My starter battery died. Confused.

[Tangible]

I just drove the car for the first time since the incident, after keeping it on a charger overnight. It has entered some strange crippled mode, displaying a long list of error messages claiming that many systems are malfunctioning: brakes, brake hold, hill assistance, tpms, etc. The mode buttons are disabled.

What’s going on?

The messages have gone away, as predicted by @Landshark, leaving behind only an amber icon of an engine, which I think just means there are error codes stored.

A forum search revealed this was a common problem back in 2018, resolved eventually by a software update. At least one person on this thread, @insightman , was involved in that long discussion.

Apparently many Hondas display this long list of false errors after a battery problem has been resolved. It’s a little disconcerting to be told your brakes and engine are malfunctioning. Another example of something that a better program design could easily avoid.

 

[Landshark]

Tangible,
Read the Testing of Readiness Codes in the manual. The engine light should clear after a few days of driving.

 

[JustAnotherPoorDriver]

If your 12V battery is weak and you don’t drive the car for several days, you can keep the 12V battery charged by turning the car on to READY mode for 30 minutes or so, that will charge it. Do this maybe every few days. And you can use the parking brake trick to keep the DRL's off and save a little power while it's charging.

If you don't have any EV miles when you do this the gas engine will come on every few minutes to keep the HV battery charged. No big deal if it does as long as the car is not in an enclosed garage. Also keep in mind that while it's in READY mode there is no way to lock the doors from the outside.

You can also use a battery tender to keep the 12V charged. I use one on an older car that I don't drive very often.

If you are never charging the HV battery, what you can do is when you are out driving you can use HV Charge mode (press and hold the HV button) that way you will build up some EV miles. You can charge the HV battery up to just over half full this way. Then you can at least do some driving in EV. There will be a small overall hit on mpg but not that much.


Sounds even easier.

Also if the car is in READY mode while you are watching the movie you can use the heater. It will use up some EV miles but not all that much. If you run out of EV miles it will run the gas engine for a couple of minutes every ten minutes or so. Hopefully it won't be loud enough to bother other moviegoers, but then again I suppose it's common nowadays at drive-ins for people to run their engines. Last time I went to a drive-in movie they still had the speakers that you hung onto the side window (and had to remember to remove before you drove off).

I live in the City and park in a commercial garage. No access to plugs that I can use, and I can't pull the battery because they need to be able to move my car.

I've driven it multiple hours (I usually do electric out, then HV charge back to have it stored with 50% charge)--the 12v dot still doesn't turn blue, so I think the 12v is damaged beyond repair. Again, I'll get to the dealer at some point and see what they say about warranty. If not, I'll drop into Costco

As a side note, on with no lights worked perfectly with a blanket over the screens for a drive in. I even ran the heat/defrost a few times during the double feature (it wasn't that cold, so spent maybe 10 miles total of range in the 4 hours)

 

[Theoburns]

I usually do electric out, then HV charge back to have it stored with 50% charge--the 12v dot still doesn't turn blue

When you previously mentioned "it's never blue anymore" I assumed you were referring to the blue semicircle on the instrument panel which is one of the indications that you are in EV mode, so it made me think that you were never driving in EV. But I guess you are referring to something else, but I guess I don't know what you mean by a 12V dot, On what screen are you seeing this?

 

[JustAnotherPoorDriver]

Not a screen--this is the 12v battery, not the traction battery.

The blue dot is on the battery itself-in the inspection window

12v Battery Dot

• JustAnotherPoorDriver
• Apr 4, 2021

 

[Theoburns]

Not a screen--this is the 12v battery, not the traction battery.

The blue dot is on the battery itself-in the inspection window

12v Battery Dot

• JustAnotherPoorDriver
• Apr 4, 2021

Mine doesn't have that, I guess I got gypped. Not sure how accurate that indicator is, although if it says the battery is bad I suppose it probably is.

I think I remember someone saying that when you buy a new Honda battery it comes with a better warranty than Costco, and even though the price of the battery was more than Costco, they felt that factoring in the warranty the Honda battery is a decent value, which they were somewhat surprised about. I suppose even more so if they give you some credit on the old battery. Will be interesting to know if you find the same to be true.

 

[Tangible]

My situation continues to worsen. While plugged in overnight to my 240V power, the car was making very loud fan noises intermittently. This morning, when I tried to start I got a whole new set of messages, this time saying the power system and electric brakes are bad. I couldn’t take it out of Park.

I put it back on the 12V charger, whose meter was in the red zone. It’s now in the green. I do have the red and blue “OK” indicator in the battery’s window, FWIW. That might be because the charging cables are still connected and active, though.

I’m thinking I need to replace the 12 V battery. It’s from 2018. Don’t know if there’s any warranty at this point.

 

[MrFixit]

I agree that it is highly likely that your battery has failed.
I have never trusted those "eyes" on the battery itself. I think they are difficult to read and untrustworthy.

I looked at the warranty book, and the coverage is surprisingly good... Coverage lasts for up to 8+ years, pro-rated after 36 months:

Go to the dealer... The odds are good that you can get a new battery for free.

 

[Tangible]

The fine print is that this excellent warranty covers only replacement batteries purchased from Honda, not original equipment. I believe the original battery is only covered for three years. That said, I just checked and I still have three weeks left on my vehicle warranty, so I’m going to try the dealer.

I hate to do it, because I’ve learned from past contact that they are completely ignorant about the Clarity. They’re rare here in Massachusetts, and most of the service guys act like they’ve never seen one.

 

[MrFixit]

Looks like you're right...
Here is the more general statement:

If it's any consolation, testing a 12V battery and covering that under warranty [should be] straight-forward even for a dealer who is totally ignorant about the Clarity !

 

[Landshark]

They might be ignorant about the Clarity. If they’re ignorant about a 12V battery warranty, well, that’s another situation altogether.

 

[JustAnotherPoorDriver]

The blue dot is just a specific gravity tester, isn't it? I miss my old 2001 Subaru, where I could open the battery and add water.

The 12v is the same one in their other cars. Should be easy.

I'm also sure that with all the lack-of-use, lots of batteries are being replaced. Not looking forward to the line at my dealer, though, but I have until December. I'll likely do it in august, before I start regularly commuting again, to protect the new battery from going bad.

 

[Tangible]

My long-standing policy has been that any car that strands me twice gets traded. This second battery event doesn't count, because it was in my garage. And the first event was at least partially my fault. But the Clarity's days may be numbered, especially with the warranty ending this month.

As the market changes, I'm feeling less convinced about the whole PHEV concept. In one sense it's the best of both worlds; in another it's the worst, with the continuing need for ICE maintenance and short EV range. My true EV range in winter is about 30 miles, which isn't great.

I've been looking at the new 2022 Hyundai Kona Electric, and I'm interested. 250 mile range, SUV configuration (albeit tiny), very advanced infotainment, including wireless CarPlay/Android Auto, fast level 3 DC charging at Electrify America. Although this may seem off-topic, I'm posting it as a warning to my Clarity, as I assume our vehicles check this forum when we're not looking. You're on probation, mister.

 

[Theoburns]

Looks like you're right...
Here is the more general statement:

View attachment 11343

So if I understand correctly there is no prorating during the original warranty, you get a free replacement battery. Only drawback is that it's only for 3 years/36K. Most batteries last longer than that, so for most of us our batteries will die after the warranty has expired and we will have to pay in full for a replacement. I think that's the situation that the person that I was thinking about was in, but they found that even in that situation buying a new battery from Honda was better overall than even Costco, or at least comparable, due to the great warranty that you mentioned in your previous thread when a replacement battery is purchased from Honda.

 

[rodeknyt]

I remember laughing when I read about the "new" Ford Thunderbird (2002-2005) having its 12-Volt battery in the trunk but operating the electric trunk latch required power from the 12-Volt battery, which presented a problem when the battery died.
View attachment 11319

The TBirds have a key-operated manual trunk release behind the driver's seat, similar to the one in our Claritys. We've owned an '02 since new and I have had to use that feature more than once

 

[Tangible]

Only drawback is that it's only for 3 years/36K. Most batteries last longer than that, so for most of us our batteries will die after the warranty has expired and we will have to pay in full for a replacement.

I guess I should feel lucky that mine died three weeks before the third anniversary rather than three weeks after. Costco quotes $79 for the Clarity compatible battery. Not sure if that includes installation. Free is better! The new warranty isn’t a factor for me, as I won’t own this car for that many years.

 

[LAF]

I think my mistake may have been that I took my key with me, which I presume caused the car to enter a mode in which it was unable to use the ICE to recharge the battery.

So just to recap, the next time I want to turn on my car for use as a warming hut, I press the power button twice with my foot off the brake, and then leave the key in the car.

Right?

Wrong- push it once as though you are about to drive away but keep the car in park mode. You can still take the key with you if you must

 

[Emily]

Were you in Utility Mode? It's my understanding that if you use Utility Mode to run accessories, it uses your drive battery and saves the 12 volt battery. So far, it's worked for me in my 2021 Kona EV.

 

[alter]

My situation continues to worsen. While plugged in overnight to my 240V power, the car was making very loud fan noises intermittently. This morning, when I tried to start I got a whole new set of messages, this time saying the power system and electric brakes are bad. I couldn’t take it out of Park.

This exact same thing happened when my car had a 12 volt undervolt. I didn't at all understand why the fan kept going. And it prevented me from taking it out of park as well. I call it a conniption.

12 volt lad acid batteries are very easy to kill, your battery is most likely dead.

 

[alter]

Just something handy I have if you are concerned about your 12volt battery health and also charging status. I have 'hondahack' installed on my head unit. It has an option for displaying the 12 volt battery voltage in the upper right area (as well as a tonne of other features and ability to install android apps). It will not only tell you the current voltage, but also you can tell when the dc-dc converter is charging the battery as it will read 14.5V when it is doing that.

(make sure you select the hide honda hack option when getting your car service though)