Our 2018 has had a battery issue as well. We bought it the summer of 2017. Starting a year later, the battery was totally dead one morning. They blamed us, saying we must have left something on. 6 months later...same thing. Dead one morning. They blamed our kids, saying one of them must have turned on a rear passenger light or something. So I got in the habit of opening the door to our garage, every stinking night, and checking that no lights are on inside the car.....flash forward to COVID, this has happened 4 more times (8 total since we've owned it). After #6, they checked the battery, no bad cells, said battery is great, looked for a parasitic drain...couldn't find anything. They finally said (insert "lied") to us that they called Honda America and that they said it's a known problem with some Odysseys but they don't have a solution yet. I think they just said it to hopefully get us off their backs because #7 just happened yesterday. Talked to the manager of the Service Department and he said "I don't see that they called Honda America and I certainly don't see that there is any known problem. Of course now, we are 2 months past the warranty, for an issue that has been occuring for years. He said he would call them to find out what is wrong. He didn't call us back. So now time #8 just happened today. We had driven it at 9am with no issues. Tried starting it at noon and the thing was completely dead so I'm not sure what type of drain it is. Never had the problem happen so quickly after the previous episode until today. Extremely frustrating. When you get in the car and push the start button, the dash lights will be on but it won't have enough juice to start. Then the lights all come on and stay on until it completely drains the batter some time later.............I also have a 2019 Honda CRV that has been great. I hate having a car that I have no faith in whenever I go out to start it. It's my wife's car and she usually has the kids with her so I hate it even more since it has my whole family in it.
Ody has had the battery go completely dead, 8 times in the 3 years since buying it brand new.
Arizona91
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Our 2018 has had a battery issue as well. We bought it the summer of 2017. Starting a year later, the battery was totally dead one morning. They blamed us, saying we must have left something on. 6 months later...same thing. Dead one morning. They blamed our kids, saying one of them must have turned on a rear passenger light or something. So I got in the habit of opening the door to our garage, every stinking night, and checking that no lights are on inside the car.....flash forward to COVID, this has happened 4 more times (8 total since we've owned it). After #6, they checked the battery, no bad cells, said battery is great, looked for a parasitic drain...couldn't find anything. They finally said (insert "lied") to us that they called Honda America and that they said it's a known problem with some Odysseys but they don't have a solution yet. I think they just said it to hopefully get us off their backs because #7 just happened yesterday. Talked to the manager of the Service Department and he said "I don't see that they called Honda America and I certainly don't see that there is any known problem. Of course now, we are 2 months past the warranty, for an issue that has been occuring for years. He said he would call them to find out what is wrong. He didn't call us back. So now time #8 just happened today. We had driven it at 9am with no issues. Tried starting it at noon and the thing was completely dead so I'm not sure what type of drain it is. Never had the problem happen so quickly after the previous episode until today. Extremely frustrating. When you get in the car and push the start button, the dash lights will be on but it won't have enough juice to start. Then the lights all come on and stay on until it completely drains the batter some time later.............I also have a 2019 Honda CRV that has been great. I hate having a car that I have no faith in whenever I go out to start it. It's my wife's car and she usually has the kids with her so I hate it even more since it has my whole family in it.
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Did you add an aftermarket accessory in it like a dashcam or something else? Something is draining the battery. Wiring issue if it’s not an after market accessory.
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Could be a bad battery even if the dealer said the battery is good. Or maybe a bad alternator.
FOR EXAMPLE:
On our 2002 Toyota Sienna, the Toyota dealer replaced the battery which was still well within the battery life spec. I had to pay a prorated amount for the replacement battery.
Later the van had a power sliding door problem. The battery was the type with refillable water so I checked all of the cells with my hydrometer. It showed one bad cell though the van would still start fine. Just the power sliding door problem. Brought the van to the dealer and they said the battery was fine. I complained saying that I know the battery is bad because I checked it with my hydrometer and I'll prove it to them. The service guy brought the van back into the shop and later came back and said that the battery has been replaced. I still had to pay the prorated amount for the replacement battery. The power sliding door worked fine with the new battery.
I came to the conclusion that the warranty life of the Toyota batteries are longer than the battery will actually last. That will let the customer keep buying replacement batteries from Toyota. The next time the battery gave trouble I sacrificed the pro-rated warranty and just bought a battery from Costco. The Costco battery lasted longer than the Toyota batteries and it's still running in the van after I gave it to our son when we bought our 2019 Ody.
MAYBE BUY A NEW BATTERY ELSEWHERE:
Electronic battery testers may not show one bad cell like a hydrometer will. Unfortunately there's no way to check sealed batteries with a hydrometer. Maybe buy a battery from someplace else and see if it lasts.
ALTERNATOR:
I bought a cheap cigarette ligher type battery voltage indicator. Have it plugged into the accessory power receptacle. It shows the battery voltage with motor off and charging voltage with motor on. Maybe buy one and monitor your battery and alternator voltages.
Raptor88
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No everything is factory stock. Im taking it in again in 2 days to see if any new ideas come up.
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Make sure you dont have any of those USB/phone chargers plugged into 12v socket, sometimes if they are defective, they will drain battery even without anything plugged into them
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My Ody need PARK before stop engine if not the infotainment will not shut off. I found this out from my dad's Honda Clarity(he stopped engine without PARK first after 2 hours couldn't start). That's my 2 cents, but others in this forum swear everything shuts off stopping engine without PARK.
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Sorry about my confusing response King Kong TO. I clicked the wrong button . My question is, isn't it standard procedure to put the car in park before you turn the car off?
I suspect there is an internal (but intermittent) problem with the battery that hasn't been consistent enough to find. I would push for them to replace the battery under warranty. Doing nothing for a multiple visit complaint simply is not acceptable and the problem was well documented before the warranty expired. If they won't replace the battery then I would let them know you will open your own case with Honda. Also, review your state's lemon law. Do you have the required 4 visits for the same complaint with no resolution? If so I would remind the dealer of such and let them know you are prepared to pursue it. A dead battery doesn't seem like much, but it makes the car undriveable which is a serious issue.
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On the Toyota comment, I just traded in my 2016 RAV4 for a new 2020 Odyssey 3 weeks ago. With the RAV4, the power tailgate would sometimes refuse to close when car was on. Even if you shut the car off, closed doors, still nothing. Just two beeps. When the car was about 3.5 years old, I noticed it was slow to start one morning. Went right to Sams Club and got a new Duracell battery put in. Ever since, car started up much stronger than the OEM battery ever did, and I never had another issue with the power tailgate till I got rid of it(a period of maybe 15-18 months).
OEM batteries seem like a weak point for Hondas and Toyotas. The prorated replacement cost of a failure after say, 4 years probably only offsets the inflated dealer price for a new OEM battery. I have never replaced an OEM battery in a vehicle with another OEM, I'll go straight to Sams or Costco and pay around $100. No need to pay dealer prices for something as common and simple as a battery.
I just expect an OEM battery to only last 4-5ish years in NJ where we get pretty cold winters and hot summers. Just buy the replacement somewhere else. It's $100ish, not $1000.
As for the OP, just cut your losses and stop wasting time fighting with the dealer and just spend the $100ish and get a new battery somewhere else. If the new one has issues still then you obviously have a more serious issue that you need to resolve with Honda.
OEM batteries seem like a weak point for Hondas and Toyotas. The prorated replacement cost of a failure after say, 4 years probably only offsets the inflated dealer price for a new OEM battery. I have never replaced an OEM battery in a vehicle with another OEM, I'll go straight to Sams or Costco and pay around $100. No need to pay dealer prices for something as common and simple as a battery.
I just expect an OEM battery to only last 4-5ish years in NJ where we get pretty cold winters and hot summers. Just buy the replacement somewhere else. It's $100ish, not $1000.
As for the OP, just cut your losses and stop wasting time fighting with the dealer and just spend the $100ish and get a new battery somewhere else. If the new one has issues still then you obviously have a more serious issue that you need to resolve with Honda.
Agreed. Today's cars with all of the advanced electrical components are highly susceptible to electrical gremlins under minimal voltage variances. I also never go back to the dealer for a battery, in my case preferring Walmart simply because any warranty given is only as valuable as the network to back it up. Need a warranty replacement at 2am or on a Sunday? At least pre-Covid the majority of Walmart stores are open and the exchange can be handled at the customer service counter if the auto center is closed. Try that with a dealership or even Costco or Sam's Club at 2am.
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I really appreciate the idea. Im definitely going to bring this up tomorrow. Thank you!
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Because of the button selector, you will be surprised the number of drivers skipping the the PARK step, however as mentioned before on mine it goes to accessory mode(the battery will drain within an hour).
But that won't allow you to lock your car from remote. Do people really not lock their cars for that long? 🤔
In their garage they might. I often leave mine unlocked in my driveway for the better part of the day before locking it up at the end if I don't move it inside. Some of us live in safe neighborhoods where locking during the day isn't necessary.
And that's why those neighborhoods get targeted. 🙂 I only will leave the car unlocked if I'm out in the country.
Essentially where I live.
That will hopefully be our next place! 😁
You and millions of others. Large cities/major metros are not as attractive when they are poorly run and targets of rioters and looters. If you are in one of those areas and have not yet packed your stuff you are behind the 8 ball. The sooner the better. Mark my words, it's all downhill from here.
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