 2 years of use at some night shift job.

Then the parts place hours are usually closed at 5pm, and closed or limited weekend hours.

Then you have to order an odd size battery that could take 2 days for them to get.

It could make a new battery VERY expensive and could get you in a lot of trouble.
 
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