Random No Start - Battery Dead
 

Hello all! My first post, thank you in advance for any help or ideas you can provide. Situation:

2008 Honda CR-V EX, 75,000 miles
DEKA 651RMF Maintenance-Free Battery, installed October 2019 (500 CCA @ 0F)

The car is driven daily. We live in the country, so about every trip is a good 15+ minutes, with half being on a highway (so it should have a decent charge most every time it's taken out)
Randomly (every few days), there is not enough power for the battery to successfully start the car. It may slowly turn over a few times, but then it's dead. Sometimes so dead, I have to re-enter the radio security code. A jump start quickly allows the car to start.

Things I have tried:

• Took the car to a local auto-parts store that offers free Alternator and Battery testing. They claim that both the Alternator and Battery are testing fine.
• In total darkness, looked for any lights or other possible battery-drainers. The only thing I see is the occasional red flashing light of the oem security system.
• At night, measured the battery voltage (around 13 v with analog meter) and in the morning, measured again, and saw around 12.5 v. But the car easily started, so I did not catch it on a 'bad day'.
• Verified that the battery terminals are super clean and super tight.

As it turns out, we have TWO of these cars (2008 Honda CR-V) and they both have this "DEKA" battery. The other car's battery is dated FEB 2021. My next idea is to swap the batteries between these vehicles and see if the problem follows the battery or not.

Any other ideas, experiences, etc.??

Thank you, again, for the assist!

Take a look. It might help clear things up??


The only other thing I can thing of at this moment is advice to drive with the head lights on.
This will make the smart charging system think it needs to turn on alternator to charge battery.

@avisitor, that video is GOLD, thank you!! Even if I suspected a phantom draw on the battery, I really had no idea how to track it down.. now I do!

Also, good info/idea on driving with the headlights on. As you know, this vehicle does not automatically turn on the lights, and the usage of the headlights might be somehow involved here. It's certainly worth a try! Will keep you posted!

Just saw on another forum where the battery light would come on intermittently, there was a voltage drop on the cable from the alternator to the battery. The schematic on my 2007 CRV shows it goes from the battery to the fuse box and then to the alternator. Corrosion can cause issues with charging which can also give one headaches. This is just a thought. Good luck with finding the cause and getting it fixed. Hope it is easy and a good cheap fix.

Note: Best to clean the battery posts and cable terminals. Follow negative cable to chassis ground and clean contact points. This helps with intermittent no crank, no starts .. sometimes?

Thanks for the extra ideas! Battery terminals are very tight and clean enough to eat off of them. But I can't say I've tracked down the other ends, so I will have to do that!! Yesterday I swapped batteries between the vehicles, so now I'm waiting to see which car has a starting problem next. If the other car starts to have problems, then it's the battery... if the original car still has issues, at least I've eliminated the battery. Of course, both cars were fine today!! Got to love intermittent problems!!

You probably did this already but did you check that the battery is topped off with distilled water? You car may not have a sealed battery. Just because it says maintenance free doesn't mean it is. A 2008 CRV should not have the parasitic drain that some of the newer ones have.

Interested to see how the swap turned out.

I have good news to report. The OTHER car would not start this morning!! Despite the part store's computer saying the battery is good, I'm calling BS! The problem follows the battery! Fortunately the place I bought the battery agrees and they did a no-cost replacement!

Pretty sure this is the ultimate answer! I'll report back if that's not the case.

Good news, ... so far.
Hope this is the real fix.
Thanks for the update.