Civic wont start

[jacktoyou]

Just bought a Honda Civic 2.2 CDTI EX, 50k on clock with FSH.
Parked up and 24 hours later wont start. Headlights turn on and engine trys but fails to start. I jump started the car thinking I had left the interior light on (hence the reason of the flat battery) but the same thing has happened tonight.

Is this a battery issue (dying battery) or other? Anyone else had similar problems? First time I've had a civic or a japanese car for that matter so any advice welcomed.

Buy a new battery or get it checked out first?

Thanks
Novice

[Eighteeteewhy]

Sounds like battery. Can you get your hands on a multimeter?

[jacktoyou]

Used to have one somewhere. Next stop Halfords! What a bloody pain. Reason why I dont like buying cars private/private dealers!

[minky monkey]

Also check the whether the boot light is staying on. Fold the seats down and peer in the boot. Had quite a few cars over the years where this has been the cause.

In this cold damp weather though, it does tend to knock batteries out quicker.

[jdwoodbury]

Hope it is just a battery issue, these cars have excellent reliability, we were very pleased with our over 3yrs so stick with it.

[furrywoolyhatuk]

jacktoyou said:

Used to have one somewhere. Next stop Halfords! What a bloody pain. Reason why I dont like buying cars private/private dealers!

I got my multimeter from screwfix, few quid cheaper then halfords if i remember.

[jacktoyou]

Thanks guys. Hope it is just the battery.
[checked boot light - off]
[screwfix here I come!!]

[Otispunkmeyer]

battery here as well I think.

Have a go over to civinfo forums. Wealth of info on there.

I think I remember reading that the civic had a smaller than standard battery. Lots of stories about batteries running flat quickly, even just overnight. Its probably worked a bit too hard for the given engine, but they had to squeeze it into the engine bay somehow.

Example thread:

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/bugs-faults-irritatio...

Interesting point that the BT or perhaps leaving the light switch in Auto keeps some sort of circuit on that drains the battery over time.

Civinfo Wiki on flat battery problems:

http://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?title=Flat_b...

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Tuesday 21st February 21:10

[jacktoyou]

No recall issue. I charged the battery using a heavy duty charger and it was fine for about 5 days - although the last 3/4 it's been sitting idle. No its flat again. Am I right in guessing the battery has gone and need to change or could there be something draining it? I've checked and everything is off I.e no lights on etc.

Has anyone else had any similar issues/resolutions?

Worth replacing battery or get it checks out first?!

[eltax91]

Did you buy that multimeter? If so, what is the battery giving out? Should be:-

12v with engine off
14v (ish) with engine running (indicates alternator is charging)

If both the above are true, time to try another battery I would say, since it charged up and lasted a bit, then slowly died over several days use. If you had a drain capable of flattening overnight once, it would flatten it overnight again (not over several days) I would imagine.

[alex290568]

I'd want to check if any power is being drained from the battery when the car is switched off. If you don't rule this out, a brand new battery will suffer the exact same problem. Alex

[denniswise9]

My old man has a new Civic, battery is always going flat and only lasts for a few years.

[deltashad]

When a battery goes flat its never the same again Best to make sure its not got another fault before forking out on a new battery and draining that one too..

[Bhuvsta]

My mums civic had the same problem, she went on holiday and the battery died. We tried charged it, still got the same problems and ended up replacing it. Now the car is fine.

[varsas]

To check for a drain, connect your multimeter between the earth lead of the car and the battery (battery needs some charge, enough for the headlights say).

If you get a reading of more then 50miliamps you have a drain. The size of the drain might give you an idea of what it is, but pull fuses one by one until the drain reaches a reasonable level (whatever is normal for that car, there will be clock, memory for the stereo etc). Once you have found the fuse you know which circuit the fault is on and go hunting.

DO NOT switch the ignition on with the multimeter connected in this way.


Had this on a car I bought, was a drain in the end, happened even with all the fuses removed. Long story. Allways wondered if that was why they sold it.

Edited by varsas on Saturday 3rd March 12:03

[PJ S]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400161191890

[TheEnd]

There's probably a drain somewhere, if you can, and you have a multimeter up to the job, pull off the battery lead and connect the multimeter in series so it'll measure the current flowing.

Let the car sit for 15/20 mins until everything shuts off and see what the current drain is, and you can try pulling fuses to track down the circuit where the drain is.

Have you contacted the previous owner?

It wouldn't surprise me if they knew, and unplugged a light or switch that caused it, and just plugged it back in before selling.

[Golaboots]

Out of interest how much did you pay for it?

I'm about to offload my Mrs' '56 2.2 cdti SE with exactly the same mileage!

[Otispunkmeyer]

Golaboots said:

Out of interest how much did you pay for it?

I'm about to offload my Mrs' '56 2.2 cdti SE with exactly the same mileage!

I have an 06 petrol ES and it's got
Lower miles. Those we buy any car places offered less than 4k (and that was just being curious and not taking the time to mention the odd little scratches).

Bit on the low side! I would of said around 6???