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2019 Touring battery dead

9K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  mikekellar 
#1 ·
Three times and had better be the last. First time was at the DMV I was setting my radio channels when battery dies called Honda roadside they jump started me. All good. Made it home and it started the next day.Second time at home didn't drive for 3 days battery dead. Called Honda roadside they came and jumped me. Drove around for an hour and on freeway to recharge. 3rd time stopped at gas station relunctantly turned the engine off battery died. Called Honda roadside and instead of a jump had them tow me to the dealership. Same day they checked the battery and found it to be bad. They Installed a new battery same type and size. So far so good except I have to go out every day that I don't drive and start the car to be sure it's not dead. Is this the best they can do? Anyone else have this problem with the battery
 
#2 · (Edited)
385,000 2019 CRVs made/built and you got one with a bad battery. Hum. Most folks with a new car and a dead battery would be at the dealership immediately. Honda does not make batteries and nothing made by humans will be perfect 100% of the time. If your new free battery fails, go to your dealership and get another new free battery. I would think odds are pretty slim getting two bad batteries.......but not impossible.

3 times better be the last???? Sell it/trade it in and take a several thousand dollar loss vs a new/free $100 battery.......that will teach Honda.

Starting it just to see if it will start and turning it off is about the worst thing you can do to a battery.

I’m sure others have had a bad battery. Only one bad battery out of 385,000?.......impossible.
 
#4 ·
It's a fairly common thing with the CR-V. The tiny Group 51R battery is the same one that came in the '96 model, but your '19 has far more electronics. I thought I saw where someone here said the new ones had a bit larger battery, but I guess not. But there is a fairly simple solution. Here it is:

Larger Group 24 Battery Install

This thread contains part numbers and instructions to change the battery, using OEM Honda parts from the Odyssey, which cost about $25, to change to a Group 24F battery, which is far larger, with better CCA and reserve power. This mod works on all year models. One other thing - new models are notorious for having mysterious battery drain issues, caused by tiny malfunctions in the systems in your new V that do not shut off when the car does, which can also cause this issue. There are a ton of threads here about that, too.

I know what you're gonna say - Really? Modify a brand new vehicle? Well, yeah, you have a point there. But, if that's all it takes to make the car reliable, I say do it and don't look back. I am doing it to mine. Many people buy new vehicles and immediately modify them. By the way, this will not void your warranty.

Lastly, don't take the rude behavior above personal. It's about them, not you. They attack me all the time. They're kind of like a pack of wildlings from Lord of the Flies. If you watch the news, you see that it is trending behavior these days anyway, right?
 
#32 ·
It's a fairly common thing with the CR-V. The tiny Group 51R battery is the same one that came in the '96 model, but your '19 has far more electronics. I thought I saw where someone here said the new ones had a bit larger battery, but I guess not. But there is a fairly simple solution. Here it is:

Larger Group 24 Battery Install

This thread contains part numbers and instructions to change the battery, using OEM Honda parts from the Odyssey, which cost about $25, to change to a Group 24F battery, which is far larger, with better CCA and reserve power. This mod works on all year models. One other thing - new models are notorious for having mysterious battery drain issues, caused by tiny malfunctions in the systems in your new V that do not shut off when the car does, which can also cause this issue. There are a ton of threads here about that, too.

I know what you're gonna say - Really? Modify a brand new vehicle? Well, yeah, you have a point there. But, if that's all it takes to make the car reliable, I say do it and don't look back. I am doing it to mine. Many people buy new vehicles and immediately modify them. By the way, this will not void your warranty.

Lastly, don't take the rude behavior above personal. It's about them, not you. They attack me all the time. They're kind of like a pack of wildlings from Lord of the Flies. If you watch the news, you see that it is trending behavior these days anyway, right?
I did it to my 08 crv ,51r ho cart battery are junk I went through 4 honda battery all under warranty,finally I said screw these batterys went and bought a 35 group 800cca interstate battery from costco it's been 5 yrs now no trouble.honda batterys are weak and honda is aware that the 51r is a bad battery not enough but that's what the put in cause that's what it calls for ,for weight gas mileage blah blah blahh.get a bigger better battery
 
#5 ·
If approximate numbers could be linked to "a fairly common thing" or "new models are notorious for" or "a ton of threads here", a percentage comparison could be made for the number of bad batteries vs the 385,000 batteries placed in 2019 CRVs (1 million + Gen 5 batteries). Bet that percentage or number is way tinier than the tiny battery.

Rude behavior?.......why does "the pot calling the kettle black" come to mind from the past?
 
#9 ·
Actually, I was thinking of the huge numbers of threads on this topic for all years of the CR-V, the Element, and other vehicles with the Group 51R battery, and not just the Gen 5. That line stretches back all the way to the beginning. However, the new ones do have systems that continue to operate when the car is off, which older models didn't. So there is that. There is also the suspicion of many that it affects starter life as well.

As far as the rudeness stuff goes, I don't really need to say more, just watch you guys keep making my point for me. :)
 
#6 · (Edited)
Suema,

I am very surprised at the rude comments also. This forum is usually not like that. :eek:
Hopefully you can take your CRV to the dealer or at least call them up and ask them about your problem etc.
I am not familiar with the new generations of CRVs, but i have heard about some having batteries going dead on them and not sure if it is a software upgrade that is needed or just a few bad batteries.
Call the Dealer.
Just found this and more research on your part might give you the answer:
And

Buffalo4
 
#7 ·
Allowing a battery to go dead, regardless of cause, multiple times.. pretty well kills most starter batteries. They simply do not do well when allowed to discharge multiple times. So.. it begs the question.. did something cause discharges of the battery due to an abnormal parasitic current somewhere and multiple discharges killed it, or was it just a weak battery to begin with (ie: a latent defect) destined to fail early.

Given it is a 2019, and given you have not left lights or accessories on by mistake... then I suggest you browse this thread For those with a battery issue 2019 crv and have the dealer confirm if TSB 19-039 has been applied to your CRV. 2019s had an issue for a time where the normal evap system check which takes place some hours after the vehicle is parked... did not return to low power state as designed. [Honda put a short halt on sales of all 2019s on dealer lots until dealers confirmed and or installed TSB 19-039 on each vehicle. In addition, Honda issues a campaign to owners to have this same TSB installed to ensure that no CRV in the field suffered from this issue in the future].

So... please read the linked thread, and check with the dealer if that TSB was applied. If it was, then you should have the dealer check for an abnormal parasitic drain in the vehicle as well, just to be sure. [Normal parasitic drain on a gen5 CRV when in powered down to low power standby mode (generally within 3 minutes of shutting off and exiting the vehicle) is 30-50ma, which for a fully charged 51R battery = ~30days of life on the battery in a vehicle sitting untouched].

Despite some opinions otherwise, the 51R is quite adequate for a normally functioning gen5 CRV (see below) . Upsizing to a larger battery really will not buy you much... maybe an extra week of sitting idle without fully discharged when sitting for prolonged periods.

As for some of the snark you received in comments posted here, that is likely triggered by what you said in your post and the way you said it. :) I read your post as frustration with the "three times had better be the last". But since body language does not come through on text written in a forum, it could also be taken as yet another cavalier threat/demand/outburst type of comment. :p

Anyway.. you have a 2019... so.. that linked thread IS appropriate to check into.. just to make sure you do not have an abnormal parasitic at play in your CRV. That said, it is likely that you had a battery with a defect in it (most likely a bad plate in one cell) that was not immediately a failure, but made the reserve capacity and the voltage output of the battery weak.

The battery IS the weakest component and least reliable component in a motor vehicle. As such... I adopted the practice of keeping close monitoring of my vehicle batteries years ago..and continue to do so.. as well as perform monthly tests on the battery for CCA, charge levels, etc. Some folks just ignore the battery until if fails.. which is fine for some folks, but I personally loathe coming out to my vehicles and finding them dead.. so I keep an eye on them and actively maintain them... which also means I will see a battery going south on me months before it poses a starting issue.

Good luck. (y)
 
#8 ·
...So far so good except I have to go out every day that I don't drive and start the car to be sure it's not dead. Is this the best they can do? Anyone else have this problem with the battery
Ironically, starting your car every day -- just to make sure the battery's not dead -- gets you dead faster than doing nothing.

That's because starting the car drains the battery a little.

What to do?

Just treat your CRV like any other car. With a new well-charged battery and healthy electrical system, you can let it sit for days, even weeks, no worries.

Your old battery was bad. The new one is good. Enjoy your car!

But what if it dies again? Then it might be another bad battery. Or an excessive parasitic drain. Or ???

That is, if there's an underlying issue, let it fail while you're still under warranty. Don't try to mask it by needlessly idling or driving around town for an hour.

FWIW, after a year my 2011 CRV revealed a bad battery. Replaced under warranty. No further problems. 7 years later, the battery was still good when I traded it in for a new 2019 CRV.

Full disclosure: Any of my vehicles that sit for a week (or longer) get connected to a CTEK 3300 Battery Maintainer.
 
#10 ·
So that 385,000 number becomes much larger and the percentage of defective batteries probably goes down.

You made your point recently with your rude comments about one's family upbringing......I can find your rude comment in this forum (so can others), if you need reminding.
 
#18 ·
Here you go alley oop:

 
#12 ·
Naw, Many folks that have new Honda's don't even bother with warranty replacements. my neighbor went for a Diehard (sorry Sears closed since he got it), my kid went for Autozone Duralast for her Civic. I suspect a lot of factory batteries die hours after the warranty ends. ( For Sheldon Cooper - that was intended as humor ). I think it is like Seagate figured out how much lubricant to add to their disk drive motors so that they failed 30 days after warranty ended.
Since old man Hondo died and the bean counters took over, quality is no longer important. Proof:
Used to get Michelin Tires, now Bridgestone, Kumho, and Firestone.
The seats in my 1999 Accord looked brand new after 16 years, the seats in my Ridgelines and CR-V look used after 6 weeks.
My 1976 Accord battery lasted 5 years, My 2006 Ridgeline 3 years, my 2009 Ridgeline 3 months, my 2013 CR-V 2 months, my 2016 got new one at delivery as original would not start it, replace it in October with a Walmart 5 year 24F fro $94 and an Odyssey battery tray $21.
 
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#25 ·
During the last presidential administration, the folks then at the USEPA banned all lead smelters in the USA. So now, all of our battery lead is imported, and our old wheel weights are now made of a plastic/metal composite that for some reason doesn't clip well to wheel rims. I've had to get my tires rebalanced twice in 6 months due to lost weights.
 
#13 ·
Lots more electronics use more battery power, even when the vehicle is off.
Use your fob to unlock doors? Something has to be drawing power in the car to receive that signal and that takes a little power.
If I have to leave my Honda sitting for a couple of weeks or longer, I disconnect the neg battery cable. No connection. no drain. Course, the computer has to relearn some settings while you drive, but I found that it was not a problem.
Now, if I could what is causing the parasitic drain on my '03 Ody, that is powered through fuse #13 in the Pass interior fuse box, i would be a happy camper.

The old cars didn't have the electronics checking so much stuff, even when off, and you could leave an old car sit for many months and the battery would usually stay pretty well charged.
So, basically I think batteries are better than they used to be, or at least as good.
Buffalo4
 
#16 · (Edited)
Lots of perfectly healthy newer vehicles have potential battery issues, especially those with a small-ish battery that are driven infrequently and mostly short trips.

One simple solution is regular use of a battery maintainer (AKA battery charger). It's a practice encouraged by high-end manufacturers (Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley, etc.), whose vehicles are not typically driven daily.

In fact, the all-new 2020 Corvette has a standard 12V outlet dedicated for use with a battery maintainer.

Highly recommended: CTEK MUS 4.3 (56-864). Lots of youtube videos, like this.
 
#19 ·
PSA.....

Note: many of these modern portable lithium battery jump starters will not work if your battery is depleted to less than 8 vdc (not uncommon for a severely depleted battery). This is due to the safety circuits they put in the designs.. which detect a very low voltage on the battery as either a shorted battery or a connection error. As such.. you may be forced to go old school and use jumper cables to another vehicles battery.

It is important to read the fine print on any portable lithium starter packs limitations.. BEFORE buying and trusting it out on the road.

Same goes for some battery charging units. Some are able to recharge from essentially 0 vdc, and some are not.. requiring at least 8vdc residual on the battery or they error out. So please read the fine print carefully.
 
#23 ·
larryr said:
Since old man Hondo died and the bean counters took over, quality is no longer important.
I'm still kickin' the tires..... ;)

FWIW, all our various models of Hondas are connected on a rotating basis to a CTEK charging station, we added a quick connect coupler dongle so that the bonnet does not need to be opened.
 
#24 ·
Do you have accessories plugged in when you are not driving the car? Any accessory no matter how trivial will run down a Honda battery. You should consider a smart charger with the pulse feature to remove sulfate buildup if you anticipate more than a day of non-use. With the SARs-COV-II shelter in place order for my community, no accessories are plugged in, and the smart charger is keeping my battery like new.
 
#29 ·
The first thing to check would be the battery/cables connections. Make sure they are clean & shiny (use a terminal brush on both) as well as tight. Check or have checked the alternator output. If you cannot properly (fully) charge the battery then it will fail again. There may also be a module that ties in with the battery that may also be causing the problem. A parasitic drain could also cause the battery to die - have that checked also.
 
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