Honda Odyssey Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Odyssey 2018 Touring - what should battery voltage be with vehicle turned off?

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 28 Posts
C

Crustydragon

· Registered
Joined
·
9 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
Hi,

We have a 2018 Odyssey Touring.

Long story but have been having electrical issues the last few weeks/months. We were experiencing warnings about engine management and minivan switching by itself into neutral while driving - which were fixed by tightening battery connections including the ground wire to chassis.

Since then, we have had 3 episodes where we could not start the vehicle but the first two times we were able to after it was off for a while. Dealer couldn't reproduce the problem and suggested replacing the starter - a $1600 Cdn proposition. We decided to wait and see and finally the 3 time the Odyssey refused to start and there were signs of low battery - unable to open the automatic sliding doors, lights dim and eventually nothing electronic would come on. We had it boosted and taken to a mechanic I use for my other vehicle. We replaced the battery and the current sensor (as suggested here). It's been a few days but so far so good.

It's my wife's primary vehicle but she's scared to drive it again for obvious reasons. I measured the voltage of the battery today with it off. It read 12.2 volts. That seems a bit low (online seems to suggest 12.4-12.7v is normal). Should I be concerned that something is still not right or is this what it charges to with the current sensor rather than maximum voltage every time? I don't think my volt meter is off as I tried measruing regular AA/AAA and 9V batteries and they read over 1.5V and 9V new respectively.

Thank you very much!
 
#2 ·
Is it 12.2 immediately after shut off? If the drive was long enough to fully charge the battery (ie: not just a simple grocery trip), then immediately I would expect it to be reading at least 12.4, ideally closer to 12.6. Actually, since yours is a Touring, it has an AGM battery, so closer to 12.7 or 12.8 would be expected.

If it's after sitting for a day or two, 12.2 wouldn't surprise me. These vans have a lot of electronics, especially the loaded Touring, and that can eat up charge pretty quickly. If you don't drive it long enough to charge it frequently, consider investing in a battery maintainer to keep the battery charged up when it's just sitting.
 
owns 2006 Honda Odyssey EX
View garage
  • Like
Reactions: stanimal and Crustydragon
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#3 ·
@Crustydragon
What year si your ODY? When posting on this forum, please let us know year and what type of ODY it is... it helps us to determine some possible solutions. The majority of people here find out that the battery needs to be replaced at the 3 year time frame, sorry to say. It is due to the type of charging that is being done and the immense amount of electronics and such draining the battery down is the culprit. Short drives of 15-20 minutes or less never allows the battery to get fully recharged.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Crustydragon
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#4 ·
Keep in mind the resting voltage of a lead acid battery is temperature dependent. At a resting voltage of 12.2V it would be considered 100% charged at 0C, 90% charged at 5C, and 80% charged at 10C.

Also, there is always a parasitic draw which will pull the resting voltage down a little.

What is the voltage with the van running (in park)?

It is 0C here this morning, I will check mine before I leave for work shortly.
 
#5 ·
DJVAN said:
What year si your ODY? When posting on this forum, please let us know year and what type of ODY it is..
Click to expand...
Check the title.
 
owns 2006 Honda Odyssey EX
View garage
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#7 ·
TSQ said:
It is 0C here this morning, I will check mine before I leave for work shortly.
Click to expand...
Before starting:
After starting:
After driving to work:


These voltages are probably a fraction lower than the actual battery voltage as they are measured at the ECU (Volts-CM) and OBD2 port (Volts-Ad).

Also note the outside temp.

I would not worry about 12.2V after sitting overnight in cold weather.

As @DJVAN mentioned, at five years you are in the typical replacement timeframe for a battery.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Thank you for the helpful replies.

For context, brand new AGM battery and current sensor. Outside temperature is just below 0 Celcius (32F) so a tad warmer in the attached garage when it was measured, with voltmeter probes right on the battery terminals.

Most of our trips are less than 15-20 min. Will that pose a problem? I will check again when I get home this evening.

Much appreciated!
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
TSQ said:
Keep in mind the resting voltage of a lead acid battery is temperature dependent. At a resting voltage of 12.2V it would be considered 100% charged at 0C, 90% charged at 5C, and 80% charged at 10C.

Also, there is always a parasitic draw which will pull the resting voltage down a little.

What is the voltage with the van running (in park)?

It is 0C here this morning, I will check mine before I leave for work shortly.
Click to expand...
I will check the voltage with the engine running in park when I get home. Thank you.
 
#10 ·
Crustydragon said:
Most of our trips are less than 15-20 min. Will that pose a problem? I will check again when I get home this evening.
Click to expand...
Yes, the battery will not get fully charged that way.
 
owns 2006 Honda Odyssey EX
View garage
  • Like
Reactions: stanimal and Crustydragon
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#16 ·
@King Kong TO @WiiMaster
Had some yard maintenance to do so did not get on the computer till a few minutes ago. I don't know why I didn't think about the title...;)
Was sitting out a auto stool vacuuming up black oil sunflower seed shells, after the birds drop them from the bird seeder. We have 3 bird feeder poles and a total of 7 feeders on them. For the past 3 years they had gotten so thick on the ground, no grass growing all around the feeders and final amount of shells was enough to fill a 45 gallon trash can to the top. I thought they would have decomposed much quicker. And the guy that mows the yard asked me last year to take care of them as they was being spit out by the mower as projectiles! Never ever thought I would have to vacuum them up! :rolleyes:
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#17 ·
@Crustydragon
My battery from my 2018 ODY only lasted around 27 months, I noticed my sliding doors was not closing at the normal speed and hearing other people having problems with the battery decided to replace mine. The sliding doors have been working at the proper speed since than. The 15-20 minute range of driving is hard on the battery. It does not have enough time to fully recharge the battery. The battery does not charge the same way as the vehicles from 5 years ago, it does a % charge to keep the horsepower down when driving to save gas or economize, sorry I am not "woke" with the phraseology. In order to save a few tenths of a mile of gas they decided it was better to limit the amount of charging so you would have to have the charging or battery tested at the dealer when you battery would not start your ODY. I drive longer distances than you in the ODY each day. But will suggest you by some brand of a battery maintainer like a NOCO 5 AMP Genius 5.
no.co

NOCO GENIUS5 6V 12V 5A Smart Battery Charger For Cars, Trucks, SUVs, RVs & Motorcycles – Automatic Charger, Maintainer, Trickle Charger

The NOCO GENIUS5 is a compact yet powerful 6V and 12V 5A smart battery charger, maintainer, trickle charger, and desulfator for lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, including automotive, marine, and deep-cycle types such as flooded, gel, AGM, SLA, maintenance-free, and LiFePO4. Compatible with a...
no.co no.co

A lot of the forum members have done so, not every night, but perhaps on the 3rd night and left it on overnight. I have not heard anyone say that this was not working for them. But it sure is frustrating to not have a battery last 7-8 years in a vehicle of any type. Hope this helps!
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#18 ·
Had my Oddy Touring since 2018, still on the original AGM battery.
The battery had been fully discharged for some time sitting at the dealer, waiting to be sold (bad for the battery), also, the Touring seems to have a little bit of parasitic drain.
Within the first year, I had low battery warnings frequently, but the dealer keep telling me my battery tested good.
So I started charging the battery fully, by using a smart battery charger to charge the battery to 100%, then hook up a trickle charger to keep it fully charged for a long time, a week at a time (in theory, this should help it slowly dissolve lead sulfate crystals that form on the lead plates in batteries that are drained).
BTW, ALL lead-acid batteries like to be kept nearly fully charged. So, every 2 weeks, I use a smart battery charger to SLOWLY bring the state of charge back to 100%. The reason I slowly charge the battery using the charger's 2 Amp setting, is to get it actually fully charged, this usually take 8-10 hours of charge time. Charging at higher current drives the voltage up, without giving the battery time to actually absorb the charge, and the charging will stop early once the voltage is high enough.
Also, any voltage readings used to determine state of charge are only accurate once the surface charge have dissipated, usually >8 hours after charging (or running the engine).
Hoping I could get my original AGM battery to last 5 more years.
 
1 - 20 of 28 Posts
About this Discussion
27 Replies
10 Participants
Last post:
Crustydragon
Honda Odyssey Forum
posts
1.1M
members
432K
Since
2000
Odyclub community is the #1 forum to discuss all things Honda Odyssey: minivans, safety, service maintenance, mods, and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
2005 - 2010 Odyssey 2011 - 2017 Odyssey 1999 - 2004 Odyssey 2018+ Odyssey Problems and Concerns