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

Battery flatted after service?!

A

AndyHK

Members
Messages
252
Reaction score
15
Location
United Kingdom
Car
06 Accord Executive
Owned this car almost 2 weeks, always straight start without any problem, so time for DIY full service.
I carried out the work yesterday which followed the guide from the tutorial, the most difficult and frustrated part was the fuel filter, it located awkwardly behind the engine. From the start of the battery removal, to the filter completely removed (with the help of swearing! ) and install the new one, it took me at least 2 hours!
Then, I have to pause my work, got back into my house, cooked dinner for my wife and eat.
I resumed my work 2 hours later, and she gave me a help to reinstall the filter to the bulkhead, it didn't take too long though. This is also the best chance to change gearbox oil while the battery and air box were out of the way, so I moved on until all the work had done and checked properly, reassembled all the covers.
It struggled at the first attempt to start the engine, but it fire up at the second time without any unusual noise or issue. Rev and hold at 2000 rpm for a couple of minutes and then idled (usual procedure), everything worked perfectly, my service job had accomplished after somewhere of 7 hours I guess, anyway I'm satisfied.
Earlier today, I started up the engine, it turned but there was a little bit of hesitation, so I switched it off and restart it, guess what? The battery suddenly flatted. Got it jump started, drove 11 miles to Tesco for groceries, when I returned to the car, it failed again due to the battery, luckily my mechanic friends were 100 yards opposite the road, they lent me the emergency kit and fit it fire up easily. I told them the full story of the service, they said the battery shouldn't be flat even though it has been removed for over 6 hours, so they suggested me to buy a charger to charge it overnight, hopefully it will restore the condition.
I bought the charger and drove 11 miles back home, switched off the engine and unloaded my groceries, when I tried to start it up, the battery failed again, the whole dash board lights were flashing and making the "dalaaalaaaalaa" noise.......
So, what you guys reckon?
What exactly went wrong to cause this problem?
 
Definitely not.

I followed the proper procedure to remove and reinstall, always Red the "+", then Negative the "-"
 
Actually, it's safest to disconnect the negative terminal first, and re-connect it last... that'll mean that you cannot violently short your spanner to the vehicle chassis while using it on the positive terminal.

I'm ***uming you had your battery disconnected during the entire service, therefore the service would have had a completely neutral effect upon the state of the battery charge. So I suggest your battery has failed, and this is coincidental to the service.
 
Jon_G said:
Actually, it's safest to disconnect the negative terminal first, and re-connect it last... that'll mean that you cannot violently short your spanner to the vehicle chassis while using it on the positive terminal.

I'm ***uming you had your battery disconnected during the entire service, therefore the service would have had a completely neutral effect upon the state of the battery charge. So I suggest your battery has failed, and this is coincidental to the service.
Click to expand...
Do you suggest that I need a new battery then?
 
Have you got a multi-meter? A voltage reading would be beneficial.

You said you bought a charger, did you actually use it if so how long was it on? Some chargers might indicate a fault, or go into a maintenance mode.

Finally, how old is the battery?
 
I don't have a multi meter as I'm not an electrician and don't know how to use it :(

I did bought the RING battery charger with 8 amp, which more than enough to charge this battery. It had been plugged since 15:00, and the indicator just shown fully charged 10 mins ago, so disconnect everything, key into the ignition and turn, it fired up straight away, then I restart it for another 4 times and no problem. Now I'm going to observe the condition in the following days, hopefully it's all ok.

But I'm still scratching my head of why the battery didn't charge at all after 11ish miles of driving?
 
You don't need any skills to measure DC voltage. I spent about £30 on my meter, not the cheapest but miles off the price of a £500 Fluke. Literally turn it to 20v DC*, put the black lead on negative and red on positive (battery still in car, all connected up, nothing needs removed) and take a reading.

So we can try a basic test to see if you battery is requiring replacement. Put your headlights on for about 1 or 2 mins without starting the car. This should removed, what I have heard called 'surface charge' (I'm not an electrician either lol). In theory this should give a better indication of the battery's condition, rather than starting from a fresh charge on an old battery.

If it struggles after 2mins then I'd say the battery is finished. I should say 2 mins is an arbitrary amount of time, its not an absolute standard - you might find 3,4, or 5 mins is what kills its ability to restart. A fresh battery might like 10-20mins depending on the Amp Hour of the battery and current draw of electrical items drawing load. So some variables here, but just a basic test that might help decide on buying a new battery.

8 years is quite a decent service life, that's how long my first battery lasted too.

EDIT
* (just incase you acquire a meter, 20v DC, meter set to read VOLTS not AMPS, this is critical: leads must be in the COM and VOLT port not AMP). If you accidentally plug into the AMP port it effectively makes the leads a series lead, or in layman's terms a single piece of wire end to end. When you connect black to neg, and red to pos you WILL see sparks, and probably damage the battery and meter, and thats speaking from experience lol.
 
If you do get a voltmeter, then the battery should have a terminal voltage of at least 12.5v after standing over night. To prove the alternator is working, the terminal voltage should at least 14.4v at a fast (1500RPM) idle with all lights, blower, HRW all turned on.
 
Andy, it sounds like you're a proper electrician according of what you said lol
Anyway, thanks to everybody's comments, back to work tomorrow and I can borrow a multi meter from my supervisor, or I could ask him to take a look of it
My mechanic friend said leave it to charge for over the night even though if it had fully charged, at least I know it could be start up in the bloody cold morning tomorrow :)
 
The check Jon mentioned is also critical regarding the Alternator. Its just the same test, leads in the same position, nothing changes on the meter and take a reading with the engine running and you want about the 14.4V this basically ensures the alternator is working effectively and outputting enough voltage to keep the battery at maximum capacity.

If you bought a new battery without these tests, plugged it in and it went flat you would be blaming a duff battery when infact it could be the alternator.

The issue with yours is the age, its very likely to be the battery after 8yrs. If the battery was newish, you could probably bet on the alternator and the meter would confirm it.
 
It does sound like your battery is dying but also it would take about an hour or more of driving to recharge the battery fully
 
edgeoftime said:
Ring Holdcroft Honda and get a great deal on Battery. £41 delivered next day, just last two weeks back do not the weather (cold) catch you out.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info mate
 
Just a followed up:

The battery was fully charged by the charger and no problem to start the engine this morning.
An hour ago I went to check if it has any issue to start up the engine when I was having my lunch break, well, it struggled and started, but to achieve that, I needed to hold the key at the ignition position for over 4 seconds. I switched it off and tried again, it remained the same result as the first attempt......
Unfortunately I couldn't borrow the voltmeter from the electrician, few machines had problems and he is very busy since......
The battery seems doesn't hold any power at all, I'm wondering where the problem came from...... battery or alternator?
 
You need some one with a voltage dropper, they look like a cattle prod, remove the battery caps or plate, then stab the pos and neg post's, if you get fizzing in the cells ring Holdcroft get a new battery and ditch that one.
 
8 year old battery, maybe hanging around unused for weeks in the winter cold while the car was on the forecourt, for £41 it's not worth messing about wasting any more time and effort, ring Holdcroft tomorrow and get it sorted before the weekend ;)
 
A definite '+1' on getting the battery from HH (with the club discount)... £41 is even more of a bargain than the £49 I paid last year! And I thought that was cheap.

It's a very good battery (Delphi/Johnson), the Ah and CCA figures matched a Bosch costing double the price.
 
had a look at my battery today, cleaned all the gunk from it and was surprised to see honda on it, looks to be the battery from day 1 so that is about 10 years old.

impressed.
 
Even if its not the battery, you will probably need one sooner than you think. You might need to invest in a meter regardless, or beg/borrow one. Three reasons

1. is the battery ok? (already discussed)

2. is the alternator ok? (already discussed)

3. are you experiencing a parastic draw?*


Point 3 could flatten the battery in the same way the alternator not functioning correctly would cause drain (or not charge it in that situation). Basically when you turn the car off, it should kill almost all the power draw. Sometimes, a problem occurs and pulls a load that drains the battery.

Think about what happens when you leave the headlights/interior light on and walk away. You have in essence created a parasitic draw, sometime a system can malfunction creating this problem.


EDIT*
A meter set to AMPs and wired for AMPS and placed in series in THIS situation would reveal the amount of draw. I think about 0.02A to 0.05A is a maximum acceptable draw.

So to sum up, a (£20+/-) meter could reveal all of these issues and you wouldn't have spent money on the wrong thing.
 
Guys, urgent!

I just finished work, started up the engine and warm the interior, when I returned 10 mins later, the dash were flashing light Christmas tree, my workmate gave me a jump start but took 5 mins to charge the battery.
Now the engine is running, but I got some white smoke and the emission light is on, tell me to check the system.

Should I drive home?

I don't know if the engine would start again if I switch it off :(

I'm sitting in my car right now and waiting for you guys to guide me
 
So you left it running but it turned itself off? That is odd.

A flat battery can cause electrical gremlins, so don't be too worried about the lights coming on until after you've sorted the battery and/or alternator and/or parasitic draw.

You might as well drive it home... what else were you thinking of doing? If it breaks down en route you can always call for recovery then. But keep an eye on the smoke getting worse... it could just be cold?

Good luck!
 
Well, now I can't switch on the headlights, because the engine wants to cut off unless I keep revving it!

Got a voltmeter, it shown 8.65 with lights off and 11.2 if I Rev it up
 
Alternator sounds shot im afraid. Should be at least 14v with the engine running.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top