Help, Battery Dying Instantly?

[95nsxtc]

Idk what's going on, but maybe someone can help because it's pretty weird, I'll try and give as much detail as possible:

This past saturday I took the car to go to the gym, hadn't driven it since that monday and it has gotten really cold here since monday; maybe a drop of 20-25 degrees avg. I let the car warm up on start 10-15min, and drove it to the gym so maybe it was on about 30 min total. After an hour in the gym, come out to start the car, turn the key and everything goes dead, not a single light comes on. Tried to jump it from both locations and that didn't work. So too stubborn to get it towed at this point, i go and buy a battery for it, drop it in and it fires up. I drove it every day since and car seemed fine until yesterday. I go to crank it after driving it just 2 hours before and it does the same thing again. This time since it's at my house, i left a battery tender on it until it showed that it was charged and turn the key and it goes dead again...

The car has nvr had a problem starting before today at all.
Any thoughts?

 

[jwmelvin]

Check the ground strap where it connects to the frame?

 

[95nsxtc]

This was my thought too for a moment (I haven't checked it) but it disappeared when I dropped the new battery in. Also I didn't mention this but when it is on the charger or being jumped the lights will come on until I actually go to start it then they die or dim. Possibly another reason I didn't follow through with checking the ground.

And one last piece of info. After I dropped the battery in, I took it the next day to an autozone of some sort to check the altenator which tested fine (unless they're thing is broken)

 

[shawn110975]

some questions

do you have an aftermarket alarm?
do you have the OEM alarm?
Its cold and the temp dropped did you notice any of your other cars when starting if the interior lights dimmed when starting?

you swapped with a brand new battery good that's not the problem now.
if your car OEM is armed while in your garage this drains the battery, if its in your garage leave the car disarmed.
if your car has aftermarket alarm then this could be draining your battery also, leave car disarmed while in garage.
check the ground on the battery terminal posts.
then check the wire harness grounds 2 big ones on each side of the front frame rails, one from the transmission to the chassis, one from the front bank valve cover to the chassis, and lastly in the trunk on the driverside behind the carpet in front of the antenna there is your last main ground. take each of them off get some sand paper and style grit the higher the better but it doesn't matter clean the chassis, and the harness reinstall. and your done.

LAST keep the trickle battery tender crap off the battery they are a placebo for cars and a gimmick, ever wonder how a car under 5 feet of snow can start on the first try after the owner shovels all the snow away to get inside? they didn't have a trickle charger.

some people will say trickle charger/ battery tender/ whatever its called in each state works I have never used one and have never had a battery fail inless its over 3 year old.

one final thought it may be cold but if you start your car everyday even if your not gonna drive it let it run for 10 minutes and get to temp then turn it off I do this to all my cars and no problems ever. the thing is make sure you do this it keeps them alive. would you like to sit for 4-5 days with out moving? I think not.... same for an NSX

 

[Old Guy]

If the dash voltmeter has been steady around 13.5 volts or higher when the engine is running, your alternator is probably just fine.

Check the cable termination clamps that connect to the battery posts. The original style clamps used by Honda will spread (the metal actually tears) if the bolts have been tightened too vigorously. If the clamp bolts are as tight as they can be and you can twist the clamp on the post, then the cable terminations need to be replaced. You can do a temporary fix by inserting shims between the battery post and the clamp; but, that really is a temporary fix. The clamps will continue to spread and loosen.

Finally, maintenance free batteries tend to die with little or no warning. Fine one moment. Come out and try to restart the car 2 hours later and its absolutely dead. The tell is that you can boost the car and it will start; however, if you shut the car off and attempt to restart, its dead. That could explain the failure of the old battery. Highly unusual for a new battery to fail like this; but, not out of the realm of possibilities. My first vote would still be for loose battery clamps. Its not an uncommon problem for Honda vehicles.

 

[95nsxtc]

I'm definitely going to check each of those grounds.
Didn't really notice on my other two cars but one I don't pay attention to at all really.

As for alarms, I'm pretty sure I have the OEM alarm but it may have had an aftermarket as some time from the previous owner because there is this little wired light that sits on the driver side dash and a button thing that hangs down near the right of the gas pedal, but as far as I could always tell it never did anything because I have nvr seen the light do anything and the button doesnt have any immediate action when pressed, plus its hidden pretty well so i forget to check it out.
I am keeping the trickle charger off as it was only to try a different approach and really to charge the battery to drive it to a shop but it didn't start anyway.

This alarm stuff makes sense and I definitely dont know everything but, with only 1 hour - 2 hours in between time driving and dying, do you really think the alarm is draining it that fast? If it didn't start after I hadn't driven it that 5day period this would make more sense to me but then again idk

- - - Updated - - -

If the dash voltmeter has been steady around 13.5 volts or higher when the engine is running, your alternator is probably just fine.

Check the cable termination clamps that connect to the battery posts. The original style clamps used by Honda will spread (the metal actually tears) if the bolts have been tightened too vigorously. If the clamp bolts are as tight as they can be and you can twist the clamp on the post, then the cable terminations need to be replaced. You can do a temporary fix by inserting shims between the battery post and the clamp; but, that really is a temporary fix. The clamps will continue to spread and loosen.

Finally, maintenance free batteries tend to die with little or no warning. Fine one moment. Come out and try to restart the car 2 hours later and its absolutely dead. The tell is that you can boost the car and it will start; however, if you shut the car off and attempt to restart, its dead. That could explain the failure of the old battery. Highly unusual for a new battery to fail like this; but, not out of the realm of possibilities. My first vote would still be for loose battery clamps. Its not an uncommon problem for Honda vehicles.

I'm going to try this as well with the clamps because it does fall into the same sort of fix that could've happend when i put the new battery in.

 

[shawn110975]

when ever you see stuff dangling and half ass installed then you should question who installed it. one of my NSX's had an alpine alarm that burned up which shorted out my windows ign switch, and main relay all at the same time.

so I ripped everything related to the alpine and no problems for 6 year now

 

[robbiedawg]

i would have the new battery checked just to eliminate that as the problem. also, shawn,that phrase "one of my NSX's" has a nice ring to it...

 

[pingu81]

Could it be possible that your brake lights are always on? There's a known issue where the plastic stopper behind the brake pedal disintegrates and will eventually fall out of placement.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/72269-Brake-light-is-always-on

 

[95nsxtc]

Uhhh i'm not gona rule that out completely as I do do some stupid stuff sometimes but since I always start the car to warm it up and then come back, I usually see the rear and i dont see the brake lights on

 

[32york]

Hey 95, Clean and tighten all connections. Put a voltmeter on the battery before you start it, should be 12.5V. Start it and see what the reading is while running, should be around 13.5 or better. If not your alternator's at fault. If alts OK and connections are OK, your first battery was old and your replacement was defective. (It happened to me)

 

[95nsxtc]

Hey 95, Clean and tighten all connections. Put a voltmeter on the battery before you start it, should be 12.5V. Start it and see what the reading is while running, should be around 13.5 or better. If not your alternator's at fault. If alts OK and connections are OK, your first battery was old and your replacement was defective. (It happened to me)

This sounds exactly like my type of luck

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Do you have any electrical troubleshooting experience? If so you need to remove either battery terminal and put an amp meter across the battery terminal and the connector on the harness. Then you will read how much current is being drawn at that time. If it is very low, then the new battery may be the issue. I suspect you will find it is high, and them you need to find what in the car is drawing the power. Tell me about any aftermarket items installed, stereo, alarm, GPS, etc. I suggest you only do this if you understand some level of electrics. If needed find someone who is experienced locally.

Regards,
LarryB

 

[ftuhy]

Two-person test: If you have a voltmeter, hold the meter probes on the center of the battery posts. Should be 12 V or greater. While observing the meter, have someone turn on the headlights or try to start the car. If the battery stays above 10 V but the lights go dim or the engine doesn't crank, its bad cabling - grounds, battery terminals, or a cable itself.

I once had a cable (not on my NSX) where the terminal itself was good, but the plastic cover split. The copper wire then corroded away. Viewing the cable on the battery and from above, everything looked great.

Edit: I see Larry responded while I was typing. As he noted, experience level is key to not breaking something else when trying these tests.

 

[Hapa88]

This happened to me. Started up the car and drove fine for 30 miles down the freeway. Stopped to grab a dozen cupcakes for 5 minutes for a party and came out and the car was completely dead.. Nothing.

Called AAA when my car wouldn't start, waited 50 minutes for him to show up and all he does is grab the negative post and jiggled it, car came right back on. Felt so dumb.

Anyway, it was the connectors to the battery posts.

As a safety measure the AAA guy completely removed the 20 year old cable termination clamps and put brand new ones on. Issue hasn't come back since.

 

[Speedmaster]

Hey guys, could it be the relay, in the engine compartment, by the fan? Aren't these symptoms just like what happens when that relay gets wet?

To the OP, run a quick search for fan relay. Some very good feedback on that issue. I am pressed for time right now, but thought I would chime in.

- - - Updated - - -

Hey guys, could it be the relay, in the engine compartment, by the fan? Aren't these symptoms just like what happens when that relay gets wet?

To the OP, run a quick search for fan relay. Some very good feedback on that issue. I am pressed for time right now, but thought I would chime in.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/185410-Fan-and-blower-motor-coming-on-when-I-remove-key-from-ignition?p=1818720#post1818720

 

[95nsxtc]

I appreciate all the responses. Larry B, i do have a decent level of experience and this to me makes the most logical sense to identify clearly the problem, so i intended to do this when i came, home today.... howevr, what i didnt count on was the fact that my grand father flying back in today and needing his beloved ctsv, which the nsx was blocking it in the garage and for some reason (i guess she thot she was helping) my girlfriend got the nsx towed to a shop without me knowing so i didnt get to try anything and the shop nvr called me either. I will post back on here when problem is identified but moral of today;
Nvr leave keys with girlfriend...

 

[OLDMNSX]

my girlfriend got the nsx towed to a shop without me knowing

My wife purchased tires for my truck once...........she doesn't do that ANYMORE!!!

 

[silver2002]

Corrosion on inside of battery terminal clamps will allow enough juice by to run lights / horn and accessories but will not allow enough by to engage starter.

 

[jwmelvin]

Corrosion on inside of battery terminal clamps will allow enough juice by to run lights / horn and accessories but will not allow enough by to engage starter.

I recently had that issue on my Tundra, where corrosion between the positive lead and the clamp caused a problem. Removing the clamp from the wire and cleaning everything up before reassembling solved it.

 

[Hapa88]

Corrosion on inside of battery terminal clamps will allow enough juice by to run lights / horn and accessories but will not allow enough by to engage starter.

Mine initially had enough juice to run the dash lights, but after the first key turn it to start, everything went completely dead. After that, nothing, no lights, no alarm, silence. Once the terminals were jiggled (and replaced), all was back to normal.

 

[silver2002]

if that's the issue and the battery is pretty good, the terminal will sound like [muffled] bacon sizzling in a pan, while the drain is on it [key turned to start].

 

[BTL3.0]

Is this not the most common issue? I mean the negative battery cable. I remember my 93 does this, i can twist and turn the terminal without efford. End up going to wal mart and bought a replacement cable, 4gauge, for about $7.. never had any starting issue since. Been bout 2yrs now.

 

[95nsxtc]

After much bs, it was just that, a loose battery cable... but atleast in a not so obvious way

 

[brettowen]

After much bs, it was just that, a loose battery cable... but atleast in a not so obvious way

Thank you for closing the loop! It's a rare thing in this forum!