OT: New but interesting car battery issue

trader_4 · 2016-10-12T15:55:38+00:00

A friend of mine has a 2012 Honda CRV. He was having an issue with the check engine light coming on due to a catalytic converter issue. That has been going on for a long time, it's not new. If he goes on long trips, it goes out, but driving around time the cat converter isn't happy. So, I lent him my handheld code reader so he could check the codes. He told me he hooked it up, read the codes, cleared the cat code and then they car would not start. It tried to turn over, but did so just barely. He had to jump it to get it going. Then overnight it went dead again. So, he's thinking it was due to the code reader, but I'm thinking it's just coincidence and he has a bad battery, right? He drove the car around after that for a few days, without using the code reader, no problems starting. So, he drives up here to NJ from NC and stops about 10 times along the way at rest stops, shutting the car off. Each time it starts with no problems. He gets to my house, shuts the car off and within a few mins, I hook up the code reader, read the codes, the cat code was set again, I cleared it. Then I go to start the car, and it barely tried to turn over just a bit. I was dumbfounded. Next I took a look at the battery. It looked old to me, he checked where he bought it and they say it's 3 years old. I pulled the caps off and found one cell that instead of water, had what looked like solid black crap in it. So, the battery is kaput. But the mystery remains. How could he drive around for a few days, no problems. How could he drive up here, stopping 10 times and the car starts, yet when you hook up a code reader and clear the codes, it can't start? I thought about this awhile and the only angle I can figure is that resetting the computer causes it to somehow use more power on the next start? Like maybe it wakes up all the various electronic modules in the car to say hello, check status, etc, while it doesn't do that on a normal start? Any ideas? It's one of those...

Oct 12, 2016 49 Replies

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trader_4 9 years ago

Can't be, R stays that starters can't be spec'd in watts.

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trader_4 9 years ago

Which fits into what I've been saying, that the code reader doesn't use power in a few minutes that's significant compared to the starting power needed.

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trader_4 9 years ago

Not sure of your point. The jump starting was done, I think, with the code reader no longer attached. But even if it was, so what? The additional battery supplies a lot more power to overcome whatever is going on.

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RonNNN 9 years ago

You really do have a reading comprehension problem, don't you?! Reread what I actually said instead of playing "twist and shout".

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makolber 9 years ago

Now we could either talk about the amps drawn

Actually Watts x time would be Energy with units of Joules.

One Joule of energy is 1 Watt of power for 1 second.

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Doug Miller 9 years ago

RonNNN wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:

In other words, you're a pedant, deliberately creating an argument over a difference that you

*know* is of no consequence.

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RonNNN 9 years ago

WooHoo! Another "Plonker"... how original. Dig out your watt meter and tell me all about it.

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Dean Hoffman 9 years ago

Neither am I now that I've reread of what I wrote. Dummy attack on my part.

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DerbyDad03 9 years ago

If Stormy was still around he'd chastise you for apologizing on the internet. You're supposed to argue your point even if you don't know what you meant. How dare you acknowledge your own shortcomings in public? Shame on you!

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