Honda CR-V Dead Battery Issues

isellhondas

guywithacrv said:

Just wanted to add to this thread... I have a 2015 CRV and I'm hovering right around the 36000 mile mark. My car is also having a seemingly random dead battery problem. For me, it seems to happen after having driven the car for a couple of quick store trips in succession. We're not talking 2 min drives....I mean about 10 mins to the first store, sits for a half hour, then 10 mins either home or to another store. Then when I get home and it sits for an hour or so, sometimes it will just click and not start.

I'm basically at the three year mark (coming up in Feb), so it sounds like I just may be at the bottom range of these seemingly crappy batteries, so I'm going to try a new battery soon and report back if my problems stop.

Why mess with it? Just throw another battery in and be done! Modern batteries usually last around the four to five year range. Yours sounds like it's failing a bit ahead of that. I always replace car batteries at the first sign of trouble and do so on my terms. BTW, these "crappy" batteries can last ten years! Ask out next door neighbor!

guywithacrv

isellhondas said:

Just wanted to add to this thread... I have a 2015 CRV and I'm hovering right around the 36000 mile mark. My car is also having a seemingly random dead battery problem. For me, it seems to happen after having driven the car for a couple of quick store trips in succession. We're not talking 2 min drives....I mean about 10 mins to the first store, sits for a half hour, then 10 mins either home or to another store. Then when I get home and it sits for an hour or so, sometimes it will just click and not start. I'm basically at the three year mark (coming up in Feb), so it sounds like I just may be at the bottom range of these seemingly crappy batteries, so I'm going to try a new battery soon and report back if my problems stop.

Why mess with it? Just throw another battery in and be done! Modern batteries usually last around the four to five year range. Yours sounds like it's failing a bit ahead of that. I always replace car batteries at the first sign of trouble and do so on my terms. BTW, these "crappy" batteries can last ten years! Ask out next door neighbor!

"A bit ahead of that" being an entire year. It's great that you've had such luck with your Hondas (or rather, not had bad luck). Any other car I've ever had has had the original batteries last 5 years at a bare minimum. I'm sure that all of the electronics have gotten more complicated over time and have the potential to drain the battery further, but I think these should be coming from the factory with a battery that has more cold running amps. 

mlewisfoto

We are in Mexico with a 2011 CRV. Our battery problems are recent. New battery last October, a little hesitant when it started, but started every day. After sitting for five days in December, battery was drained. Recharged, then re-installed it and having diagnostics done by indy mechanic showed a slow drain on the battery while it was off (tested for two hours). They have removed a fuse for the sound system and the battery starts the car every time. We have a little bit of a language barrier, but we are making headway. Since there is something related to the radio/sound system, what part needs to be replaced?

babyduck49

I'm based in the UK but my bought new 2013 CRV has exactly the same battery draining issues. It is an intermittent fault but when it kicks in the battery drains whilst the engines ticks over and everything switched off! I've had to call out recovery 14 times since Jan'15.

It's been back to the dealership at least 6 times for a week or more sometimes. Honda technical are as good as useless. So far it was definitely the battery (replaced twice) alternator (replaced) then the smart charging (replaced) then the ECU (replaced). Still the problem intermittently persists. Despite this issue being present within the warranty Honda are now refusing to pick up the cost.

Suffice to say this is my first and last Honda

Mr_Shiftright

mlewisfoto said:

We are in Mexico with a 2011 CRV. Our battery problems are recent. New battery last October, a little hesitant when it started, but started every day. After sitting for five days in December, battery was drained. Recharged, then re-installed it and having diagnostics done by indy mechanic showed a slow drain on the battery while it was off (tested for two hours). They have removed a fuse for the sound system and the battery starts the car every time. We have a little bit of a language barrier, but we are making headway. Since there is something related to the radio/sound system, what part needs to be replaced?

Is this an aftermarket radio? In any event you might try installing a manual switch for the radio circuit which you would turn off if you leave the car for any length of time. But it might be that there is an internal problem with the radio. Without a wiring diagram it's difficult to know if that fused circuit intersects with anything else that might cause the problem.

shanahan29

I own a 2015 CRV with 36,000 which I purchased new. I have dead battery issues. When I push the button to start it the lights all flicker and it doesn't start. I have had this happen approximately 8 times. Once it happened in my driveway after the car sat overnight. All of the other times it happened after I had been driving the car, stopped for a few minutes, and then it wouldn't start. 3 of these times it occurred after I had been driving at least a half hour. It happened 3 times when I stopped to get gas. It has been to the dealer where I purchased it and each time I've been told that they did a draw test and recharged the battery but couldn't find anything wrong.

Mr_Shiftright

Was the battery load-tested?

green1361

I own a 2014 Honda CRV. Since day one it has had battery/cranking issues. I bought a Stanley battery jump start. I have jumped this car off no less than 50 times since we owned it, maybe 100. The dealer just says there is nothing wrong or it is something we are doing. I have owned many vehicles and this is the worst I have ever seen. We do not even get mad any more. Just get out and hook up the jumper. If this is the customer service that Honda has now I will never own another. I think that many many others have the same issue and feel powerless to resolve it.

berri

I developed the same issue some years back on a Camry. Turned out the battery had a wacky cell that apparently came and went so tested fine multiple times. A new battery fixed it. But there sure are a lot of issues that could come into play as well.

StPaul_55112

Finally, after owning my newly purchased 2014 Honda CRV, the dealership admitted this is a problem! It needs to be a recall! I can't leave my car parked at the airport when I travel because the battery dies on the 4th day. I purchased a new battery. still dies. My Doge and Mazda can sit in my garage for MONTHS and start right up. For 4 years Honda played dumb and acted like I was going something wrong. TODAY they finally admitted, it's a problem!!! If I pay $160 they will fix it. Shouldn't this fix be free for me????? Next purchase: Toyota

Rosie206

I own a CRV 2013 which we bought new from a dealer. I am on my 3rd battery! I have been stranded many times and now keep jumper cables in my car. Dealer says they can’t find anything wrong. I am so disappointed. This was my first Honda. Never again. I am DONE being stranded.

Christehper13

New here I had purchased my 2014 CRV back in Sept. 2013 when in 2015 Sept. I started having dead battery issues maybe like 5 times or so, I made a call to corporate and the dealer replaced my battery for free and has been trouble free since , currently have 53k miles. I do worry do all the time since so i always carry my booster cables. 

anxiousinwv

I bought a 2014 Honda CR-V new in November 2014. ... Love it. ... BUT now have experienced 3 (three) times when battery is dead. ... After feeling guilty the first time - Maybe i really did leave some light on. Then hopeful the second time when a helpful mechanic suggested maybe cleaning terminals and tightening one clamp might fix the problem .... Now the third time i am just despondent ... Have wracked my brain for some pattern, but there doesn't seem to be any.... will call customer service to register complaint, and will buy a jump starter to carry with me, but i didn't invest in a vehicle just to be anxious about the possibility of a dead battery every time i want to go anywhere.

amdyn33

This same thing happened to me a few weeks ago on my 2016 CRV. It’s something called parasitic battery draw. Here are the 2 videos that helped me diagnose and correct the issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8-ER-oTXH0&t=0s&list=LLymNo2Dqo_eU8ndn31h5vdA&index=19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0&t=0s&list=LLymNo2Dqo_eU8ndn31h5vdA&index=16

Until you can figure out your cause, this car jumper is a life saver. It allows you to jump your car from a batter pack alone, no need for another car to be around. I used it 3 times successfully before finally figuring out and resolving my issue. It’s $39 at Walmart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0UuFeY_1Dc

Believe it or not, the seat heater switch was the cause of all this trouble for me. Apparently I flipped it on while vacuuming out my car, which makes sense because my battery drain issue started 30 minutes after washing my car. I turned the seat heater switch off, unplugged and plugged back in the relay (under hood fuse box) that I *think* controls the heater switch (it had a picture on it that resembled the picture on my seat heater switch), and I haven’t had a problem since. It seems that in these electronics heavy cars, even when the car is turned completely off, accessories left in the ‘ON’ position still drain power from the battery. Either that or they start drawing from the battery immediately upon turning the car on, not leaving enough power for the battery to actually start the car. So I think the moral of the story here is, turn everything OFF before turning your car off, every time!

If you don’t have any switches left on, the problem for some people seems to be the AC relay (see 1st video above). This is only a $15 part that can be replaced easily yourself... just pull the old relay out and plug the new one in like you do with a blown fuse. From my research it sounds like the old relay manufactured by Omron is the one that fails often, but the newer relay manufactured by Mitsuba works fine. My 2016 CRV already has the updated Mitsuba relay so hopefully I won't ever have an issue with this. I did unplug/plug it back in on my car just to cover all my bases though. Hope this helps!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BFDH05Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rads22

Wife has a 2012 CRV, and we're on our FOURTH battery replacement in that time. Honda can't find any problem, applied software update for charging system in 2013. Same recurring problem. Thinking of a DieHard with 500 cranking amps, 80 minute reserve. Anyone know of higher capacity battery in that group size?

cboothe70

Honda batteries are garbage. I own a 2012 and a 2016 CR-V. I get about 2 years out of Honda batteries with both cars and have been through 4 of them. I've read that the Duracell branded car batteries at Sams that say Manufactured (not Distributed) by East Penn Manufacturing are good batteries. That's what I'm trying now.

g68

This is clearly NOT a battery issue. Just bought a 16 CRV EXL about 10 days ago, certified and fully inspected with a new battery. Has started up fine every time. Drove it to dinner last night, drove home, left it in garage for 30 min. Came back out to start it, and wouldn't start. Just clicks and flashes from the dash. Tried to jump it with our Odyssey with engine running and revving it. No dice. Let it charge for 30 min with Odyssey still running, No dice. Tried jumping again this morning, no dice. Called dealer who sent tow truck. Tow truck showed up and tried to jump it. Didn't start. Tried again after a couple minutes, and it started right up. A new battery shouldn't drain after 30 minutes with car off, even if there is a drain somewhere. This has to be something else like a starter or other relay, keyless control module, starter, or alternator. This is a pretty common issue on the Honda and car guru forums I've read this morning. Honda gotta figure this out.

Tremaine6

I have a 2013 Honda CVR brought a brand new battery last year. Since I brought that battery they car battery dies on me every couple of months. Today it died 3 time. I have been to 3 different menchanics and the dealership and no one knows whats going on. I am going crazy can anyone help, or offer some advice or insight. Everytime I take it to a mechanic they all do the same test than come back and say they cant find anything. I cant afford to continue going back and forth to the mechanic I am so fed up. Any help would be appreciated