Hello. I purchased the car in 9/2017When did you buy your 2017?
Thanks for the info. I am not going to mess with it and bring it inBe careful not to park that car in a garage. A bad battery will definitely emit sulfur fumes, which is also an indication that a battery is in an explosive condition! This could be a bad battery, or an alternator stuck on overcharging, which will heat the battery, not only drying it out but also causing an explosion hazard. Don't mess around or wait, get it checked out now, and be safe! Do not check the battery water while the car or the battery are hot. It could blow up and spray acid in your face!
Thank You. I will do just that.If you smell sulfur, top off the electrolyte with distilled water (you can pry the caps even off a "maintenance free" battery) and have the battery and charging system checked; any auto parts store should be able to do this for free. (Specifically say you want them to check the charging system; otherwise they may just check the battery.)
Well. You clearly draw the short straw. If it was three years old I'd expect it to be battery replacement time. But clearly there is more going on. Sometimes it takes a different dealer to solve an issue. Not all mechanics know how to think through these issues.Hello. I purchased the car in 9/2017
Thanks. Yes. I believe there is an issue here with the emissions. I think that is the sulfur issue. But I am going to bring it to the dealer to check it out. I hate to since I have very little trust for them on the service side of things. I have the extended warranty so I suspect the worse thing I need to do is buy a new battery.Well. You clearly draw the short straw. If it was three years old I'd expect it to be battery replacement time. But clearly there is more going on. Sometimes it takes a different dealer to solve an issue. Not all mechanics know how to think through these issues.
The explosion hazard comes from the emission of hydrogen gas, not gas pressure. You ever wonder why jumper cables are supposed to have the dead negative to a distant chassis ground instead of the negative terminal? That's why; so the spark from unhooking the negative cable is nowhere near the battery.Does a non-maintenance free battery, with vented to the atmosphere caps, become pressurized, so to speak, from engine compartment heat? I did not know that.
Meh... apples and oranges in the context of a single battery install in a consumer motor vehicle. And it is easy to check and see if the charging system is over voltage (which is extremely rare in Hondas, as they more often are under charging the battery.. by design).Must be that none of y'all have ever seen a battery boil. I have. In a big truck, with a 24v system and 6 big batteries. I was in the shop with this same issue, and the guy pulled the cover and started checking water levels. On the second one, when he touched the cover, it blew off and water/acid shot upwards and out, then ran over like a pot on a stove - luckily he was wearing a shield. But it did burn his hair and arms a bit. Melted the end off the screwdriver, too, and the handle. There was no flame, but there was a wave of heat. I was about five feet away and got a burn on my arm. The new voltage regulator just installed had been defective, and caused a severe overcharge condition. Cracked the battery case. Two batteries then had to be replaced, and another voltage regulator.
Sage advise.You can safely check the battery water, but always protect yourself with eye shielding and, preferably long sleeves. Best done when car is cool, too. Do not open while the smell is present or battery is hot or warm to touch, let it dissipate for a couple of hours or more first, if possible, and always turn your head while popping the covers. And keep up on your maintenance so as not to ever find yourself stuck trying to do this on the side of the road. By the way, vented caps are nice, but they can easily get clogged with dust/dirt or any number of other things over time. I always clean the top of the battery when I am doing maintenance on it, and blow the covers off with air after rinsing them. Also, you can easily cause a spark using a screwdriver to pry up the covers. Don't. And never try to jump when the acrid smell is strongly present - it's just asking for trouble.
I'm glad to hear about your excellent luck so far. The thing about screwdrivers is that they are long, and have a metal shaft, which can easily touch a battery post when being used to pry off battery water covers. This is how Mr. Sparky can make an appearance. At least you don't run your oil a full quart low, but I wouldn't buy your used vehicle knowing that is your practice. I'd bet when you do put it up for sale you make sure it's exactly on the full mark. Where it is and always has been supposed to be kept. It's the first thing any intelligent car shopper checks for. Used car buyers want a car that has had top-notch care, not mediocre. Just like common sense says.When checking battery water level, I've never seen a spark caused by a screwdriver when opening a plastic vented cap. Guess I'm lucky and need to buy a lotto ticket. Learn something new every day.I prefer to do routine under the hood maintenance/checks when the motor is cold. I don't have any one in a million scenarios. Oh, I just checked the oil level on the cold motor, the level is sitting between the min/max marks.....just like Honda says.
In any vehicle that uses an alternator/voltage regulator charging system, a voltage regulator can stick or otherwise malfunction, and a diode can also go bad in more ways than one, any combination of which can cause this kind of issue. The smaller the system, the more fragile. Any battery can be overheated or caused to explode under the right conditions. The CR-V is not different, or better, in this regard, than any other modern vehicle, that I know of. I know I've been through it with my F250, and my CR-V is far more delicate, with it's tiny charging system and fragile computer-controlled and complex systems. Of course, the two are on opposite ends of the scale, and a 24v big truck system is even further out, but it's not apples and oranges. It's all basically the same at the charging system component level.Meh... apples and oranges in the context of a single battery install in a consumer motor vehicle. And it is easy to check and see if the charging system is over voltage (which is extremely rare in Hondas, as they more often are under charging the battery.. by design).
Tip: read the terms, conditions, and exclusions on your warranty contract.They claim it is not covered under my extended warranty and I will certainly raise hell like the last thing that was supposedly not covered.