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2016 Honda Pilot Elite - Battery or Parasitic Draw

3K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  sequoiasoon 
#1 ·
Live in Northwest Indiana, I have a 2016 Honda Pilot Elite with roughly 100,000 miles on it. Bought it used, owned it since June 2018, and keep up with regular maintenance.

About 2 months ago I noticed a strange pause of audio and click noise with the auto idle stop. It wouldn't happen everytime, but it was there. So I figured maybe the previous owner never replaced the battery and it's about done. I checked, and I came to learn that the battery was replaced at some point, and it was replaced with one of the cheapest batteries you could buy https://www.autozone.com/batteries-...battery-h6-e-group-size-48-615-cca/811871_0_0

Went and bought one of these, and put it in Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Some relevant information: I moved this year and no longer keep the car inside an insulated garage, it sits outside.

On Christmas day, which was the coldest day of the year thus far, about 10F. Tried the remote start in the morning, wouldn't work, I go inside and try to start it and it just makes repeating clicking noises with dash going crazy. I couldn't believe that I had to jump start a less than 2 month old expensive battery! The car is driven almost everyday and the previous night I did at least 60 miles of highway driving.

Checked the voltage after running it a while and then turning it off, voltage was 12.1V. Turned the car back on, reads 14.1V, so charging system is working. Used the car for a few days and it was warmer out, took it to Advanced Auto Parts, they test the car, alternator/charging system is working, battery by then was reading 12.4V, and condition shows as good on their gadget, guy says it may just need to be fully charged. And while talking to the guys there, they told me about parasitic draw with these newer electronic heavy vehicles, then told me to get it fully diagnosed. At that point I was getting confused and sort of annoyed, because I found the whole situation to be unreasonable; you have a working charging system, with a car driven constantly, and in less than 2 months, with a $300 battery, you have to jump start it because it sat for less than 12 hours outside in 10F weather.

Now, either they're trying really hard to not have to replace my battery for free, or there is some draw sufficient enough to cause such a problem, especially in the cold. Does anyone know of any?
 
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#2 ·
Live in Northwest Indiana, I have a 2016 Honda Pilot Elite with roughly 100,000 miles on it. Bought it used, owned it since June 2018, and keep up with regular maintenance.

About 2 months ago I noticed a strange pause of audio and click noise with the auto idle stop. It wouldn't happen everytime, but it was there. So I figured maybe the previous owner never replaced the battery and it's about done. I checked, and I came to learn that the battery was replaced at some point, and it was replaced with one of the cheapest batteries you could buy https://www.autozone.com/batteries-...battery-h6-e-group-size-48-615-cca/811871_0_0

Went and bought one of these, and put it in Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Some relevant information: I moved this year and no longer keep the car inside an insulated garage, it sits outside.

On Christmas day, which was the coldest day of the year thus far, about 10F. Tried the remote start in the morning, wouldn't work, I go inside and try to start it and it just makes repeating clicking noises with dash going crazy. I couldn't believe that I had to jump start a less than 2 month old expensive battery! The car is driven almost everyday and the previous night I did at least 60 miles of highway driving.

Checked the voltage after running it a while and then turning it off, voltage was 12.1V. Turned the car back on, reads 14.1V, so charging system is working. Used the car for a few days and it was warmer out, took it to Advanced Auto Parts, they test the car, alternator/charging system is working, battery by then was reading 12.4V, and condition shows as good on their gadget, guy says it may just need to be fully charged. And while talking to the guys there, they told me about parasitic draw with these newer electronic heavy vehicles, then told me to get it fully diagnosed. At that point I was getting confused and sort of annoyed, because I found the whole situation to be unreasonable; you have a working charging system, with a car driven constantly, and in less than 2 months, with a $300 battery, you have to jump start it because it sat for less than 12 hours outside in 10F weather.

Now, either they're trying really hard to not have to replace my battery for free, or there is some draw sufficient enough to cause such a problem, especially in the cold. Does anyone know of any?
Every car draws a little when it sits, but it's likely as you stated. The battery was not fully charged when they sold it to you. I'd stop using the idle start stop function permanently. Winter weather is already hard enough on a battery. I'd keep a jump start pack with me for peace of mind. If it goes dead again, make them replace it.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I did a little test using a multimeter and a battery charger. I've been reading a lot about all this, some say voltage measuring alone can't really tell you whether a battery is bad or not, but to me this just doesn't seem right.


Pictures in order going across or descending left to right depending on how it shows up for you.


1. Battery taken out and checked
2. Charger set for AGM batteries and reached full.
3. Voltage reading right after disconnecting charger.
4. Voltage reading 15 minutes later
5. Voltage reading 15 minutes after previous
6. Voltage reading 21 minutes after previous
7. Reading taken right after using the Repair Mode on the charger (took several hours for that process)
8. Immediately put the charger back on and put it back into regular charge mode and took measurement when completed.
9. Brought battery in from garage to inside home and placed on kitchen counter, put the charger on again, let it charge and left it (once charged it goes into battery maintenance mode), and so that reading is what I got after roughly 6 hours of it being on.
10. That last reading is taken 30 minutes after I put the battery back in car and drove to a couple stores, totalling roughly 4 miles, and measured when I got back home.

Don't have a picture for this, but I just checked it a few minutes ago early this morning (yesterday the wife drove it about 25-30 miles or so total) and it reads 12.11V after sitting overnight for roughly 8 hours, currently 26F.

Am I missing something or misunderstanding these voltage readings? I feel unsure because of hearing people saying so many different things about the limitations of voltage checking, and that having to do a battery load test somewhere is necessary, but to me all this testing I did with the total disconnection of the battery, charging it, using reconditioning/repairing mode, and etc, just seems to say to me that something is wrong with this battery.
 
#8 · (Edited)
You can also maybe check with Optima on charging requirements for that. I recall that the deep cycle batteries are made to be able to go to a lower voltage and be able to be recovered but they need the correct charging for that. I had a yellow D31 in my Sequoia and many short trips that the wife made to work and around never got it back to full charge. Even taking long 2hr plus each way road trips didn't. I had to use one of the smart chargers that works with spiral cell batteries. I have the CTEK 7002 which Optima showed on their video to recover a dead red top.

The constant auto off idle stop will take more from it then you might be putting back. The Pilot has a "smart" charging system that varies alternator output between 12.5 and 15.8V depending on what the ELD and ECU determine for load not what the battery might need. My Accord has the same thing and if you want 14V+ you need to turn on headlights and leave them on (or A/C etc.) Normal daytime driving might only be 12.8V to reduce the load on alternator and increase your MPG.

You might be better off with a cheaper non deep cycle AGM battery AND make sure you clean up the ground contact point where it attaches to the body by removing the bolt and sanding/cleaning the paint off. Coat with preferably KOPR-SHIELD or at least Dielectric grease and don't forget the bolt threads and inside welded nut on fenderwell. 4 years in there might me some corrosion under there adding to the problems and smart systems that need good electrical contact.
 
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