Battery Keeps dying!

makena88 · 26 April 2003

Ok, help me out, I have a 1 1/2 year old Exide Battery, the one that does not have water or whatever in it. It contains that "Gel" stuff.

If I don't start my car up every week (7 days) the battery gets real weak. Any ideas?

Steven
91 NSX - Black
02 TL Type S - Silver
02 Hondy Ody - Silver

Dtrigg · 26 April 2003

I had the same problem. Spoke with my Acura dealer about it, and he said it's normal considering the drain on an NSX.

My wife just got a new VW turbo. We took it for the 3 month oil change recently. While at the dealer I noticed a lot of the new cars had solar powered battery chargers on the window. I mentioned my NSX problem to the manager and he gave me one of the chargers. Been using it on the NSX and no problems since.

PHOEN$X · 26 April 2003

Get an onboard or external trickle battery charger. I swear by mine!

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Maintenance/battery.htm

gheba_nsx · 26 April 2003

That is strange anyway, am I the only one that can start the car after ne month without any problem?

BladesNSX · 26 April 2003

No you're not the only one. I have left my NSX sitting in the garage for up to a month as well; and, she still started up for me. However; last week I took a look under the hood and noticed corrosion at the connection points. I try not to drive my NSX in the rain but here in Miami it can literally be sunny one minute raining the next and HELLO...sunny again (even though the weather channel said it would be a clear and sunny day

) Has anyone esle experienced this corrosion problem? I just sprayed on some chemical stuff (don't recall name) to clean off the corrosion.

hlweyl · 26 April 2003

BladesNSX said:
No you're not the only one. I have left my NSX sitting in the garage for up to a month as well; and, she still started up for me. However; last week I took a look under the hood and noticed corrosion at the connection points. I try not to drive my NSX in the rain but here in Miami it can literally be sunny one minute raining the next and HELLO...sunny again (even though the weather channel said it would be a clear and sunny day ) Has anyone esle experienced this corrosion problem? I just sprayed on some chemical stuff (don't recall name) to clean off the corrosion.

there are several different methods to prevent that corrosion.... i just use white lithium grease after a thorough cleaning. easy way to clean it is use a mixture of baking soda and water a scrub and rinse. then take use one of those battery terminal cleaner (its like a wire brush) and scrape both sides of the terminals.

as far as the battery dying, there are several solutions: use a trickle charger as mentioned before or there is a new part i just seen on tv that you hook to the negative battery terminal and if it detects voltage passing through it (i.e. slow drain on battery) it will automatically shut down preventing your battery from dying.

DocL · 26 April 2003

The battery on my NSX has never gone dead, even with the car left sitting for a month. A great item to purchase is the battery tender from Griots garage. I have one for my other car and it's a life saver. Basically you attach a quick connect to the terminals, then plug it into a wire that is attached to a battery tender. It charges the battery, and then maintains the charge when the car is just sitting in the garage. And, it costs under $40. Much easier than having to jump the battery or calling AAA.

The NSX has been the only car that I've ever owned that can be left sitting and start right up on the first try.

nsxtasy · 26 April 2003

Dtrigg said:
I noticed a lot of the new cars had solar powered battery chargers on the window. I mentioned my NSX problem to the manager and he gave me one of the chargers. Been using it on the NSX and no problems since.

I assume those don't work very well on an NSX that's stored in a garage with no windows...

PHOEN$X · 26 April 2003

I think climate has a lot to do with it. Here in the desert the scorching heat is extremely hard on batteries. I am lucky if I get more than 2 years out of a battery, and without a trickle charger my weekend cars wouldn't start after 2-3 weeks.

Zipy · 27 April 2003

FYI: If anyone needs a battery tender I stumbled onto a great and cheap source. Its called Harbor Freight. They handle mostly tools. The tender I bought was normally $20 and it was on sale for $10 and it works great. It comes with battery clips but I modified it with spade connectors and wired it direct. Been using it for over a month now and absolutely no problems. Its also the smallest one I've found.

nsxtasy · 27 April 2003

I don't know anything about the model sold by Harbor Freight.

The Schumacher onboard model, which is a "tender" type (trickle charger that shuts itself off when the battery is fully charged) can be found for around $29 these days - for example, here and here.

makena88 · 27 April 2003

Thanks everyone!

cmb · 10 May 2003

why not try a deep cycle battery, more resistant to drain and do not lose their holding capacity, if and when drained, even if it's constantly.

but yes, a trickle charger is best.

DaveG · 20 June 2003

Battery chargers

Does anyone have a pic that they can post that shows how you have mounted the Schumacher battery charger? I'm interested in seeing what and where it is attached to, and also where the power cord is accessible.

TIA,

Dave

The REAL nsxtasy · 20 June 2003

Re: Battery chargers

DaveG said:
Does anyone have a pic that they can post that shows how you have mounted the Schumacher battery charger? I'm interested in seeing what and where it is attached to, and also where the power cord is accessible.

I don't have a picture - sorry! - and mine is mounted next to a Black Panther (Odyssey) battery, which is smaller than the stock battery. However, I can tell you that the charger is mounted on the passenger side of the battery (right side of the car, but your left side as you're standing in front of the car looking at it). The power cord sticks out of the top and is only a few inches long. It's easy to reach when the spare is out of the car; I leave the spare out while the charger is plugged in.

HTH

kgb_agent · 20 June 2003

nsxtasy said:
I assume those don't work very well on an NSX that's stored in a garage with no windows...

I'm pretty sure all NSX's have windows

POWERED by HONDA · 20 June 2003

I'll try to get a picture of how my onboard Schumacher is "mounted."

I also have a picture of how X-TNSIV mounted his Schumacher. I believe X-TNSIV actually has his bolted on.

Mine is held on by the weight of the battery. It's also held in place by the factory battery case.

POWERED by HONDA · 20 June 2003

kgb_agent said:
I'm pretty sure all NSX's have windows

He meants some garages don't have windows... silly.

Maybe I'll just take a picture of my daily driver's schumacher setup. It's just like how it's mounted in the NSX but without the little battery basket.

nsx1164 · 2 November 2003

pix of Schumie mount ?

POWERED by HONDA said:
I'll try to get a picture of how my onboard Schumacher is "mounted."

I also have a picture of how X-TNSIV mounted his Schumacher. I believe X-TNSIV actually has his bolted on.

Mine is held on by the weight of the battery. It's also held in place by the factory battery case.

Please post pix. Thanks.

Battery Keeps dying!

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