Battery drained battery

[equanimity]

Hi Civic fans....can you help ...drained battery....?
I had plenty of help with my last post regarding noise from front linkages ....solved...
now i left my civic 6 days and the battery was that dead i couldnt even open it....

i have a 56 plate 2.2ctdi ....checked for recall on fuse box issue and spoke to dealer ...this defo is not the 1 with the recall issues....does anyone have a similar prob with 2006 models ....bought a new battery and so far so good but not been left for more than overnight....any ideas/help would be much appreciated....thanks

Lee.......

[Pabby]

Firsly make sure your auto lights and wipers are turned off when you get out of the car. The new battery should be ok, when those batteries start to go though they are terrible. Mine would die if I left it for more than 24 hours. A new battery soon sorted that issue

[equanimity]

where/ how do i turn off the auto lights...?

[onweed]

Originally Posted by equanimity

where/ how do i turn off the auto lights...?

If you have auto lights then turn the left indicator to the "off" position instead of auto. Should be in this order:

Off
Sidelights
Auto
On

Just switch it off.

[equanimity]

Great thanks i will have a look later ...was just concerned i had a fault with the charging circuit or something draining the battery as past threads stated ....the programming or upgrade to the ecu and the dealer was saying it isn't the case with mine only 08 models

[equanimity]

doesn't have the auto lights ....so at least it's not that...hopefully the new battery will sort it .....got it from the dealers ...it's a Varta .....and that was what i took off ....3 yr warranty £69 .and if it drains i'll take it in for dianosis and if they say the battery is knackered i'll take another on warranty while i,m there...

[Wiganjon]

Just had my battery replaced 56 2.2 I had similar probs,hope mine is ok now

[Pabby]

It's a really common issue

[J. Derek Riddell]

But, if it's not the battery, then it might be that the alternator isn't charging correctly ...

Or, something as simple as dirty \ insecure battery connections ...

Failing that, even though the 'MICU' should be o.k., there could be a drain to earth elsewhere, which an auto electrician can diagnose ...

[equanimity]

Originally Posted by Wiganjon

Just had my battery replaced 56 2.2 I had similar probs,hope mine is ok now

let me know if any more probs and i'll do the same ......

[Wiganjon]

Seems fine now, starter motor spins a lot faster... Got the battery from main dealer £69 , quite cheap really

[Centauri39]

Since I had a flat battery several times, too, I just had an idea:

How about fitting some kind of master switch (accessible from the driver´s seat) to totally cut off the battery, when the Civic isn´t used for a longer period?

Will the car lose any data whatsoever without the battery?

[Sctrpop]

I have heard of quite a few people having this issue, and I guess I should count myself lucky. My lights are always on the auto and my wipers as well with no problems whatsoever...

[mpn_daedalus]

Originally Posted by Centauri39

Since I had a flat battery several times, too, I just had an idea:

How about fitting some kind of master switch (accessible from the driver´s seat) to totally cut off the battery, when the Civic isn´t used for a longer period?

Will the car lose any data whatsoever without the battery?

Everytime you disconnect the battery, the ECU resets itself. Not sure if this will have any negative effects reseting it so often.

Also if the key's in the ignition when you reconnect the battery, the immobiliser chip (or whatever's in the key) gets wiped. Would be quite easy to overlook and accidentally wipe with a 'disconnect switch' in the cabin.

[Centauri39]

Originally Posted by mpn_daedalus

Everytime you disconnect the battery, the ECU resets itself. Not sure if this will have any negative effects reseting it so often.

Also if the key's in the ignition when you reconnect the battery, the immobiliser chip (or whatever's in the key) gets wiped. Would be quite easy to overlook and accidentally wipe with a 'disconnect switch' in the cabin.

I´m aware of the immobiliser chip issue.
I´ve been told to remove the key first, when the car got jump-started the first time.

Mainly, I would use such a switch only in winter.
I´ve never had a flat battery in different seasons, ...so far.

You see, I´m thinking about occasions like for example, when there´s snow and ice, when it´s difficult to get to my garage.
Or what if I get sick and have to stay in hospital for a few months?

I already thought about fitting another battery with more capacity, but after asking my dealer and several dealers for car components (everybody is telling me, another battery isn´t possible, at least without extra and expensive effort), and after calculating myself how long batteries with different capacities would last (referring to 14 winter days for the build-in 45Ah), I realised, more capacity would give me only a few days more, which isn´t enough for the above mentioned cases.

Btw. How´s the Civic on snow and ice, especially downhill (with winter tires, of course)?
I guess, uphill isn´t the problem for a front wheel model like the Civic.

[J. Derek Riddell]

Originally Posted by Centauri39

....... I already thought about fitting another battery with more capacity, but after asking my dealer and several dealers for car components (everybody is telling me, another battery isn´t possible ....... Btw. How´s the Civic on snow and ice, especially downhill (with winter tires, of course)? I guess, uphill isn´t the problem for a front wheel model like the Civic.

1} Battery capacity - you CAN upgrade to a 2.2 sized battery, like a Bosch S6 - you just need the battery tray \ support from a 2.2 ...

2} Winter tyres - just great uphill or downhill, since the engine is over the driving wheels - this assumes you have 'proper' (Scandinavian etc. spec.) rubber ...

[Centauri39]

As for the battery:
Do you mean the battery from the diesel model?
But why is everybody telling me, it doesn´t fit into a 1.8 AT (facelift) model?
My dealer claims to have failed when he tried the "diesel battery".
Another dealer I´ve asked about a bigger battery told me, there was some kind of controller located inside the cabin in a diesel model, but outside of it in the 1.8 AT and because of that controller the bigger battery wouldn´t fit there.
So, as I said, everybody is telling me it doesn´t work and everybody has different reasons to make me believe that (most times, they talking about the available space being too small, the poles would create shortcuts with the bonnet or it would be too expensive, because that job was too difficult).
One of them even suggested to use the boot for a bigger battery, but this means two quite thick cables through the whole car.
Now, when I read your post or many other regarding this topic, I wonder are they (the dealers) all lying to me or what am I to believe, anyway?

Now, I´m quite unsecure about having the battery replaced.
You know, I don´t want to buy a battery including it´s tray or whatever, to see it doesn´t work in the end.

As for the tires:
Proper rubber? Sounds funny... ...but true, of course.

So far, I avoided driving on snowy streets.
Where I live, only the first street is the problem.
It´s a downhill curve to the left and at the outer side of that street there are many parking cars.
Many people are very afraid of driving there when it gets slippery.
Especially if another car comes uphill at the same time.
You can´t see him, suddenly you need to get out of his way and then... well, certainly, you can imagine that ugly sound.

[J. Derek Riddell]

1} Yes, I mean the same size battery that the diesel has - a member here in Norway has seeming fitted one - he needed the carrier \ tray from the diesel, otherwise it was a straight fit - check out the 'S4' versus 'S6' sizes on the Bosch site and check the space in your 1.8 ...

2} By "proper" rubber, I mean genuine Winter tyres (7C and below) , not 'all year round' or 'town and country' stuff - I use Continental Vikings ...