I am really hoping someone can help me. I own a 2013 Honda Fit and am having a great deal of problems with the battery. The alternator is fine so i know that for a fact but this started about 2 years ago. Needed a battery so I purchased one at Pep Boys and lasted about less than a year. Brought it in to them and they said it was the battery so they replaced it. Had that one for about the same length of time and had to keep getting jumps from my roadside service a couple of times a year so when i got the last charge the guy checked the alternator and said that was fine but he thought because i was a senior and i don't drive much that it was not charging up my car for the short distances i was driving and i believed him. Took it back again to Pep Boys and they said it was the battery. That was this late winter and they felt the battery was not a great one but he said he gave me a better one. Again today it is dead. now I dont know if i believe them about me discharging my battery from short distances because my driving patterns have really not ever changed. So i went out to buy a jump starter feeling not safe anymore . Went to use it but a code came up saying because the starter kept beeping saying . Reverse polarity connection. please reconnect correctly. I started to read about this. Could this have been the problem all along. I am now at my wits end and dont know what to do Please someone help.

 

If you drive less than 10 minutes it doesn't have the time to recharge what you used for the starting process.

 

Honda and some car manufacturers are using a "smart charging system". Meaning is that the alternator is set to provide 12.5 volts when there is no electrical loads. When there is load (such as turning the headlights on), the alternator is commanded to charge at 13.5 to 14.5 volts. So, sometimes the charging system is not maintaining the charge on the battery. Could be alternator, battery or ELD (electrical Load Detector found in the engine bay fuse box). Or it could be a parasitic drain.

The important thing to remember is that mechanics will take their cue from you. If you say you think it is the battery then they will change the battery. They sill get paid whether the problem is fixed or not. From the symptoms you provided (can not give a real diagnosis without being there to do tests), it sounds like there is an electrical parasitic drain.