Battery Poll

[Scrodee]

Battery died today. Dealer replaced under warranty, no fuss.
I took delivery of my ITS in December '23 so fairly early example of DE5. Even so, less than 2 years out of a battery is piss poor. I don't think 5 years is an unreasonable expectation these days.

My son has a 2020 Si that is on its 3rd battery. We bought the car used and Honda would not replace under warranty. So, when it died, we replaced the factory battery with a Duralast Gold. That one didn't die, but it was being overcharged or something, the positive post was always leaking electrolyte. Luckily, AutoZone replaced that one under warranty.

I think Honda group has some design flaws in their battery management scheme... Thoughts?

(Sister thread in the FL5 forum here.)

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[WFORich]

Seems like standard lead acid batteries in the last few years from multiple sources have been much more problematic. There are very few domestic manufacturers who supply most private label batteries and my guess is that they have cheapened up and or use more contaminated recycled lead than they used to hoping to get us all to spring for way more expensive AGM or LI models.
After replacing three lead acids within a year on my little ski boat, I went to an AGM which has better static voltage (13.1v) out of the box and it has maintained that higher voltage for two seasons so I'll likely start using them in my cars when the need arises.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I haven't needed a new battery yet, but most modern systems with Bosch ecu require a recode with a new battery, especially if changing from lead acid to agm or lithium. There are different charging and top off standards for different battery types.

That said, I've been flashing and reflashing my car for some tuning recently and I hook up a battery charger each time. My battery sits around 30-50% most of the time and it's a bit over a year old. That's really crap. I've noticed the car will go from 100% to 50% just sitting undriven for 5 days. I do a lot of short trips, so that doesn't help battery life. I don't expect it to last more than 3-4 years honestly.

 

[bullitt]

My mom has never paid for a battery for her CRV as just short of every 3yrs it fails and Honda gives her a free one. This has been going on since 2012. meanwhile I've had 2 Motorcraft's for my Fords that have both lasted me 7yrs and I average about 5. My Brothers 2016 Civic is averaging about 3yrs also, similar to the CR-V. Maybe its just who makes the batteries for Honda.

 

[Scrodee]

My mom has never paid for a battery for her CRV as just short of every 3yrs it fails and Honda gives her a free one. This has been going on since 2012. meanwhile I've had 2 Motorcraft's for my Fords that have both lasted me 7yrs and I average about 5. My Brothers 2016 Civic is averaging about 3yrs also, similar to the CR-V. Maybe its just who makes the batteries for Honda.

I've heard CR-V battery horror stories from others as well. Apparently there was a TSB on the charging system for them.

I'd be more inclined to believe it was a battery manufacturer issue if we had used an OEM battery in our Si, but we used a Duralast.

 

[jedi03]

My experience has been 1 to 3 years for lead acid...have put optima yellow in prior cars, my subarus lasted 10 years, my odyssey has had em go about every 2

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