Battery Replacement

[BostonDan]

Hi Everyone,
My wife has a 2007 Honda Pilot and just recently had a new battery installed. When AAA came out to do the install,they technician told her that my battery drain was high. She's not positive, but she thinks he said the drain on battery was 7.1 and high for a Honda, however low enough that he can still put in a new battery. If it was 7.9 he would be unable to install the new battery.

Three weeks later, the car wouldn't start after having sit for 2 days. I charged the battery and everything is working fine now.

Can anyone tell me how much current the battery draw should be when the car is off and when the car is running?

Also, any suggestions on troubleshooting would be appreciated.

In advance, thanks for helping.
Dan

[Underdog]

Well something is definitely wrong.

As far as the numbers you have quoted I can't comment except to say the "Battery Drain" should be minimal.

I just returned from Europe. My Pilot and my wife's CRV sat for almost 4 weeks and both started immediately without any issues.

I suspect you have an open circuit somewhere or something was left on.

[N_Jay]

Any electrical mods or accessories?

Anything plugged into the power outlets (what used to be called Cigarette Lighters)

[A6Pilot]

Check out this product that can be used to test individual curcuits for shorts or high electrical drain:

Amazon.com: fuse buddy: Automotive

Amazon.com: fuse buddy: Automotive

[3rdrow]

something to check that i have found-an interior light, especially the one in the tailgate. my wife and 11 y/o are notorious for leaving one on. i usually catch that but i have also seen where the tailgate light got turned on due to groceries or cargo in the back and i wouldnt know how long it had been on. you dont notice that its on by just looking in the car unless its in a really dark area. just something to check.

[rocky]

First suspect any internal lights being left on at the back of the car (thanks kids) and after market accessories eg car alarm that is wired to be live with the engine off.

The car's power outlets require the engine to be on. Which rules them out unless modified.

Once you are passed those then a check of the alternator. They rarely fail but if the electronics inside do start to go, they can draw a current from the battery when not in use.

Last but not least the circuit by circuit test for a short circuit.

In the meantime, get yourself a battery booster from sears or similar and plug her car in overnight until you can solve this issue. At least that way she shouldn't be stranded

[whizmo]

Originally Posted by BostonDan

She's not positive, but she thinks he said the drain on battery was 7.1 and high for a Honda, however low enough that he can still put in a new battery. If it was 7.9 he would be unable to install the new battery.

Odd numbers. Normally, parasitic draw is measured in mA and I've heard that Honda considers anything under 50 mA "normal". Stock, the Honda battery is rated at 65 amp-hours and at 8 mA, it would take nearly a year to discharge the battery completely. At 50 mA, the battery should last about 50 days. (Actually times would be less as the battery wouldn't be able to spin the starter motor prior to being completely discharged.)

The service manual doesn't list an actual spec for the parasitic draw for the Pilot, despite it being the first thing to check under the symptom of "Battery discharged" in the Charging System troubleshooting section. Lame.

If your parasitic load is 7.1 amps, then you've got a serious problem and it would take only 9 hours to completely discharge the battery. If you're drawing 7 amps, that's an 85 watt light-bulb's worth of power burning away and you should be able to find the draw without too much trouble.

But I bet these numbers aren't either mA or A and you're somewhere in-between Okay and blatantly obvious.

Aftermarket alarm? Remote starter? Any other electrical mods?

Good luck,

- Mark