I need some input from you guys. My 2009 Fit Sport, has had this happen twice in a few days. I go out to start it, after having been parked for 30 minutes to an hour and it won't start. Click, click, click, like cars sound with a dead battery. I jump start it and it starts right up, but the curious thing is that if I immediately stop the engine, and restart it. Voila it starts okay. If it were the battery, then 30 seconds of run time would not be enough time to recharge the battery. It started okay for several days, and then it did it again, jump start, then starts okay on its own for several more days.

I will have the battery checked, and if not okay, will go to the dealer, but does anyone have any ideas?

It does not have the NAV system.

Thanks, in advance,


Flea

 

It sounds like you have a bad starter, do you use your car for deliveries where you have to stop and start many times a day?

 

I don't think it is the starter. Because you can jump start it.

 

If you don't think it is the starter, try cleaning the battery posts and terminals with a special wire brush for that purpose, make sure you have your radio code before you disconect it.

 

Does the car act like it has a dead battery? Ie, weak/nonexistent lights. if the lights seem fine, then I'd bet its a bad switch or solenoid somewhere. You mention a clicking sound, is that coming from under the hood? If so, that's not a dead battery, but more likely a starter motor problem.

 

A bad connection, most likely the ground, could explain this behavior. Check that both battery terminals are clean and tight, then check the other end of the ground lead. Presumably, the car is still under warranty, so don't spend more time on a diagnosis than it would take to get to a dealer. Of course, the problem you might face is that the dealer says, "It checks out fine for us."

 

Bad battery.
If it sat in transit, or on the dealers lot for a while, while being fully discharged, that can be enough to sulfate the lead plates in the battery.

 

I agree, bad battery,
I bought mine I think a month after it came in. I think the dealership does a lot of starts to move them around and kill the batt,
mine was very low, even after driving a bit, it would crank slowly,
so I hooked up the battery to a 3 stage charger, it charged at 10 amps for around 4 hours and now it is crispy fresh :-)
not sure what the deal is with the stock alternator, I barely use the stereo (sucks farm animals behind), i was surprised after driving 3 hours on the hwy at 80 mph, the battery was nto topped off...

 

There has been a spurt of defective batteries. Get the dealer to do a load test.

 

I had the exact same problem with my 2009 Fit MT at 4k miles. Turns out I had one of the bad batteries. Look for a new battery without the sight gauge in it... it will solve the problem. The sight gauge will show it's good. Even a load test will show that it is marginal. But, trust me, I had your exact problem. The new battery did the trick.

 

I just got back in town last night, and today took the battery to Advance Auto Parts today to get it tested. It showed okay, although under load it showed a bit lower than the rated 340 CCA, it showed 308 CCA. Although low, it comes out as "Good Battery".

I will take it to the dealer tomorrow and mention your posts regarding the bad batteries and hopefully they will replace it.

Thanks for the suggestions and sharing your experiences.

I will report what comes out of the dealer.



Flea

 

Got it back! Yes, it was a bad battery. The dealer put it another one under warranty.

Thanks to all,

Flea

 

I have a battery with the sight gauge on it. What month and year is your car? I have an issue where my battery is only at 12.4 volts when I crank it after sitting 8 hrs. I am told that is about 50% charged and it should be about 13.6 or so volts. What happens is when I crank the car seems to not want to start right away. It does start but if feels like the battery is partially dead when it cranks (it cranks slow). I have load tested the battery and it shows good and recharge. It does show 380CCA after the test though. Help me please. Thanks a bunch!

 

If you have 12.4 volts while you're cranking the engine after sitting around for 8 hours, there is nothing wrong with your voltage. The battery usually drops drastically while cranking the engine. These are typical approximations: It can go to 9.5 volts while cranking but should go back up to 12 volts very soon after the crank... this is basically the load test. If it stays low during and after the load it is probably a bad battery. I have a 09 Fit that had 4k miles on it but had problems cranking. It load tested marginally acceptable right after a full charge but not after sitting for short time. The sight glass showed it was a fully charged battery even when the battery was discharged. So, don't believe the sight glass. Typically voltages of 13.4 are during the charging phase when you operate the car with lights, etc. provided by the regulator.

 

A few points here.

The battery is 100% covered by warranty for the first 36 months. Yuasa is actually a very good battery company.

13.6v (14v nominal) is the charging voltage, not battery voltage, which is about 12.75 @ 80F when fully charged. Lower temps will result in slightly lower voltage. 12.4 is good enough that the problem is elsewhere.

The sight glass is a built-in hydrometer that only checks one cell, so it assumes that the others are healthy. Pull all six caps and do a manual hydrometer check. This is sometimes a better test than the machine at a parts store or the dealer, but no one trained as a mechanic in the last 20 years has ever heard of it.

Most of the problems I have seen over the years are corroded connections. A few times it has been a door switch that has allowed a light to remain on for several days. Aftermarket alarms and headunits can also draw enough to drain a battery in a week.

I am concerned that Honda furnishes such a small battery. I have never owned a Honda automobile before and never seen one this small. Even the one in my 1969 Volkswagen is larger. That car has the same size engine with much lower compression and no electronics.

 

Probably not many here are out of warranty, but when the time comes for me, I'll buy an Odyessy. A dry acid or gel are the way to go. I suspect the Odyessy PC680 in my motorcycle will carry more load than the one in my Fit.

One consideration I am sure you know, is that bad cells are intermittant trouble makers that will usually show good voltages. They shouldn't fool a good technician with a load bank though. Those intermittant starts will almost always point me to the battery. Lead acid batteries are not very tolerant of being discharged, which may be why we're seeing bad batteries in new cars. 380CCA seems pretty low. Is that really the capacity?

I'm guessing the small battery in the Fit had to do with pricing as there seems to be room for a bigger battery

 

Optima and Kinetik both make batteries that will fit in the FIT. I am probably going to replace mine with a Kinetik HC800 seen here: Kinetik High Current Power Cells

You can get this battery for around $135 it's a little on the pricey side but it's not going to fail you.

And here is a link to the Optima yellow tops, the D51 or D51R should work in a Fit. Optima YellowTop Specs - Yellow Cap Batteries by Optima

 

A weak, but not completely dead cell can show ok voltage until loaded down. A $2 hydrometer is all that is needed to test, you dont have to have a load tester or take it to someone in order to be sure. Corroded connections should still be ruled out first.

CCA is not a measure of capacity at all and I dont like that as the main rating used today. Amp Hours or at least Reserve Minutes is much more honest.

I have a tiny Yuasa AGM in my Yamaha and it cost $140 but is only 7AH. Your PC680 will certainly start a Fit, once. That 680 amps rating is not CCA and is only good for 10 seconds or so. The AH rating is more like 14.

 

51R will not work with the GE Fit. The fuse buss at the end of the positive terminal is obstructed by the airbox when you try to attach it to the battery post. The GD Fit does not have the oversized fuse buss so you can get by with the 51R in that case. If the battery were half an inch shorter, it would work for the GE as well.

 

The PC680 is rated at 17ah, 680 amps for only 5 seconds, but 525 for 20 seconds. CCA is actually 220, but Odyssey agrees with you that it;s a deceiving number. Here's a good link.

http://http://www.odysseybatteries.c...sey101.htm#cca