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Some strange issues!

R

RobPhoboS

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Location
Surrey
Car
2006 Honda Accord
2 days ago the alarm went crazy at work, so I disconnected the siren cable to shut it up, and then pulled the Bluetooth module. Both still disconnected of course.
I checked the charge of the battery yesterday, it was around 90% according to my charger, so I let it do its thing and it was done after 10 minutes.
(I drive near 130 miles a day, so expected it to charged reasonably after the alarm/bt thing).

Then about 10 seconds away from work this morning the abs flickered on when I was driving in a straight line about 25mph.
I ran a diagnostic test on it, and had a couple of errors:
P16A4
61-01 Battery Voltage Failure
B1029 BCM & AC (lost communication with ultrasonic unit)

A couple of hours later I thought I'd go and clear the codes, went to fire up the car and it didn't have enough power to start up, crank but not start.
Once again gave the battery a little boost (note its 3 week old battery Lion from ECP).

I just ran the diagnostic test again and this time it only showed the P16A4, so I cleared it this time. Started it up, and rescanned, no errors.

I've unplugged a Bluetooth fm thing I use just in case that's causing a problem.

Not sure really what to make of it all!
Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
 
Also went to fire up the car again after work...
Nope, wouldn't start.
But boosted it quickly with the machine at work, got home fine.

Now I'm wondering if the battery is faulty or if it's too weak?
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That's the one I picked up about 3 weeks ago (when I bought the car the battery was knackered so replaced it).
 
Check your alternator is charging especially at idle and also ensure your battery terminals are clean and free of corrosion
 
I'd get a battery checkup have had new battery from halfords in the past that was dodgy and had to be replaced so wouldn't rule it out.

Why did you change battery? Might have been the alternator causing issues and old battery might have been OK.
 
The multimeter at work is knackered, so I'll use my one at home tomorrow and report my findings.

I replaced the battery because it wouldn't charge. It didn't report a fault on my unit but it was a gonner.
I'll see what info I can get tomorrow.

Cheers!
 
It does sound like your alternator is not charging.

When running most of us are using our main lights now due to the darker mornings.
So the lights are feeding of from the battery, if the alternator is not charging the battery the mains headlights and tail lights will drain a fully charged battery very quickly.

Keep us posted, interesting to hear your findings
 
i usually keep a 12v voltmeter that goes in the cig lighter and check every so often for the correct voltages when running. they're a few quid on ebay and makes for much easier checking than using a multimeter
 
Yeah I've got my one in the boot now !
I followed this video:

When the car was off, the reading was 13v, when I turned it on it dropped to 12.5v iirc, and then with full beam/heating/ it was around 12.3v.

Strangely, yesterday and today zero problems !

accord_n22
Remember that I had driven in the morning, and the subsequent times I went to fire it up, it hadn't been driven (as I was at work).

So I'm thinking either a terminal briefly lost a connection, or the alternator is showing early signs.
Or this battery isn't suitable.
 
With a healthy alternator it should read around 14v when running. Might be worth checking all your connections for any loose ones or corrosion. Reading definitely shouldn't be dropping when running compared to not
 
Check the earth cable to the body as well, poor earth will give strange results as well.
 
Sounds like alternator. Intermittent charging could be the circuit board on back. Can these be changed? You can change them on Vauxhall Vectra.
 
Still another day without an issue, very odd ! (I'm almost thinking that it was a loose terminal connection)
If there is a problem with the alternator, I'll just replace it as I need this car for some pretty hefty miles !

Hopefully I'll get time to prod around this week, I'll come back with any updates :)
 
+1 for cleaning earth terminals. I've worked on a lot of old cars with smaller charging systems and installing an additional earth lead to starter motor mount bolt always resulted in better starting and brighter lights.
 
I fitted an additional earth cable on my 7th Gen, Just an insulated cable with flat terminals crimped to each end and mounted to a bare metal point on the chassis and covered with some vaseline.
 
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