Crikey...lots of issues there.

Have you had any diagnosis from an auto-electrician by any chance?

 

Took to Honda plugged into diagnostic machine apparently they can see there’s a constant drain of 1.7v but car won’t allow them to see what that is

You don't need a Honda dealer to troubleshoot a Parasitic Drain. It can be done by measuring across each fuse for current (after a period of time for the car to 'fall asleep'). OR they could pull fuses one at a time until the drain is determined.

That said, there HAVE been reports of Hondas that need a fusebox replacement to resolve electrical issues. A friend bought an HR-Z cheap that needed one...bought the 'box used from a breaker.

+++++++++++

In the meantime, invest in a jumper box similar to these reviewed ones, so that you won't be stranded. If you are close to power, you could also plug your V into a battery maintainer.

 

HELP…. This is a long story but please if you have any direction or ideas for me do comment !
ok so purchased the car 6 months ago 2012 Gen 4 CRV full service history 1 owner (dream scenario) but soon after issues started which I will list below

1. Battery flat one morning….. two mornings
2. Smell of slight burning coming through vents
3. Took it to local garage - Alternator replaced and new Honda battery
4. Few weeks later, again not starting - battery reading 11.8 out of 12v so still ok to start car
5. Smell of burning
6. Heater coming on when car locked over night
7. Unlocking its self in the night
8. Wing mirrors unfolding themselves
9. Radio and heater control panels staying alight when car powered down
10. Dash warning lights now suggesting ignition always on and clutch needs depressing to start engine
11. Dash warning light of key not recognised constantly on
12. Took to Honda plugged into diagnostic machine apparently they can see there’s a constant drain of 1.7v but car won’t allow them to see what that is
13. 3 hours of further investigation and stumped 🤔 they said they can’t tell me
14. This morning get a call to say higher up the chain technicians suggest replacing glove box fuse board - can’t be certain it’s that but can try as maybe the issue. £1400 not including labour no promises that’s the problem
15. HELP please anyone

I’ve only taken it to Honda as I thought I was getting the best testing, however since you haven’t been the first person to suggest an auto electrician. Naive as assumed Honda did thorough testing being the manufacturer

Crikey...lots of issues there.

Have you had any diagnosis from an auto-electrician by any chance?

Crikey...lots of issues there.

Have you had any diagnosis from an auto-electrician by any chance?

You don't need a Honda dealer to troubleshoot a Parasitic Drain. It can be done by measuring across each fuse for current (after a period of time for the car to 'fall asleep'). OR they could pull fuses one at a time until the drain is determined.

That said, there HAVE been reports of Hondas that need a fusebox replacement to resolve electrical issues. A friend bought an HR-Z cheap that needed one...bought the 'box used from a breaker.

+++++++++++

In the meantime, invest in a jumper box similar to these reviewed ones, so that you won't be stranded. If you are close to power, you could also plug your V into a battery maintainer.

Invested in a NOCO jump pack as you mentioned - thank you - Great idea that.

such a shame Honda has bad reputation with battery / electronics failures. Cars are great until they go wrong and I have a feeling this will be very costly repair 👩‍🔧

 

such a shame Honda has bad reputation with battery / electronics failures.

Unfair remark. Most suffer no electric woes at all.

And even if they did, an electrical or battery issue is far cheaper and easier to fix than an actual mechanical or component one.

 

Do you know if the techs at Honda even looked under the hood?
Sorry, just know that some mechanics depend too much upon the high level scanner
The scanner is only a tool to indicate where to start looking for issues
Some use it to indicate what parts to replace in a chase to find the offending part

It does sound like an electrical issue.
If you keep the vehicle parked outside then could be vermin attacking the wires?
Doing the diagnostics, it will require an auto electrician
Or a very skilled DIYer.
I wish you luck in finding this and hope it is a simple (cheap) fix.

 

battery reading 11.8 out of 12v so still ok to start car

Despite being called a 12 V battery, a healthy battery should be reading more than 12.5 V. It's definitely drained at 11.8.

 

most dealerships nowadays have part replacement specialists, not all, but most. the good 'mechanics' or 'technicians' if you will have either retired, opened their own shop or working elsewhere. the dealerships will plug your car in and wait for it to tell them what is wrong. if it doesn't specifically state what the problem is (in your case here), they will start throwing darts at it until it gets resolved. good for them...but bad for you (they make alot of money and you spend alot of unnecessary money).

do you have any sort of aftermarket (or dealer installed) accessory? alarm? dash camera? remote start? etc? these items do pull some volts as the car sits (especially remote starts). my '14 developed a parasitic drain so badly that if the car sat longer than a weekend, the battery was dead. first thing i did was replace the battery as i bought it used and didn't know the history or age of the battery. that didn't' fix it. finally, i started testing the circuits under the dash...and viola, found the remote start wire and it was ON all the time. pulled the fuse for it, disabled the remote start (which was a subscription program and was tied to the previous owner) and car started (no pun intended) working properly.

electrical issues can be tiresome and frustrating...but, can be found with patience and fortitude.

good luck.

 

most dealerships nowadays have part replacement specialists, not all, but most. the good 'mechanics' or 'technicians' if you will have either retired, opened their own shop or working elsewhere. the dealerships will plug your car in and wait for it to tell them what is wrong. if it doesn't specifically state what the problem is (in your case here), they will start throwing darts at it until it gets resolved. good for them...but bad for you (they make alot of money and you spend alot of unnecessary money).

do you have any sort of aftermarket (or dealer installed) accessory? alarm? dash camera? remote start? etc? these items do pull some volts as the car sits (especially remote starts). my '14 developed a parasitic drain so badly that if the car sat longer than a weekend, the battery was dead. first thing i did was replace the battery as i bought it used and didn't know the history or age of the battery. that didn't' fix it. finally, i started testing the circuits under the dash...and viola, found the remote start wire and it was ON all the time. pulled the fuse for it, disabled the remote start (which was a subscription program and was tied to the previous owner) and car started (no pun intended) working properly.

electrical issues can be tiresome and frustrating...but, can be found with patience and fortitude.

good luck.

Regarding Honda service centers being "replacement specialists", there is some truth to this. Honda requires that assemblies of any kind (ie: anything with a distinct Honda part number) be replaced rather than repaired in place. This applies even to simple wiring harnesses.

Reason: quality control. Honda can guarantee the integrity of a new part number, and the certified tech that installs it. They can NOT guarantee the integrity of any component that is repaired by a service tech as being an OEM quality repair.

Honda service centers though also have the best specialized diagnostic equipment, workflows, documentation from Honda, AND access to field support engineers from Honda on pesky hard to solve issues.

 

HELP…. This is a long story but please if you have any direction or ideas for me do comment !
ok so purchased the car 6 months ago 2012 Gen 4 CRV full service history 1 owner (dream scenario) but soon after issues started which I will list below

1. Battery flat one morning….. two mornings
2. Smell of slight burning coming through vents
3. Took it to local garage - Alternator replaced and new Honda battery
4. Few weeks later, again not starting - battery reading 11.8 out of 12v so still ok to start car
5. Smell of burning
6. Heater coming on when car locked over night
7. Unlocking its self in the night
8. Wing mirrors unfolding themselves
9. Radio and heater control panels staying alight when car powered down
10. Dash warning lights now suggesting ignition always on and clutch needs depressing to start engine
11. Dash warning light of key not recognised constantly on
12. Took to Honda plugged into diagnostic machine apparently they can see there’s a constant drain of 1.7v but car won’t allow them to see what that is
13. 3 hours of further investigation and stumped 🤔 they said they can’t tell me
14. This morning get a call to say higher up the chain technicians suggest replacing glove box fuse board - can’t be certain it’s that but can try as maybe the issue. £1400 not including labour no promises that’s the problem
15. HELP please anyone

From your list of symptoms, there is a yet to be properly diagnosed electrical problem of some kind. Most likely a short somewhere. Worse yet, it could be conditional or intermittent.

Symptoms also suggest that when the issue is active, it draws power and drains the battery. This can fall into the category of an abnormal parasitic drain, an issue you can localize with a little patience, a voltmeter and this video as your guide:

I would try to localize which fuse circuit the parasitic drain is presenting itself, using the above method in the video, and that may help you help the service staff actually find and fix the root cause.

Good luck finding the root cause. Electrical problems like this in vehicles are among the worst of issues to deal with, simply because they are often "semi stealthy", unlike say... a plain mechanical failure.

 

Hi Elise

I've recently had battery issues, luckily mine had a faulty cell so seems to have been an easy fix... But whilst investigating I did come across a regular issue on the CR-V with a parasitic drain caused by the Bluetooth module (in the housing where the gear stick is).

Bluetooth Module Location & Ease of Access - Battery...

Have a read on there... Hope that helps.