Car battery/check engine light question

WheatenLover

WheatenLover

Senior Member
Location
Georgia
My daughter has a 2004 Honda CRV. When I got it in 2008, it had 75,000 miles on it, and had been owned by my mom since it was new. Daughter has several times let the battery run down. I think the battery was new 4 years ago.

Should the battery be replaced? The car is dead in the driveway right now because she kept forgetting to drive it so that would happen.

She says the check engine light comes on. She thinks it means that something expensive is wrong with the engine. The car drives fine.

She is leaving for California on Dec 10th. She wants to drive my car to the airport and leave it there for 2 weeks. I said no. She's had ample time to get her car straightened out, but hasn't done it. I've been telling her for months to get her car maintained and repaired. A tail light is broken, and the windshield washer thing needs to be replaced.

Thanks for your help!
 

If the battery is 4 years old, and not holding a charge anymore, she should definitely buy a new battery (and then she can drive her own vehicle to the airport safely).
It is also possible that something is draining the battery, like a light that doesn’t go off properly, or a door not quite shut. Even so, she should get a new battery, in my opinion.

About the check engine light, she should be able to have that read when she replaces the battery. Most car part stores have the equipment to check things like batteries, alternators, and check engine lights.
I had a Mazda pickup, and the CE light came on when I got to 100,000 miles. I was driving and not close to home, and was in a serious panic, even though the truck was running perfectly.

When I had it checked out, it was simply that the programming was set to come on at 100,000 miles, because it should have a checkup.
There was nothing wrong with anything.
So, I continued to drive it with the light on, and around 150k miles, the light went back out again.
And yes, at 200K miles, it came on yet again, but I didn’t even worry this time because I know why it happened.
 
As the battery has run down, it needs to be charged with a smart charger at least overnight before testing.
Then a multimeter can be used to to check the voltage. You need to have (1) a smart charger, <- and (2) a multimeter. <-

I've been using a smart charger for the last couple of decades, and always have it on one car or the other when not driving.
In addition to charging and maintaining the battery, the smart charger also conditions the battery so the lifetime will be longer.
Because of this, my car batteries have usually lasted at least 7 years before I changed them.
About a year ago I also got a lithium car battery jump starter that is kept in the trunk for emergencies.
 

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John cycling said:
As the battery has run down, it needs to be charged with a smart charger at least overnight before testing.
Then a multimeter can be used to to check the voltage. You need to have (1) a smart charger, and (2) a multimeter.

I've been using a smart charger for the last couple of decades, and always have it on one car or the other when not driving.
In addition to charging and maintaining the battery, the smart charger also conditions the batter so the lifetime will be much longer.
Because of this, car batteries have usually lasted at least 7 years before I changed them.
About a year ago I also got a lithium car battery jump starter that is kept in the trunk for emergencies.
Click to expand...
She had battery jump starter, but lost it. The smart charger sounds like a good Christmas gift for her.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
If the battery is 4 years old, and not holding a charge anymore, she should definitely buy a new battery (and then she can drive her own vehicle to the airport safely).
It is also possible that something is draining the battery, like a light that doesn’t go off properly, or a door not quite shut. Even so, she should get a new battery, in my opinion.

About the check engine light, she should be able to have that read when she replaces the battery. Most car part stores have the equipment to check things like batteries, alternators, and check engine lights.
I had a Mazda pickup, and the CE light came on when I got to 100,000 miles. I was driving and not close to home, and was in a serious panic, even though the truck was running perfectly.

When I had it checked out, it was simply that the programming was set to come on at 100,000 miles, because it should have a checkup.
There was nothing wrong with anything.
So, I continued to drive it with the light on, and around 150k miles, the light went back out again.
And yes, at 200K miles, it came on yet again, but I didn’t even worry this time because I know why it happened.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information. She is going to some place a mile away (national chain) that carries stuff for cars and will install the battery. I'm sure they can check the engine lights too. They are a national chain whose name escapes me.

She is a 26 year old woman, and will have to figure out her own way to the airport, a way that does not involve my car. In the meantime, I am 100% in favor of helping her get this one fixed so she can drive it safely.
 
We had an app at one time that showed what was happening if the CE light came on. It had a little component that we plugged into the vehicle (somewhere under the dash, only my husband knows for sure).
I just looked and they have apps for this at the App Store, and it looks like they are free, although you might have to get the little connector for it to read the engine light information.

Also, if she does not want to mess with getting the battery taken care of, or she is afraid that the car might not start after she gets back home in two weeks, she can take an Uber to and from the airport.

We have one of those little smart chargers, too, and they are very handy. I also had one that plugged into the cigarette lighter, and you put it on the dash, and it charged the battery with solar power. Not enough to fix a completely discharged battery, but it did help along an older battery that I had that slowly lost its charge.

051DC1A1-FCA8-448A-BA49-ED52DE0A02AC.jpeg
 
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Happyflowerlady said:
We had an app at one time that showed what was happening if the CE light came on. It had a little component that we plugged into the vehicle (somewhere under the dash, only my husband knows for sure).
I just looked and they have apps for this at the App Store, and it looks like they are free, although you might have to get the little connector for it to read the engine light information.

Also, if she does not want to mess with getting the battery taken care of, or she is afraid that the car might not start after she gets back home in two weeks, she can take an Uber to and from the airport.

We have one of those little smart chargers, too, and they are very handy. I also had one that plugged into the cigarette lighter, and you put it on the dash, and it charged the batter with solar power. Not enough to fix a completely discharged battery, but it did help along an older battery that I had that slowly lost its charge.

View attachment 196938
Click to expand...
She can get the battery taken care of - it will only take an hour at most. The place is right down the road.

We don't have Uber here in town, and the airport is an hour away. I don't know what it would cost to get her back here, but we'd find a way to pay it. Good suggestion! Thank you.
 
Most vehicles made in the past 20 years have an onboard GPS/communications system such as OnStar (GM) which is active 24/7, whether you use/subscribe to the service, or not. These systems cause a small drain on the battery, and unless you drive the car once a week or so, they will eventually drain the battery.
We sometimes don't use our Impala for a couple of weeks, or more....so I keep a small "trickle charger" in the garage, and at least once a week I hook it up for a few hours to bring the battery up to full charge. I went through a couple of batteries in the first 8 or 9 years we had the car before I figured out what was happening. Now, we are almost 8 years into the current battery, and so long as I remember to keep it charged, it seems to be holding up well.
 
win231 said:
A mechanic told me that each time a car battery dies & is charged, the battery's life is shortened.
Click to expand...
True as any RV solar user can verify. Ask me how I know this. (had to prematurely change out 6 golf cart batteries when I let them run down too far). :(
Now, on the plus side... by using a simple trickle charger on my 2 cars, I was able to get 8 and 10 years out of my one year guarantee batteries. (finally had to change them this year. one was new in 2013 and the other in 2011). (y):)
 
Have her take the car to a parts store, like Autozone or whatever you have in your area, & have them put a tester on the battery. I see you live in Pennsylvania where it gets cold. A battery will not work well at low temp. They will even install a new battery for her.

I've had a car that ran down all the time. Went to Autozone. They put on the tester & it was bad. The guy said look here, this is when this battery was made & showed me the date. so it was 5 years old & they put in a new one that was guaranteed for 5 years. Went out 4 years & 5 months later again, got a new one free.

Also, 4 years in Pa. is about the life of the battery on that car. A new battery in your area would last for weeks without driving.
 
Tom 86 said:
Have her take the car to a parts store, like Autozone or whatever you have in your area, & have them put a tester on the battery. I see you live in Pennsylvania where it gets cold. A battery will not work well at low temp. They will even install a new battery for her.

I've had a car that ran down all the time. Went to Autozone. They put on the tester & it was bad. The guy said look here, this is when this battery was made & showed me the date. so it was 5 years old & they put in a new one that was guaranteed for 5 years. Went out 4 years & 5 months later again, got a new one free.

Also, 4 years in Pa. is about the life of the battery on that car. A new battery in your area would last for weeks without driving.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Tom. Autozone is the name of the store that is about a mile from where we live.
 
squatting dog said:
True as any RV solar user can verify. Ask me how I know this. (had to prematurely change out 6 golf cart batteries when I let them run down too far). :(
Now, on the plus side... by using a simple trickle charger on my 2 cars, I was able to get 8 and 10 years out of my one year guarantee batteries. (finally had to change them this year. one was new in 2013 and the other in 2011). (y):)
Click to expand...
I will probably get a trickle charger for my daughter for Christmas.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
If the battery is 4 years old, and not holding a charge anymore, she should definitely buy a new battery (and then she can drive her own vehicle to the airport safely).
It is also possible that something is draining the battery, like a light that doesn’t go off properly, or a door not quite shut. Even so, she should get a new battery, in my opinion.

About the check engine light, she should be able to have that read when she replaces the battery. Most car part stores have the equipment to check things like batteries, alternators, and check engine lights.
I had a Mazda pickup, and the CE light came on when I got to 100,000 miles. I was driving and not close to home, and was in a serious panic, even though the truck was running perfectly.

When I had it checked out, it was simply that the programming was set to come on at 100,000 miles, because it should have a checkup.
There was nothing wrong with anything.
So, I continued to drive it with the light on, and around 150k miles, the light went back out again.
And yes, at 200K miles, it came on yet again, but I didn’t even worry this time because I know why it happened.
Click to expand...
I previously owned a truck that had a check engine light on all the time. I drove it that way for months because there were no other symptoms. When I went to get it passed for registration (CA), this quirk turned out to be a problem. My mechanic referred me to a mechanic that would pass it. I never got it fixed but eventually the light went out. The truck I have now is doing this but it doesn't seem to matter in Texas. I used to work for a car company and found that this was a common meaningless occurrence in some cases. So I will wait it out for awhile. I live on the edge. 😉
 
fmdog44 said:
She is 26 and you have been on her for months to take care of things. Maybe you should just walk away and make her responsible for herself.
Click to expand...

AMEN! If a person isn't willing to maintain their car, they probably shouldn't even be driving. I certainly wouldn't "loan" my car to such a person.
 

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