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Comments
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
On a side note, I just gotta say my stripped, no a/c, vinyl seats, '92 toyota tercel had a better build quality than the ex accord I presently own. Moral of the story: a $20K car from honda doesn't guarantee quality.
1.Obviously you didn't read Edmunds before you bought tjat car.
2.Where do you get a car that guarantees quality at any price?
3.How do you compare a stripped Tercel (I owned 3 of them) to a Accord EX?(I've owned 3 of this generation)
Is this typical of recent generation automatics? It only has 600 miles on it and has been doing it since day one.
Steve
Could your second battery go bad? Sure. Could a meteor fall on your head tomorrow? Probably. Are either likely? Probably not.
A failing car battery is a failing car battery. It could happen in any car by your own statement. So, perhaps you should not drive at all. Or at least carry a trunk full of spare batteries.
There should be an insert that came with the mirror (or was included in the glove box if the dealer did the installation) that explains the process. I don't have mine handy so I can't quote from it.
The flaw in this design is obvious. The system should default to something basic or simple that will allow you to override the computer. Then, instead of being stranded, you can just jump the engine and drive where you need to go. The problem is not resolved.
This is very annoying especially in highway,the noise will happen quite often. I can suffer it if it a 2 years car.
Anyone has such problems?
Thanks
If you want to try harsh, try my 88 Accord, now thats harsh!!
Mrbill
Not really, joe122. pj23's point was well taken because a shorted battery will not pass the nominal 12+ volts from the jump battery to the rest of the car when jumped. Accordingly (no pun intended), the engine and transmission control computers respond in a self-protective mode to avoid "suicidal" under-votage damage. Annoying in the event of a breakdown such as you experienced? You betcha! But nowhere nearly as annoying as also having to replace the two computers, which if purchased together, could run into the high-hundreds.
1) You might have a defect in your new car's transmission, but,
2) All current automatic transmissions (even Honda's very much mechanically different design) use "fuzzy logic" in the transmission control module, the computer which works hand-in-hand with the engine control module, to adapt to the principle user's driving style, and it can take t-i-m-e. The advantage of this approach is that the same process occurs as the transmission parts gradually wear over time to maintain shift quality - no periodic "band" adjustments. Dunno about Hondas, but my Sonata has a unique "feature" that was finally designed out with the '05 models: if the battery goes belly-up or is disconnected for more than 20 seconds, the TCM "fergits its learnin'" and has to go through the whole rigamorole all over again. The '05 and '06 Sonatas won't forget - they have to be actively de-programmed by the dealer to "forget" the settings if it's ever necessary after a tranny rebuild. But, on my '03 Sonata, I'm so looking forward to the day I have to replace the three-year old OEM battery... (It took nearly two years for my transmission to get the initial 2-3 upshift smoothed out when cold - and there's still the occasional episode where that shift "pounds" home. Never again!)
I should also mention that, had those ridiculous computers failed, it wouldn't have cost me a dime; the car is well in the early warranty period.
Okay you had a defective battery. And there are probably many ways that batteries can fail. And is a defect rate on everything. That's probably why Honda built a protection feature into the cirtcuit.
As I said, I drove a number of different Toyotas, during a 20 year period and never had a fuel or water pump failure, or any other major failure. Was I lucky? I don't know, as they were all new or relatively new cars. They were, without doubt, simple and reliable. I had all of them serviced every 5,000 miles. Only in one car did I have to replace the air-conditioner compressor and that didn't leave me stranded. A Tercel, at 120,000 miles had the original muffler and the original clutch.
Last night, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a Nissan master mechanic. He agreed that all brands of modern cars have become too complex and too reliant on computer monitored systems. His take was that the software and firmware have bugs which can cause a multitude of potential problems.
There you go... Last night you finally got your answer.
...Reminds me of a talk I had with a United Airlines pilot, who was praising the Airbus planes for their modern technology and ergonometry, compared to Boeing's (at least the models before the latest, 777) but then complained about the Airbus behaving sometimes erratically, because of too much reliance on computers....
once upon a time, many human factors people focused attention on the airline industry because of their increasing emphasis on technology and automation of systems as functionality, demands on traffic and spacing, performance, stability, and safety, etc. increased. ultimately they were trying to assess and report the trend's impact on the human operator who seemed to be getting further and further out of the loop.
i suspect these specialists will soon train their sites on the automobile industry for similar reasons.
However, your original post was slanted toward this battery issue as being a Honda problem, by your comparison to your experience with Toyota cars over the past 20 years. After haefr's thoughtful post you have now broadened your issue to modern cars in general. I'd just like to clarify then that it isn't Honda cars that you have a problem with, it is modern cars with many computer systems that have high electrical demands, and which computer systems might automatically protect themselves in the event of a problem with the battery.
Is this what you are arguing?
A short, or any type of unstable electric current has the potential to FRY your computer very easily. This can and does happen all the time to computers. Your computer was protecting itself from being stuck with a $1200+ bill for CPU replacement. And if the computer DID go dead from the unstable electric, then you would go nowhere anyway.
So, the choices are 1) Computer shut down to prevent damage or 2) Computer defaults to "basic" mode, fry from the unstable current, and then you are not only stuck with a tow anyway, but also need a new computer. Thankfully the engine control software writers picked option 1.
And, btw, modern cars do not run without their computers.
Uh... what?!
Dealer isn't open today. I called the salesman and he told me to bring it by in the morning. Right now it's all taped up with a plastic bag.
To say I am mad is an understatement.
:surprise: :confuse: :mad:
All the glass except for the windshield is tempered so it crumbles into small pieces designed to keep injuries down in an accident.
Its possible that something wasnt perfect in the tempering process, and closing the door put enough stress on the glass to cause it to break. You just happened to get that piece of glass, bummer
Mrbill
2. I never said it was a Honda problem; there are always people here who become defensive if a negative comment is directed at Honda.
3. All modern cars (including Toyota) have the same on-board computer design and sub-system design. There are three companies in the world who produce them; I have no control of that.
4. The "argument" (and I've lost interest in it) is that more simply designed cars are more reliable.
5. The vulnerabilities and deficiencies of computer controlled cars are well-known to people with an open mind. The tow truck operator told me that Mercedes and BMW have a very high rate of failure (and require a tow) because of electronic/computer problems.
I would be mad as hell as well !
http://www.cars.com/go/news/Story.jsp?section=news&subject=recent&story=111105storyaUT
Thanks for your thoughts.
Large chips I would tend to leave to professionals.
Mrbill
The old "simple" cars broke down too. They also needed an engine overhaul around 80,000 miles if you were lucky.
there are those that believe that the oil originally placed in the vehicle at the time of manufacture has special additives for the break-in period. i'm surprised you have any consumption at 3800, but then again, did you check the level when you first purchased the vehicle? it might have been a tad low to begin with.
why not call your dealer and ask for their recommendation?
oh my, i would not like my driving habits to be tracked at that fine-grain level. think about what insurance companies would do with that information: "we see you travel through some of the most congested intersections [substitute areas of frequent motor vehicle theft] each week. we'll have to charge you a factor of 1.1x the base rate for insurance".
i'm sure parents would love to track their children on a map of the area though.
what about the cops using the information to track where you were driving: "you are a suspect as the road monitoring system traced your vehicle passing by the residence on the night of the 11th".
more fun? I don't think so. more safety?
what happens when we rely on these warnings, and the function ceases to work?
oh my...big brother.
I think your right about the coolant temp, my mistake. I remember checking the oil with the salesman when I picked up the car and thinking it was fine. I don't drive the car much and I've heard from other owners that cars that sit for long periods of time can lose oil (where exactly does it go - I don't know). Call to dealer "said it was normal."
Thanks again.
Any thought are appreciated.
Jack
Location is somewhere around the front passenger side...perhaps the door....dash...."A" pillar.....
Doesn't appear to be the speaker in the door....turned stereo off....rattles still there....could be the window...but with the window up/down or even cracked open...still rattles.....anyone with any ideas?????
Thanks allot!
Just change your fluid if it makes you feel better!
Of course, now my next worries are whether they will install this windshield properly so it doesn't shatter/leak/make noise. Or, even worse, what will go wrong NEXT?! I hate to seem pessimistic, but now I can't help but wonder what else might happen. I'd hate to think I bought a lemon. This is my first Honda (after owning Toyotas for years).
That would just make me more mad.
Given that glass is basically not entirely stable, during production some glass just doesn't get made right, and will give way under a sharp bump or some torquing....or sometimes, I'm told, just because it wants to.