Dead Battery in Wife's 2008 Civic - Please Help!

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gathermewool

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I'm sorry for the hasty post, but my wife just called to tell me her battery is dead. She didn't see anything left on, but only received a click when she tried to start the car. Some one gave her a jump and it started right up - no battery light.

I have a $126 gift card for Advanced Auto, so I told her to drive there straight away.

So, please help me, in the next 20 minutes, with AAP codes and battery suggestions!
 
She checked the Honda battery that was installed by the previous owner and the little indicator was green, even though her car wouldn't start.

The stock battery size is 51R, but I've read that a lot of people toss a 34R in there with out any issues. The only 34R at AAP is the Red Top for >$200.

The gold is $100 less

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/i-c-e-ele...-installed.html
 
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Go with the Autocraft Gold. The price is right and the battery is made by Johnson Controls with a decent warranty.

Don't waste your money on those Optima batteries as of late the quality is no better than black box batteries and sometimes worse. Save the extra 100 bucks for something else.
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Go with the Autocraft Gold. The price is right and the battery is made by Johnson Controls with a decent warranty.

Don't waste your money on those Optima batteries as of late the quality is no better than black box batteries and sometimes worse. Save the extra 100 bucks for something else.


Thank you for the quick reply! I think I'll do that

A124 got me $40 off. Can any one do better???
 
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The guy checked her battery at AAP and he says it's undercharged, not bad. I asked her to check or have him check the age of the battery, and that we'll just replace it if it's >4 years old. Any one know how to check?

He also tested the alternator and says it's fine.
 
Darnit, can't use gift cards online! I guess I wasted my money on this thing (bought $126.XX card for $110 from a guy at work JUST this afternoon. When she called I thought I might have been at least a little lucky)

Went with the Gold, thank you guys! You have no idea how cool it is, that I can ask a question here and you guys help me out so quickly. If you'd told me that Autocraft batteries were junk, I'd have called her back and told her to go somewhere else.

EDIT: She checked again, while looking for date information on the battery, and noticed that the battery indicator is BLACK, not green.
 
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Originally Posted By: gathermewool
EDIT: She checked again, while looking for date information on the battery, and noticed that the battery indicator is BLACK, not green.


Similiar thing happened to me. Then I realized it was reflecting my green eye. They should put a red eye in there when it goes out.
 
Autocraft gold is top of the line Johnson Controls; you can't go wrong, particularly because AAP stores are everywhere, so the next time this happens, the warranty info will already be established.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
The guy checked her battery at AAP and he says it's undercharged, not bad. I asked her to check or have him check the age of the battery, and that we'll just replace it if it's >4 years old. Any one know how to check?

He also tested the alternator and says it's fine.



My civic batt would die after leaving anything on for more than 3 minutes. And the tester said battery was good. If the batt connections are good I bet the batt is bad. Those testers are so dumb most of the time.
 
Originally Posted By: Christopher Hussey
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
She didn't see anything left on


Something she didn't see?


I made the same comment. She was not amused.
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Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
EDIT: She checked again, while looking for date information on the battery, and noticed that the battery indicator is BLACK, not green.


Similiar thing happened to me. Then I realized it was reflecting my green eye. They should put a red eye in there when it goes out.


She's got brown eyes. I make the rounds every time I change her oil, and less than a couple of months ago it was most definitely green. I guess those little indicators aren't very accurate...

We bought the car two years ago from the PO who kept EVERY receipt. I should have bought a new battery immediately when I did not find one for a battery and he wasn't able to recall if it was ever replaced...

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Autocraft gold is top of the line Johnson Controls; you can't go wrong, particularly because AAP stores are everywhere, so the next time this happens, the warranty info will already be established.


That makes me feel good, thank you. She got a battery dated 7/13.
 
Those eye's don't tell the whole story for all the cells.
Double check something wasn't left on (my wife probably would have found something on, and insist nothing was if I questioned it).
Good to have battery & alternator checks done at a auto chain... better than nothing for sure.
After the jump start one should (if no multimeter is on hand) check to see if the alternator light is lit.... might not go far if system is running just off of battery power providing the vehicle runs.
Good thing she got a jump start and made the drive, and they assist checking battery/alternator.

Back in the day (years), seem batteries gave an indication that it was time to replace - slow cranking for a period of time. Now, I have had some that cranked fine, next time it wouldn't crank over... dead... just like that.... fast.
 
You may have had a warranty on the last battery. Some factory installed batteries come with long pro rated warranties.

Might have saved some money but since you used the AAP code, its probably a wash.
 
The Optima batteries are designed to resist discharge cycles as more and more owners use electronics in vehicles when they are not running. Hence Optima type batteries are found in luxury cars as standard now.

The regular lead acid battery will die after several complete discharges and lose capacity after each one.

So if your wife or car was doing something to discharge the battery, this one could have a short life as well.

However, if the previous owner did some discharges, then the life of the battery was reduced from that point and its given up after normal usage since then.
 
Sons civic battery died and so did a new battery. Discovered it was being drained by a faulty AC clutch relay which kept clutch energized when ignition was off. Something to check if the new battery is dead after sitting a few hours.
 
Originally Posted By: DutchBrad
My buddy maintains a fleet of cars, Civics are in the lineup. He said the stock batteries don't last much more than three years for him.
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That is my impression also from previous comments on this board.
 
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