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Replace battery after only 2yrs?!

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#21 ·
ours died today!! 27 months and 27k miles since dealer delivery.

i didn't even bother with warranty claims. i went straight to costco and got a fitment 3 (group 34 or 35, i think) and replaced it. the only problem i had was the + terminal being too close to the filler cover. i had to remove the filler covers in order to tight the 10mm bolt.

the battery is a bit shorter than the oem, but same height.

3 years free replacement plus 100 months warranty, i guess i can't complain too much.

this honda oem battery is one of the shortest life one that i have ever experienced....
 
#25 ·
as a correction to a previous post, i recall the color codes as follows:

red - starting, has most cca
yellow - deep cycle, recommended for those with aftermarket electronics
blue - marine battery, for boats but i know a few people who swear by these in their autos.

good to know if you're shopping.

fwiw, i've had a red top in my 2000 maxima since 2001. that's six years without a peep. when you forget it's there, it means it's doing its job. don't know much about their warranty but that's good enough for me. i now have a yellow top in our mdx which i changed as soon as the oem showed signs of its inherent crapisitude. no probs either.

for those on the fence, don't even bother with warranty, you're just scheduling a headache exactly two years from now. bite the bullet and get an optima. you'll never think about batteries again.

my .02
 
#27 ·
egads said:
The collective experience around here? Three years tops for the oem battery.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right. My wife got about 2 1/2 years out of her OEM battery. 'Course, for the number of times that she drained it, that may be pretty good.

She went from the OEM battery to one of those Honda 100 month batteries. That one lasted 10 months. I guess a few good drains did it in.

The dealer replaced it with another 100 month battery. We'll see how long it lasts...
 
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#28 ·
Used a local Midas shop today for the first time for Schedule B service. It was only for oil, filter, several inspections and tire rotation. I felt comfortable using this shop as I am acquainted with the manager and customer is able to view everything from window into shop. I brought along my Amsoil 0w-20 and it only cost $23.88.

Print out accompanying the receipt showed an Interstate Battery Test Report:

BatteryRating: 550 CCA

Test Results: 12.53V 488 CCA

Van was delivered 12/06, while the test report states that the battery age is approx. 24 mos.

Is anyone familiar with Interstate Battery test reports?
 
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#29 · (Edited)
wow, only had our Ody for 8 months, and the battery is dead and defective. AAA had to help us out. AAA diagnosed the battery as defective and wouldn't hold a charge. I took it to the dealer. I asked that they do a test to see if there is higher than normal current draw while car is parked and off. They wouldn't do it. They said it's extremely rare that their is a high current draw causing the battery to go dead. I bet I will be back in a month with another dead battery.:stupid:

I think something is drawing current while the sliding doors and rear door is open. I have the master light switch off, and the rear door hatch light is set to off too. The front doors are closed. I think there is something still on when the sliding doors are open. Safety sensors or something, not sure what. We are not like opening and closing the sliding doors frequently either. We just open them once and leave them open.

All in all, It should only be considered a defective battery for now. I just have never had that happen to me before.
 
#30 ·
Distinctly possible that you had a rare occurrence of a defective battery. I suppose it was working fine (turning over fine) and there were no symptoms, then one day it was just dead? Sounds like something happened to one of the plates and it shorted to another. That's instant death. No jumping or charging will bring the battery back to life. Had that happen after 2 years on my Mazda. I know people swear by the Optima batteries, but Interstates are really good too. Who knows what the quality of OEM batteries are. Manufacturers aren't paying top dollar for the highest quality battery when they build the vehicle.
 
#31 ·
Our Ody battery died yesterday morning while I was at the post office. It wouldn't start when I came out but the radio and lights would still work. It was the first chilly morning we have seen in a while. The car next to me gave me a jump and the van started just fine. It actually started the next two times I tried but I wasn't going to take the chance of it dying again and stranding my wife and kids. I got back to work and called Sears to see if they had my size Die Hard in stock and was all set to drive over and pay the $100 when I read on this forum that the battery would be covered under warranty. I called my Honda dealer and they said the battery was covered for 3 years and unlimited miles. I brought it over to them and they replaced the battery for free!! I'm glad I checked here to find out that I could save $100. Almost forgot Our Ody is a 2005 and we have 51,000 miles. Thanks again.
 
#34 ·
Costo had GREAT deals with batteries. They had it non prorated for the first 3 or so years. Then prorated for 100 months. Best part was I had a problem, brought it back to costco and they refunded my money. No problem. I went over to the rack and bought another one. Turns out the old battery was good, but the starter was SHOT! :stupid:
 
#35 ·
#36 ·
Battery in my 05 died this morning as well. first day under 20 degrees. IT's the first battery I had that ever died before 5 years. From what I have been reading, honda makes poor battries. Put in a diehard gold mostly because I had to got to the mall anyway and the size fit perfectly (not lift needed). In the past I have always put in Costco battires. never had a problem with them. I put one in a jeep 7 years ago and it has always started. Even if honda would replace it for free, I wouldnt put a honda battery back in....
 
#37 ·
The trend here is any high power consumption vehicle (power sliding doors, dvd's, auto-delay headlamps) is not kind to the typical OEM spec battery. "Brand" has little to do with it as most OEM's are built to similar specs by one of the few battery manufacturers in this country. A Civic with minimal electro doo-dads will likely keep that OEM battery in shape a lot longer than an Ody. So I'd recommend finding a good quality battery at replacement time. But you never know what kind of battery the Honda dealer is going to use when they swap it out. Some may stock something better than the OEM variety anyway. My family's dealership always stocked Interstate batteries and at that time (10+ years ago) they performed very well.
 
#38 ·
Interstate batteries are among the best. I'd recommend shooting higher than the minimum recommended rating of CCA for the Odyssey. That'll help you contend with the drain all the accessories put on the battery when the car is off, and will probably help on lifetime. What makes car batteries great for starting cars, also makes them poor for slow power consumption. In an ideal world, you'd have a deep cycle battery for engine-off accessory power in tandem with your starting battery.
 
#39 ·
A little weight on the other side of the scale!

Several complaints against OEM batteries...

On the other side of the spectrum, my OEM battery is still going strong half way through it's 6th Eastern Canadian winter and 63,000 miles. A couple times last year it was really slow to crank the engine in 10 F or below weather but I realized that it was after several days of only short distance driving with the heater blower blasting and the rear defogger on etc...

One thing that will kills a battery quickly is to let it sit in a low state of charge. If you only drive short distances and use the electrical gizmos intensively, it will be hard on the battery.

It was 1 deg F here yesterday and the high for today: 10.

Note: After this post, just watch it, my battery will be dead within days!!!
 
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#40 · (Edited)
CR Has Rated DieHard Platinum 50090 Group34/78 as excellent(Overall Score 91) in its catagory.
Optima RedTop SC34U comes second because it loses in reserve capacity.
 
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wild willy
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