Have the Honda engineers fixed this battery killer yet?

[Jim]

So I have a 2003 Ex Pilot. I have been pretty happy with it, but I ran into an old problem last week. If you leave the interior master light switch in the "up" position (always on), the car goes into self-destruct mode and will run the battery down until it's dead or until you remember and move the switch to the middle (doors only) or down (always off) position. The crazy thing about it is that the vehicle gives you no audible warning if this is going to happen. Conversely, if you leave your headlights on, the Pilot beeps at you. This is despite the fact that the Pilot is smart enough to switch the headlights off after a couple minutes. So, the Pilot warns you of a harmless situation and is silent in the face of a catastrophic failure (i.e. running the battery so low you can't start the engine).

I dunno, but this seems insane to me in 2011 that I had to deal with a dead battery last week. Just wondering if the Honda engineers have solved a problem that doesn't seem very difficult.

Oh, and I'm going to switch to LEDs so this doesn't happen again. I toyed with the idea of pulling the fuse(s) to the lights. Anything is better than waiting for a tow truck for an hour in 15 degree weather.

[sblvro]

you mean up with the lights off? because I have no issues whatsoever with the switch up yet the lights are closed.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by sblvro

you mean up with the lights off? because I have no issues whatsoever with the switch up yet the lights are closed.

Sorry, I didn't follow you. The problem is that if the interior light switch is up (set to always-on), the car will run down its battery until it won't start unless you return the switch to the middle (door only mode) or bottom (always-off). Even if you lock the vehicle with your key fob, the interior lights remain. The Pilot is in self-destruct mode, of a single mind to run down the battery.

My rant was a bit tongue-in-cheek, and I hope it was taken that way. I do think this is a major problem that should be fixed. I'm hoping it has been.

By way of comparison, my wife's 2000 Accord will leave the interior light on if one of the doors is ajar (a common thing to happen with young kids). That little light doesn't pull enough to run down the battery overnight, thank goodness. Nevertheless, Honda fixed this obvious flaw in later vehicles such as my '03 Pilot.

[onu2002]

The problem isn't that the battery is drained when ALL of the interior lights are on. That's perfectly understandable.

But you wish that there would be an audible warning if, say, you remove the key from the ignition with the master switch 'on', right? Or a timer would be nice. Because sometimes you might want to sit in the car, with the engine off and the lights on, for a few minutes. But maybe the lights should turn off after 10 minutes or so.

[LetsGo]

It's not a problem, it's a luxury feature. Years ago, only fancy cars would dim off the interior lights after you shut the doors. Now Honda has graciously given you the same feature free of charge! Just leave the interior lights on for a day or so and watch in amazement as they slowly dim and go off, similar to an MDX but slower. Acura features on a Honda budget!

[rocky]

So your car is parked outside/in the garage and you want it to beep at you when the battery is low?

Suspect that will piss off the neighbors, while you may not hear it.

[humanoid]

Instead of having an alarm tell you your interior lights are on, why not just make it a habit of turning them off first before exiting the Pilot?

[noanswer]

Originally Posted by Jim

So I have a 2003 Ex Pilot. I have been pretty happy with it, but I ran into an old problem last week. If you leave the interior master light switch in the "up" position (always on), the car goes into self-destruct mode and will run the battery down until it's dead or until you remember and move the switch to the middle (doors only) or down (always off) position. The crazy thing about it is that the vehicle gives you no audible warning if this is going to happen. Conversely, if you leave your headlights on, the Pilot beeps at you. This is despite the fact that the Pilot is smart enough to switch the headlights off after a couple minutes. So, the Pilot warns you of a harmless situation and is silent in the face of a catastrophic failure (i.e. running the battery so low you can't start the engine).

I dunno, but this seems insane to me in 2011 that I had to deal with a dead battery last week. Just wondering if the Honda engineers have solved a problem that doesn't seem very difficult.

Oh, and I'm going to switch to LEDs so this doesn't happen again. I toyed with the idea of pulling the fuse(s) to the lights. Anything is better than waiting for a tow truck for an hour in 15 degree weather.

The real killer for us is the individual overhead lights...

My daughter likes to turn them on when she reads or is looking for something.

The problem happens when we stop and open the doors, all of the lights come on, so we forget that a single light is on. When we walk away from the vehicle, we don't notice it, lock the doors, and go inside.

We've killed the battery once, and we've caught it in time on other occasions.

I wish it had a 30 minute ~ 1 hour timer, which would eliminate our problem.


The problem you have seems to be a much easier problem to avoid, since you have to make a conscious effort to turn that switch on, and all lights on are much brighter than just a single light. I never use that switch unless I need all interior lights for a second while we're on the road.

On a side note, my father-in-law has a Ridgeline, and the same switch is lower and closer to his knee. He frequently bumps his in the off position, and sometimes can't figure out why his interior lights won't come on (he's 76, so I cut him some slack).

[cwelty]

Originally Posted by noanswer

The real killer for us is the individual overhead lights...

My daughter likes to turn them on when she reads or is looking for something.

I have a similar problem except it is our dog's back that hits the button. I've been lucky enough that so far it has only happened in the evening so I can look outside and see the light is still on.

The first thing I thought when it happened is, if the damn doors can lock in the time I'm taking groceries in why can't the stupid light turn off.

[rocky]

Some First gen owners really got into LEDs

LED curtisy light revision 2

Guess the alternative is taking the time to switch things off....I know its a PIA but come on people you can do it!

[noanswer]

Originally Posted by rocky

Some First gen owners really got into LEDs

LED curtisy light revision 2

Guess the alternative is taking the time to switch things off....I know its a PIA but come on people you can do it!

For us it's not about taking the time. It's the fact that we don't notice. Sometimes when you have a couple of kids, and you're trying to get them and everything inside, you just don't notice the extra light inside which is only on about 5% of the time at the most.

And thanks for your usual sarcastic and smug answer. Your "contribution" is appreciated.

[mclairmo]

Same thing happens to my 05 Pilot all the time. I now leave the button in the always off down position because we have drained the battery too many times. However, it is nice to be able to turn on all the interior lights even when the engine is off. BUT, Honda should have given us a warning that we have left them on when we open the door or lock the door or automatically turn them off after a few minutes. Something to prevent the battery drain.

[xGS]

PriorityStart - Stop Dead Batteries on Cars & Boats [Priority Start! Battery Protector]

[onu2002]

Originally Posted by xGS

PriorityStart - Stop Dead Batteries on Cars & Boats [Priority Start! Battery Protector]

That looks like the answer, but for $70, I think I could get in the habit of checking the lights when I leave the car.

[3rdrow]

Originally Posted by rocky

Some First gen owners really got into LEDs

LED curtisy light revision 2

Guess the alternative is taking the time to switch things off....I know its a PIA but come on people you can do it!

thats a helpful link to people wanting to change their interior lamps to LED. i did this on my last car and it made nice improvements. much brighter, whiter light. less battery drain.