Odd no-start problem - '07 EX-L

[krazykarguy]

All -

Ran into an odd issue with my '07 this past weekend.

I had two errands to run on Sunday afternoon with my wife and my 1 year old son. I started the Pilot, and then drove to my first stop, which was less than a mile away. When I got back in the car, it refused to start, acting like it had a low battery.

I tried re-starting it several times, all with the same result. I left wife/son in the car and I hitched a ride back to my house to get the other car to jump the Pilot with.

Oddly enough, I tried one more time to start it, and it fired right up as though nothing had happened. We continued to our next stop, and when we returned to the car, it also fired up fine.

That night, I hooked the battery to a trickle charger after verifying that the battery voltage was 12.51 volts. When I checked it the next morning, it was at 13.68 volts. Seems like a healthy battery - as it should be - it was a brand new OEM Honda battery installed in January 2010.

My wife has continued to drive it, and has noted a couple of "slow start" incidences, but it has continued to start for her without issue.

Thoughts?

[rocky]

Thought I'd dropped a reply in on this.... Remove the battery cables. Clean the terminal and cable. Use dieletric grease and retighten the connections on the battery.
If that doesn't fix it, then I suspect you need to check the cable from the battery to starter motor inc the grounds. Something isn't right!

[whizmo]

I think the key diagnostic here is the behaviour of the engine when it wouldn't start. If the battery continued to spin the engine briskly during the starting attempts, then I doubt you have any issue with the battery or terminals. But if the battery exhibited signs of weakness (slower turning engine over during attempts), then I'd say you probably have a weak battery or terminal issue.

When it wouldn't start, did you try the flooded engine procedure (full throttle)?

If the battery is at all suspect or more than a few years old, I'd just replace it - they're cheap and easy to replace, and even if it is not the problem, you've eliminated one variable and have replaced something that usually needs replacing regularly anyway.

Even though it has been recently replaced, my bet is on the battery.

- Mark

[krazykarguy]

Thanks for the replies.

Rocky - I did remove and clean the battery terminals immediately following the initial no-start. The positive (+) connection was pretty crusty. It hasn't reoccurred since the first time it happened.

whizmo - It was cranking very slowly, and then started clicking (like the battery was dead). The battery entered it's service life on 2/10, and has a 100 month warranty. If this happens again, I will go after Honda for a new battery, or back to the dealership that I bought it at and have them fix it (since they were the ones who replaced it).

I am hoping that the (+) terminal being so dirty was not allowing the alternator to properly charger the battery and that the cleaning has fixed the issue.

[krazykarguy]

Well, it happened again. My wife was left stranded yesterday because the Pilot would not start again. Luckily I had stowed jumper cables in the car so that she would only need to find someone to jump the battery and she would be on her way home.

Anyways, when I got home from work, I checked the voltage at the battery and it was 12.39 volts. Kind of low, but not terrible. I started the car (and it definitely cranked slower than normal), and read the voltage at the battery again - it was 14.2 volts. To me, this suggests that the battery is not capable of holding or taking a decent/solid charge.

So I call Honda, and tell them my findings, and the service guy I spoke with told me that 12.4 volts is a fine reading for a battery. I argued that point, but he also mentioned that the Nissan dealership that we purchased the car from would be the ones who would have to warranty the battery as they are the "original purchaser". Luckily, the 100 month Honda battery has a 3 year/36k free replacement.

I hooked it up to a 1 amp trickle charger for 4 hours, and that brought the battery voltage up to just below 13 volts last night. This morning it read 12.76-12.85 (couldn't get a steady reading for some reason). So it is obviously losing it's charge.

Well, I scheduled an appointment today to have the Nissan dealership hopefully replace the battery with a new one.

FWIW, the battery was installed February 2010 (20 months ago) (sticker on battery says 07/09 so it was old stock when installed), and we have driven the Pilot 28,000 miles in that time period. So we are definitely within the specified free replacement period. I am only hoping that the Nissan dealership is not going to try and charge stupid amounts of labor $$$ to install it.

[belundy]

Sounds like infant failure of the battery. It happens.

[94eg!]

^Indeed

Next time you have to pay full price for a new battery, I suggest just going with Autozone's duralast red-top battery. Their pro-rated warranty is just as good as Hondas (3 years free + pro-rated after that), and the batteries cost a little less. All you need is a 12mm wrench a 10mm deep socket to get it done. If you don't have those things, usually the people at the Autozone have tools and will even help you (for free).

The best part is Autozone's warranty requires no receipt and can be used at any Autozone nationwide. Your info is stored under your phone number. I use these batteries in all 4 of my cars. I just had one die a little early on me and it only cost $30 to replace.

All batteries are crap technology and they fail all the time. There is no reason to spend extra on any battery.

BTW: If you maintain your battery by keeping the cells filled with distilled water (cause they do get low), your battery will last a lot longer. The battery can only convert so much lead into acid if it's low on water.

Also, the best way to clean crud off your terminals is to cover the area in baking soda and then pour water on it. This reacts with the powdered acid and neutralizes it. you will see bright copper once again. Then coat the outside of the terminal with dielectric grease. It's meant to cover the connection after it's made and keep crud from building up on the joint. Don't ever let baking soda get inside the battery cells. It will neutralize the acid inside (that's bad).

[krazykarguy]

Well, the wife just left the Nissan dealership with a new (and free) Deka battery under the hood.

Seems like the tech agreed with whizmo on this one!

94eg! - The Honda battery that failed was installed before we purchased it. I would not ever pay premium money for a Honda (or any other make) branded car battery. My 1st choice in batteries is typically DuraLast (AutoZone) or EverStart (Wal*Mart).