12 volt battery replacement

[espomtb]

My local autoparts store doesn't carry at battery with as low a amperage raiting as the stock battery. Will it hurt to go from 290 cold cranking amps to ~410. Will this put undue stress on the Alternator. Does anyone have ideas on where to find battery from someone other then Honda.

Thanks

[Rick]

CCA is not a very good rating for a battery unless you have a big engine and live somewhere where it gets that cold (in my case a battery with a hot cranking amp rating is far more significant). They do not import out oem battery to the States, the replacement is a standard civic sized battery which will fill the whole battery tray. This won't hurt a thing, but it's really overkill considering that battery does not even provide power to start the car, it however is the cheapest and easiest replacement.

Some have actually gone the opposite direction and installed a smaller Hawker type AGM battery with good results. You'll have to make a spacer for one to fit in the battery tray, but these should last a lot longer in that they are mainly only on a trickle charge from the DC/DC converter (there is no alternator).

[karlinhos]

i think i'm gonna have to replace my 12v battery. the oem battery's indicator is saying that the battery "needs charging".

after jumping it, and running it on the highway for about 15 minutes, i checked the battery and it's still indicating "needs charging".

furthermore, i'm soon to hook-up a 400w audio system in the car. should i or do i need to get a battery bigger than the standard civic replacement battery? i'm thinking not, but who knows. i'm also hoping it's not the alternator. (oh boy) maybe i should check that too.

any thoughts?

[TypingOffKey]

See previous post ... Once again, there is no "alternator" in the Insight

The 12v battery is charged through the DC->DC converter which is part of the IMA system.

[karlinhos]

Originally Posted by TypingOffKey

See previous post ... Once again, there is no "alternator" in the Insight

YIKES!

thx.

does anyone know if there have been problems with the DC to DC converters in the insight?

ughhhhhhhhh... i'll get a new battery and keep my fingers crossed.

thanks TOK!

k.

[Rick]

The "eye" in the battery is a built in hydrometer, which is the most accurate way to check the state of charge of a flooded battery. When it gets low the ball sinks in it's little crevice indicating a low state of charge.

The OEM batteries in Insight's are notorius for having short lives, mainly due to the fact that they never are uses as intended. Starter batteries are designed to discharge quickly for a few seconds to crank over an engine (only a few % of overall capacity is used though) and then have that little bit recharged quickly. Our cars don't do this at all, all that battery does is turn on the computers so the IMA motor can start the car.

If you want to check out your battery first check the open circuit voltage after the car has sat for several hours. If it's below 12.7 I'd replace it on that alone because since it does not actually start the car. What will happen is one day you'll get in and there won't be enough power to turn the computers on and all you'll get is a click click click at which point you'll need an embarrasing jump start.

Beyond that you could get a hydrometer and check the state of charge of each individual cell in the battery for the most accurate possible reading. You may have a dying or dead cell in all probability.

[Jim]

you could also stop at a battery shop, service station, or even an auto parts store and have the battery load tested. A load test will quickly tell you the condition of the battery.

[Rick]

True. Harbor Freight has a 100 amp load tester they put on sale every couple of weeks for ~$17. It is a very useful tool if you work with batteries often like I do.

Of course yeah, Autozone will test it for free.

[karlinhos]

i wentt to the local auto parts store to get a new one. the guy there confirmed that 4 years is pretty much an OEM battery's life expectancy. (like he'd say any different if it wasn't the case, lol)

anyway, i got the civic battery and all's well.

thanks for all the feedback guys. much appreciated, as always!

[boogetyboogety]

After a couple of months of having the SOC gauge showing drops of 3-15 bars during normal commuting, not wanting to deal with my usually clueless dealer and researching possible causes on this forum, I thought I'd try a Hawker Odyssey battery as others here have done. Batteries + had the 545 in stock, along with the automotive adapters: I know I would have paid less on eBay, but time is more important to me than a few bucks, so I got everything there, took my purchases home, and popped the hood.

The Hawker is such a cute bitty thing, waaay too short to stabilize with the existing battery clamp. I might have engineered a deep u-shaped clamp from my stash of metal and aluminum scrap pieces, but I didn't want to devote the time or energy... I even thought of getting a longer ground cable and mounting the thing sideways, but that didn't work either. So for the time being, I cut a 2X4 into 7" lengths, glued them together and sprayed them black, and came up with a lightweight base that raised the battery up oh-so-close to the right height. Eventually, I'll make something more elegant, when time allows... I set the battery on the base, and it was still just a skoosh too short... so I took the OEM battery clamp, stepped on it and deformed it just about 1/4" down, and when I bolted it in place... that did the trick. The battery is now solidly secured, centered on the tray, butted up against the firewall side. Between the clamp and the left (from the front of the car) tray wall, there is a perfectly-sized space for a spare quart of Honda oil.

But how well does it work, you ask? The car started instantly, the SOC went from 0 bars to 1-from-the-top inside of five miles driving, and over the last month, has not dropped lower than 2 down... and I have even seen all bars lit twice from commute start to finish. The biggest pain: Reprogramming my fave stations on the radio.

Unexpectedly, and more amazingly to me, even in coolish weather, my mileage has jumped 4-7 mpg over the last tankful... I'm now averaging 60-62mpg with unchanged driving patterns. My LMPG, which has been static at 55.7 for 1500+ miles, is now at 55.9! Coincidence or serendipity? Smarter minds than mine can decide, I'm just waaay happy with the results.

Battery and adapters, <$115.00
Having My Beloved stare in amazement and exclaim, "that's the battery now?": Priceless