I guess I haven’t been driving it enough (car won’t start)

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DapperDano

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With the pandemic, I’ve barely been driving. Just in and out the garage to let my wife pull her car out. However, this morning I tried to start and all the lights came on and it said everything was wrong (tire pressure low, charging door open, electronic parking brake not functional, other systems). Now it won’t turn on. Is it possible I just need a jump? Any other possibilities? I just pulled it out of the garage a couple days ago.
 
Charge the battery if you have the means to do so. It should 'start' fine. You will still have a bunch of errors that should go away after you drive a short distance. You should probably check your tire pressures and run a TPMS calibration once you get going. If you are not driving it, it is a good idea to charge the battery occasionally (or use a battery tender).

You could probably jump it to get going, but it will take a fair amount of driving to really get the 12V battery back to a full charge.

You don't need anything fancy... Small battery chargers / tenders are low cost and readily available.
 
Landshark said:
The 12V battery is charged from the HV lithium battery via a DC/DC converter. When the car is “on” and ready to drive, the battery is being charged. Try turning it on and leaving it on once a week for 15-20 minutes. Or get a tender. Or plug in the charger occasionally. There’s no need to drive it around.
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Thanks for the info, so when the charger is plugged in it will also charge the 12V battery?
 
DapperDano said:
Thanks for the info, so when the charger is plugged in it will also charge the 12V battery?
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As @Landshark wrote, the Clarity uses its DC-to-DC converter to charge the 12V battery only when the car is "on."

That poses a problem for people in a power outage who want to power their refrigerator through an inverter connected to the 12V battery and have the HV battery keep the 12V battery charged. You can't lock the Clarity's doors from the outside when it's on.
 
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"Or plug in the charger occasionally", meaning when it's plugged in it's "on" and charging the 12V battery?

Also, the jump worked but the screen doesn't come on (only for back up), and the it says the tire pressure/auto stabilization systems have problems... Does it need some sort of reset?
 
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Theoretically it charges both the 12V and the HV lithium batteries when plugged in. I can’t say for sure what happens if it is plugged in and the lithium batteries are fully charged. Does it abort charging the lithium and just charge the 12V?

My guess is, it would detect a low 12V battery, activate the DC/DC converter which draws power from the lithium and then, perhaps simultaneously, activate the HV charger.

There is a reset for tire pressure described in the manual. I had to do this after a false low pressure alert. The low pressure alert, which I believe Honda has the audacity to actually call a tire pressure monitoring system, is a top candidate for most useless feature to ever adorn a vehicle.
 
Despite the jumpstart working, need to have your 12v battery tested. Might be completely cooked and need replacement as they often do not take well to a deep discharge. If that battery is ok, Maybe rebooting the Audio head unit/screen will reset it? You need access to this screen to reset tire pressure monitor.
 
If your screen is still black, and rebooting the audio head doesn't restore it, then I would recommend the following...

1. Insure yourself that the 12V battery is sufficiently charged (I agree... have it tested when you can)
2. Disconnect the negative battery terminal for around 30 seconds.
3. Reconnect the negative terminal.

This essentially performs a cold boot. It is possible that your very low battery caused the head unit to hang and jumping was not sufficient for recovery. If the head unit comes back on with this procedure, then you will have a bunch of errors again (which should clear with a short drive),
 
Thanks, all. Holding the audio button did work for the main UI. Now, the only thing busted is that it says the tire pressure monitoring and stabilization have a problem, and it just says systems initializing forever.

The AAA guy did test my battery and it said it needed to be replaced. I said no however, bc that was before I knew my battery could be permanently damaged. I do need to take it in soon anyway, is there anyway to make it survive until then?
 
DapperDano said:
Now, the only thing busted is that it says the tire pressure monitoring and stabilization have a problem, and it just says systems initializing forever
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Keep in mind that once you initiate a TPMS calibration, you have to drive around for some unknown amount of time before the calibration is complete. Also, be sure when you initiate the calibration that your tire pressures are correct. The TPMS does NOT measure the pressure in the tires - it just monitors the relative rotation of the tires.

Do you think this could explain yout tire pressure error, or have you already driven around some?

Your battery may very well last long enough to "take it in soon" particularly if you are careful to not let it drain too much. You are taking a chance though so weigh your own comfort level.
 
DapperDano said:
is there anyway to make it survive until then?
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When is “then”?

A “weak” battery may accept a charge and allow you to nurse it along for a few days or weeks if you keep the charging cable connected or use a tender. It may require the use of a jump starter on occasion. It depends on how weak the battery has become. The sooner the battery is replaced the better.
 
I have done some simple testing on this what I found is...

The 12v battery will charge from the EVSE while charging the EV battery with the car off but it is at a lower voltage than when the car is “on” or driving. I do not know how much current (amps) are provided in either mode.

It does not seem to matter whether you use the OEM 120v 10A EVSE or a 240v 16A EVSE the voltage increase at the 12v battery terminals is the same while EVSE charging with either cord.

So if you do not have a separate battery charger/maintainer and want more hours of 12v charging/maintaining the use the slower 120v EVSE cord.
 
My Clarity celebrated its 3rd birthday with a dead battery. Like @DapperDan, I suspect that our minimal driving during the pandemic may be the cause, or at least contributed to the failure.

I was ready to get it going with my little battery-powered charger in the trunk, but discovered that with a dead battery, there's no way that I could find to open it.

Fortunately, we were at home, and I was able to use my old AC powered charger to start the car. That was a lesson learned. I would have been in deep doo had I encountered that problem while away. It won't be going back in the trunk for storage.

I was able to confirm that a charge voltage was applied when the car was running in EV mode, and a slightly lower charge voltage when connected to our Siemens charger, during a charging cycle. I was surprised to find, though, that the voltage actually was lower with the Siemens charger plugged into the Clarity, but not actively charging, than it was with no external source.

Our Honda dealer tested it 3 times the following day, during the annual maintenance, and blessed it as good. I've been monitoring it for the last few days, and I'm not entirely confident that the battery is still reliable. I wouldn't mind dealing with a battery problem while out and about, but I don't want my wife to have to cope with a failure on the road by herself, so I picked up a replacement from Honda today. Their price was reasonably competitive with the auto parts stores nearby. The parts guy kindly took it to the car for me, and suggested that when I bring back the core, just call, and he would come out to get it.
 
The 12 volt battery is part of the 36 month/36k mile warranty. I had mine tested and replaced free of charge a couple of weeks ago.
 
Groves Cooke said:
The 12 volt battery is part of the 36 month/36k mile warranty. I had mine tested and replaced free of charge a couple of weeks ago.
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Yes, that was what I was hoping for, too, with 3 days left on the warranty, but they said they tested it 3 times, and it was good. Hard to argue with them, but I replaced it myself for the reasons I mentioned, to avoid any risk of a problem for my wife. We had a similar problem on our old Odyssey, and they replaced it under warranty, with no discussion. Oh well. I replaced it today, and it was quite an experience. I managed to get it done, but I don't think I'll try it next time, owing to my age. It was more of a challenge than I expected.
 
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