Honda Insight - 290 CCA

[Nayov]

Worked on an Insight yesterday. Not the fist gen, but the current one (2007?). Glanced down at the starting battery, to see it had 290 cold cranking amps. How insane is that? Honda batteries are usually small throughout the line. Even the battery in my old Sentra has an crazy amount, 800 or so (wm battery).
They obviously know what they are doing, but do any of you Honda owners have early battery failures or trouble starting in extremely cold weather?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I know Fits are somewhat famous for having weak batteries.

 

[redhat]

A lot of us with the 4cyl Accords swap out the 400-ish CCA 51R for either a group 35 or better yet a 24F with some massive CCA. MANY with the new 9th gen Accords were having electrical gremlins with the stereo system. A few found a resolution with a bigger battery providing more continuous power.

I put a 800CCA Interstate MTP in mine. IMO this is a great thing to add, but then a lot of people get all hot and bothered and say "oh... Honda adds that battery 'cause of weight" or "you don't need that much CCA" or "they engineered the car and know better than you".

Plain and simple. The 51R battery used to crank my K24 SLOW in cold, now the 24F it turns nice and quick. I'm also a believer that more CCA to a starter on a cold morning is a good way to not cook your starter.

 

[QuOk]

Isn't the battery pack for starting the vehicle?
The 12v is for everything else.

 

[Nayov]

^Now that could be. But still, Hondas use exceptionally small batteries.

BTW, this was on the manual version of the hybrid.

 

[LotusLover]

The Group 51 IS significantly and noticeably lightre than the Group 24 used on earlier Accords.

Makes it easier to push-start the car when the OE battery dies, right?

 

[Rand]

My 2011 forester came with a Panasonic battery that does not even list a rating. Most Autoparts stores say my car requires 550CCA.

The factory battery when new tested out at about 380CCA

it was down to 250-280CCA and turning over way to slow for me. The reserve capacity was also amazingly low.

Subaru wouldnt replace it unless it left me stranded. I decided to get an autocraft silver.. its rated 575 and tested at 620CCA

best 55$ I ever spent.. I was feeling retarded trying to explain how they would be unable to accurately test my battery after a 25min drive to their dealer....
vs first cold start at 20F in the morning.

battery was extremely fresh.. stickered for nov-2013.. and purchased 3rd week of nov-2013

I was going to go for the gold series but 54$ vs 77$ decided me.

The other morning it was 13F out and my car sat out for 11hours.. Started up faster than at 45F with the old battery. Lights didnt dim.. etc.

Last thought.. same engine in my dad's 2013 outback has a 490CCA battery and his car has less electrical than mine..

 

[Quest]

My fit runs off of a 151 series battery, which is, in my opinion, the smallest battery I've ever encounter on a production automobile. (golf cart sized).

Enough to crank a stone-cold car @ -24C (past couple of nites, with windchill) w/o aid. Mine is the original Japanese made Yuasa, 8yrs old...I think it should be good for maybe a year or 2 more.

On the other hand: wifey's Johnson Ctrl battery on her camry just got replaced due to slow-cranking when cold. Load test indicated that it's weak (still accepts charge but internal resistance is rather high)...replaced with another JC (it was late at nite, and only Walmart opens and carry that battery off the shelf).

Q.

 

[L_Sludger]

Hello Mr. Big Brain. I hope that your brain isn't feeling too large today.

The Honda Insight's 12v battery serves mainly to power on the IMA solenoids and the computer control system of the extremely powerful 120-144v main battery, which is in the trunk. Do you dig it? It only exists to act as an "exciter" for an "alternator" so to speak. You can use a cell phone battery to perform the same task, almost. There's a bigger battery involved.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Nayov
Worked on an Insight yesterday. Not the fist gen, but the current one (2007?). Glanced down at the starting battery, to see it had 290 cold cranking amps. How insane is that? Honda batteries are usually small throughout the line. Even the battery in my old Sentra has an crazy amount, 800 or so (wm battery).
They obviously know what they are doing, but do any of you Honda owners have early battery failures or trouble starting in extremely cold weather?


Our Fit's OEM 151R battery was dead after 2 years. I replaced it with a higher-CCA U1R (lawn tractor converted for automotive use, if you consider a 90's Miata an automobile) battery. This one's going on its second winter. We'll see how it does.

 

[artificialist]

My mom's 1999 CRV had a group 51 battery. The only reason she had it replaced it early was because she left her headlights on overnight, and had to be at work that very morning.

If she didn't crash the car back in 2002, I would be able to give more input on the use of group 51 batteries.

The only other Honda in my family was a 1995 Accord. I don't remember if it took a group 35, or a 24R, however, it was certainly much bigger than a group 51. Dad had problems with batteries in that car only because Wal-Mart batteries at that time weren't good. 2 of them exploded, so he bought an interstate battery later and had no problems.

 

[blackman777]

Originally Posted By: Nayov
They obviously know what they are doing, but do any of you Honda owners have early battery failures or trouble starting in extremely cold weather?


Someone's probably already stated this, but the Insight battery is not used to start the engine. It only operates the computer, and the computer uses the ~150 volt hybrid battery to turn the engine to 1000 rpm (and then apply fuel/spark).