Menu
What's new
By:
Advanced search...

Battery drain and alarm issue yet again... Please help

P

prezesmaks

Members
Messages
14
Reaction score
1
Location
Nottighamshire
Car
Accord EX 56
Hello Guys/Gals :)

Just said hello in newbie section but decided to quickly try and find help from you lot about as it seems common issue.
Bought my Accord Saloon 2007 (56) EX Auto 2.0 in November last year. Only 53k on the clock. Two weeks after my battery died out of the blue (car was not used for 2 days) - complete drain - had to use key to open. Figured its battery - jump start -ok. In a meantime had this car serviced at Honda. All tests passed - battery-alternator.
Fine, Ive been told I,m not driving too much-this might be an issue(!?). Three days after, in the morning (cold weather and very wet) opened car with remote/fob-opened door- Alarm went off. Completely confused as of what was happening. Called breakdown cover and they said if car starts fine they cannot come round as it is not breakdown :). Advised me to just go around the block and it should restart. It did. After about 7min. Fine - I took it as a little glitch.
Few weeks after same issue with battery- left car on car park where I work and after 10h I could not start it again. Went again for tests -all fine. Honda did test when car was switched off- 15 min. Said there is no drain...

A month ago same issue with Alarm going off when opening car after work. Drove off straight away to reset alarm. 7 min drive and it stopped.

After 2nd battery drain I started using a bit longer way to work (10min.) without using any toys on board. Seemed fine for over a month.
Few days ago, after I changed my driving habits for over a month battery died after just 10-12h of not driving, still could open it with fob. Left it for a night as could not be bothered to deal with it. Next day after (36h) car was completely dead as a dodo. No juice left.
Got power pack from amazon that dealt with it easily but few more times and I'm guessing and battery will go bust.

I read lots of info about battery drain and people usually suspect HFS/bluetooth, radio, Alarm?

I do not do much with cars myself. You could ***ume that any advise to do it yourself is not really a good idea here :).
What I would like to ask is: Do you know any really skilled Auto electrician that can diagnose fault with battery and Alarm going off when car is opened?
I love my car but it just instantly killed all the joy I've had. No idea what to do. Every day when I am about to start my car got this massive anxiety that car wont start , alarm will go off and my neighbours with kill me :D (6:30 am setting off).

Please let me know if you would like to recommend someone maybe from here or really good garage (NOT HONDA GARAGE EVER AGAIN -that's another story to tell) or really good auto electrician with vast knowledge and equipment to narrow issue down to something. ( Nottingham, Mansfield, Lincoln area )

I would really appreciate help.

Thank you guys
Max
 
I know a very good auto electrician who knows a lot about these issues and doesn't charge anything ......me.

Even better news, live near to Jn 24 of the M1, I'm sending you a PM (private message)
 
freddofrog said:
I know a very good auto electrician who knows a lot about these issues and doesn't charge anything ......me.

Even better news, live near to Jn 24 of the M1, I'm sending you a PM (private message)
Click to expand...
You remind of someone. Myself :) Like you already. I'm in urgent need to sort this out so thank you for reply and Ill be in touch shortly. Just moved to new area and at home ive got no internet and only 3g on mobile (lol) in certain places. If I wont answer till tomorrow it only means I could not do it technically.
 
F6HAD said:
You're a gud'n Brian.
Click to expand...
Hope I can fix it :unsure: :huh: :eek:

HFT is top of the list, but even if there is/was an HFT of some description it might have been "removed" with some bits left in there, so rather than ask the OP to look for remnants of things, since he doesn't live far away it's more expeditious to take a look myself. There are many other things that seem to drain the battery, in my car the battery flattens rapidly after it reaches a certain state of discharge, something in the MICU or IMOES seems to just "crowbar". Even the battery itself could be faulty (I don't trust places like Halfords etc to test batteries)
 
I could have not hoped for better help tbh so thanks again Guys. Fingers crossed freddofrog. Speak to you soon guys.

Again Thanks :)
 
Brian is a top man. Fortunately it was "just" common fault. At least I saw it myself: battery drain before we removed HFT and after removing it. Alarm going off might have been ***ociated with it hence we left it as it is. Fingers crossed all is good now. Will test it and let you know guys.

Thanks again Brian.
It was pleasure meeting you.
 
Nice work Brian

So you've removed the Bluetooth?
 
With all doors and bonnet shut and locked (alarm armed) the current drain was 230 mA

When we removed the HFT module and measured the current drain again, it was about a tenth of that.

For reasons of simplicity, I didn't use the Watt-hour meter on Max's car - the Watt-hour meter became a reference in "crazy phantom battery drain", the thread which involved Geoff's car (geoffdragon) http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/19730-crazy-phantom-battery-drain/ .

So I want to check what the current drain is on my car using the same method I used on Max's car, and come back to report more. Reason for that is because the level of current drain looked different from what I have seen on my car using the Watt-hour meter - there is the possibility that Max's car is now behaving the same as Geoff's car, but maybe not. Even if it is behaving the same, it will now give Max a week before it goes flat. I'm beginning to think that the common cause of this lower drain rate is the battery in the siren.

i.e. faulty HFT causes 230 mA drain
faulty siren battery causes 30 mA drain

But I need to check on my car to be sure
 
freddofrog said:
faulty siren battery causes 30 mA drain
Click to expand...
I still don't have the evidence for this statement LOL

I used the same method on my car that I had used on Max's car, and the DVM showed a varying amount from 26mA to 36mA ....exactly same as Max's car.

But I've also connected the Watt-hour meter, and after 12 hours it shows an average of 10mA.

I might connect an oscilloscope to see what the voltage fluctuation looks like, and I think I'm going to disconnect and remove the siren to see if that affects it.

Anyway, it points to good news for Max, I'm certain that he won't get a flat battery again, and I'm glad that I've seen this HFT issue for myself ....it's real folks :)
 
Called Honda Garage this morning to just find out what they are charging for those two: HFT(bluetooth module) and Alarm siren. LOL.
HFT -£1100 +VAT??? I asked twice if its correct price.
Alarm Siren - £687+VAT

HFT price is just massive JOKE. ​I would be ashamed to say that over the phone to customers. You can buy car for that and strip it down yourself.
 
£1100 might be a complete kit, I can't believe it's £1100 just for that one part.

On Lings there's a "bluetooth control unit" listed for £139 and a "base kit" for £204 https://www.lingshondaparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection.php?block_01=17SEA701&block_02=08E0001&block_03=3142&block_05=hcr

"ultrasonic siren kit" £309 https://www.lingshondaparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection.php?block_01=17SEA701&block_02=08E5501&block_03=3142&block_05=hcr

but those prices seem too cheap, you normally pay that much for a trim-clip LOL


I've done a bit more testing.

The Watt-hour meter over 24 hours definitely averages a drain of 10 mA.
On my Fluke DVM the drain varies between 26mA to 36mA
Note that the accuracy of current drain down in the hundredths of an amp is difficult to measure accurately, but IMO the Fluke is likely to be more accurate as it has 2 current ranges, and these readings are on the 300 mA range.

Anyway, with an oscilloscope across the Fluke, the voltage goes up 40% every 2.5 seconds, and then back again. Rise time and fall time are each about a tenth of a second. A voltage change measured on an oscilloscope across a DVM, when the DVM is measuring current, indicates that the current is changing. Why it changes like this is anyone's guess, but it is real, and the DVM behaved the same on Max's facelift 2.0 and my pre-facelift 2.4

Voltage on my car battery = 12.5 Volts

I still haven't disconnected the siren in my car, but it's safe to say that when the car battery is charged up, the drain should average somewhere between 10mA and 30mA, which ordinarily should take a long time to flatten a car battery.

So I can safely say that Max will not experience a flat battery in his car again (unless a new problem arises)
 
Oh well, ill call different garage tomorrow and ask exactly what it is. £130 for HFT?? Very cheap. Siren 200? Still decent price. Would be tempted to go for the siren itself as battery in it needs to be fairly new. Any scrap might have same issue.
Ive seen sirens on ebay for £10-£25 but as said these might be having same fault.
 
I don't even know if those parts are the correct ones, and it's possible that dealers can't find the right parts. I'm certain that £1100 was the wrong price for that tiny little module that we took out. Maybe look for a part number on the module ?
 
Just called Honda Sheffield:
HFT module - £1400 inc VAT
Alaram Siren - £830 inc VAT

So those prices are real. Real Joke. Oh well, Will call local scrap to see if there is any Honda Accord there :).
 
I think the 8th gen hft module is more. And they fail as well. Check out bba reman. They do reconditioned hft modules now. I haven't fitted one so I can't judge them but it's an option as a scrap one may be faulty as well. I've just replaced a head gasket on a idtec engine and gasket and bolts alone were nearly £900. but standard headlight for a 2013 civic about £50. There is no sense to Honda prices
 
Bloody heck we did the head gasket on my dads hyundai crdi recently and I thought the stretch bolts @ £12 each were expensive..
 
Luckily for the customer it was warranty. But even so £900 for a gasket set and bolts is a bit steep.
 
BBA Reman. HFT module repair with lifetime warranty: £350 +VAT...
I think I'll pass. They definitely know about Honda parts prices :).
 
Hi guys,
Just quick rather practical update. After taking HFT out car starts with no issues whatsoever. Drove to work about 3 min each way for the last 4 days and i cant even say that car was thinking not to start. Healthy sound from iginition. Im happy :). Thanks Brian.
In regards with HFT repair. I work at place where there is separate section of pcb repair. Weve got proper BGA machine that does re-flow properly. I will have a chat with one the guys and see what we can do with that bluetooth module.
Will let you know gents. It might take few weeks but bear with me on this now.
Ill leave siren for the time being. I need to inspect car properly when it happens again(hopefully wont).
 
Yes leave the siren for now, no need to check it until it starts to go off when you open the door, or when starting the engine.
 
Hi again Brian.
Glad to see you were able to sort out that problem. Haven't been about for a while due to a house move but easy afternoon today so I thought I'd check the drain on the car. Its still the same.
A few weeks ago the low battery volts issue affected the immobiliser. Devil of a job to get the car to recognise the keys, eventually connected a battery charger to give it 12v and got the immobiliser off and the car started. I rang Honda and they re-programmed the immobiliser, but if the battery goes too low the green key symbol won't go out until I charge it up a bit.
If I know I'm not going to use the car for a few days, I disconnect the battery with the gadget.
To busy after the house move to delve any deeper.
Another visit to Honda and the airbag recall has been done, should have got them to test the immoes unit at the same time LOL.
Anyway, keep up the good work
All the best Geoff
 
There's definitely something strange going on there Geoff, fortunately Max's car was easy. Your car, being pre-facelift, never had the factory HFT, although IIRC you did say it looked like someone had fitted a hands-free and removed it.

I'm sure that there is something in my car that "crow-bars" when the battery volts go under a particular value, but I would have to be OCD to keep checking until it happened, so I just disconnect the battery instead.
 
Hey guys,
Interestingly I think I'm having similar issues.

I replaced the Accord salon rear brake pads yesterday and even took it for a quick 5 min drive after finishing.

However starting it this morning it won't start. Clicks but no turn over.

A little history, battery was replaced with a new one from Hold croft in December.
I've removed my siren as I've had problems with it going off - still need to replace the internal battery and refit.
Also my Bluetooth module doesn't seem to work. If I disconnect and reconnect (from under central dash), it starts working.
I never use it and will get a Xlinks kit soon.

I'm wondering if I should disconnect the Bluetooth module permanently now.

Can't jump the car now as its raining with hailstones.

Car is a 2007 Accord EX 2.0L petrol.
 
Cheers Freddofrog, that's the same unit I can disconnect and reconnect and my Bluetooth starts working again.

For now I will just remove it and have it have a look at the solding.

By the way, does the voice recognition still work with this module removed?
 
Managed to do a quick test with the Bluetooth module today.
With the module fitted and connected, I got the following current draw:



With the module disconnected, I got the following current draw:



Its now removed and hopefully will resolve my issue with having to jump start every so often.
I'll open up the module and see if I can try to repair it.

To answer my previous question, the voice recognition doesn't seem to understand any commands with the Bluetooth module disconnected.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top