Civic '90 battery drain quickly

Hi,
My '90 civic seems to drain battery quite quickly. It was out of power
this morning (after 4 days of not use). I could jump start it without
any problem. After running the car for a while, I shut off the enginee
and restarted the car, no problem. But after a couple of hours or so,
the battery seems getting quite low, to a point that it just barely
started the car after a few trials.

The battery is probably more than 5 years old (diehard). I think it is
time to replace the battery. But could it be the alternator or
something else? I am pretty novice on cars.

Any suggestions for me to test it further before taking it to a shop?

Thanks.

Tony

 

Some ideas:

Could be but you're about due for a new battery anyway. On my 91 Civic, the
average lifetime of any battery (including one Diehard) in it has been 4.5
years.

Old batteries do tend to wear down alternators. It's prudent to replace them
before they die completely.

I suggest replacing the battery and then getting back to the group. Interstate
is a very popular battery name around these parts. For the first time ever, I
broke away from Sears Diehards and bought an Interstate a few months ago. Costs
about $20 more, but I think it's got a 7-year warranty.

Autozone will do a free test of the battery but I personally haven't had the
best experience with them in this particular matter.

You could go buy a voltmeter from Radio Shack or similar, check the battery
voltage with the engine not running, then with it running and the headlights on,
and get back to the group. You should have at least 12 volts with the car not
running. It should go over 14 volts with it running and headlights on.

Do check that, say, the overhead interior car light switch isn't stuck in the
"on all the time" position.

 

And it is prudent to check the charging voltage after putting the battery
in. It should be between 13 and 15 volts (low when the weather is warmer,
high when the weather is colder). I replaced a friend's alternator (the
diodes were almost completely toast) and checked the charge voltage. 17
volts! Replaced the regulator (separate device in his Ford), and he wanted
to give the battery a chance to prove itself. Once he replaced the battery,
the system worked like a champ.

I was looking for possible low voltage, but I'm glad I checked. A battery
will put up with that for a couple of minutes, but no longer.

Mike

 

The life of a battery can differ significantly depending on where you live.
Here in this part of the country (South) most car batteries won't make 4
years. Heat shortens their life measurably.
If you haven't heard, Honda has changed their battery warranty to 100 months
with free replacement up to 3 years if defective or fails. And their price
is very competitive right now. Make your decision soon if you do get a Honda
battery because the price is going up a little on December 1. Up until then
the price for the 100 month battery is the same as the previous 60 month
battery. The Honda batteries are currently manufactured and distributed (at
least here in the south) by Interstate. They make very good quality
batteries.
Howard

 

Howard,

while we are on the topic, maybe you, or anyone really I dont mind,
could answer a question i have. My car is a 2001 honda civic with
about 50,000 miles, so i am about due for a new battery. I have a low
voltage charger that i use on my lawnmower battery (12 volts), so my
question is, can i squeeze some extra life from my car battery if i
give it a good charging every month, or every weekend from now until
it dies? I dont seem to have any starting problems at all right now.

Thanks,
Fish.

 

That would not assist you unless you leave the car unused for a week or more
at a time. Your car has an alternator and a very sophisticated computer
that monitors and keeps your battery at peak efficiency. The only thing that
hurts the state of charge is abuse by forgetful owners who repetitively
leave lights or other power draining systems on, an electrical problem on
your vehicle or the age of your battery
Howard.

 

One thing you can do for an old battery is use a charger that has a
"rejuvenate" setting. I have a Vector charger (available at Wal Mart) that
has such a setting. The theory is that when rejuvenating the charger uses
high frequency charging to vibrate the sulfates off of the plates, therby
adding time to the battery's life. YMMV.

WW

 

Thanks all for your inputs. My civic actually works fine now. I
cleaned up the battery a little. And no problem whatsoever for 4 days
already. Of course, I never tried leaving it for more than overnight.
But I will stay put till problem comes back up.

I didn't think I left anything on last time if failed.

Tony

 

The life expectancy of your battery is not correlate to your mileage. Many
factors affect battery life. Temperatures in the area where you live, your
driving style, and the amount of care you give your battery. A car battery
is designed (internal construction) to operate thusly: high current draw for
short periods followed immediately by recharging. A slow charge, such as you
would get with the lawnmower battery charger, certainly won't hurt your
battery but I doubt that you would expect any significant extension of
battery life. Things you can do to increase your battery life: 1)
Cleanliness, clean the battery itself with plain soap and water, after
neutralizing any acid residue with a soda solution; clean the terminals and
the battery cable ends; 2) Check battery connections. Check the cables at
the battery, the ground, and the starter. This ensures that the circuit does
not have any inordinately high resistance values; and 3) About once a month
ensure that you drive for a couple of hours to charge the battery fully. Of
course, you should check the alternator output from time to time. All of
these things are even more important during the winter months because
driving times usually are shorter, lights and heater blower motors consume
more of the alternator's output requiring even longer recharging times. Hope
this helps

Dave D