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So I go to start my car today, and it won't turn over. All I hear is "click, click, click, ....." for about 15 seconds and every single light on the dash goes on. I tried it 3 more times, waiting a few minutes in between before I gave up and called for a tow. Car is now at the dealership, and I presume they will tell me the battery died.
I was driving the car yesterday, and had been driving it for quite sometime since I purchased it ACPO at the end of July, but this has me concerned that the battery went in a car less than 2 years old with literally NO WARNING!!!
It may have had something to do with the fact the car sat at the used car lot for a number of months, but I would have thought to at least have had some sort of warning notice before it gave out, or the symptoms would have shown before now.
I will update when I get the confirmation from the dealership....but heads up as a number of you have 2014's.
Sorry to hear this. Also being in the GTA, I believe that I followed the car you ultimately purchased on Auto Trader and it was for sale for quite a long time. I suspect it sat on their lot for months and months and a new battery should cure what ails it.
I noticed you registered in the new buyer's section and indicated you paid $40,439 - wasn't this vehicle listed at $48,900? If it's the same black SH, Downtown Acura had it listed as that price for a very long time and I thought they have market no haggle pricing? I guess they were becoming desperate to move it....
Hopefully there is nothing more serious than a new battery at play! Keep us posted.
Sorry to hear this. Also being in the GTA, I believe that I followed the car you ultimately purchased on Auto Trader and it was for sale for quite a long time. I suspect it sat on their lot for months and months and a new battery should cure what ails it.
I noticed you registered in the new buyer's section and indicated you paid $40,439 - wasn't this vehicle listed at $48,900? If it's the same black SH, Downtown Acura had it listed as that price for a very long time and I thought they have market no haggle pricing? I guess they were becoming desperate to move it....
Hopefully there is nothing more serious than a new battery at play! Keep us posted.
They had 2 - one was for $48,900 (it's mileage was just over 23,000 kms) and mine was originally listed at $46,900 (34,000 kms). They kept dropping the price and I called them when it reached $40,999. I was only able to get them down another $500. They claimed they were about to wholesale it, but I doubt it. At any rate it was one hell of a deal, so I jumped on it. I see now they have a 3rd vehicle up there now. These were all previously Honda executive driven cars. But Downtown Acura's pricing is well below current market pricing for these cars when you compare what they are selling for in the US.
Battery warning = steering wheel stops telescoping at startup
2 year lifespan is fairly common with the RLX
Excuse my ignorance, but what does "steering wheel stops telescoping at startup" mean? How do I test for that.
And if a 2 year lifespan is fairly common with the RLX, why don't they put a bigger battery in the car? The warranty is for 4 years....seems like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen!
Excuse my ignorance, but what does "steering wheel stops telescoping at startup" mean? How do I test for that.
Some of us have our cars set up so that the steering wheel retreats toward the fascia when we switch off the car, and then it advances to Driver 1 or Driver 2 settings when we start up again.
Excuse my ignorance, but what does "steering wheel stops telescoping at startup" mean? How do I test for that.
And if a 2 year lifespan is fairly common with the RLX, why don't they put a bigger battery in the car? The warranty is for 4 years....seems like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen!
Funny thing is that the battery does yell for help with the telescoping wheel
As George states above. If you have the wheel setup to telescope back in when shutting off car, its supposed to telescope back out when you start according to your D1 or D2 settings. The wheel will stop coming out when battery gets low. Your D1 or D2 light on the door will also not come on under this scenario. Same thing happened in the RL and most batteries failed in the RL in 3 years which was less than warranty.
Agree that battery may be undersized and they are not accounting for drain when off or excessive heat in the engine compartment.
Some of us have our cars set up so that the steering wheel retreats toward the fascia when we switch off the car, and then it advances to Driver 1 or Driver 2 settings when we start up again.
Perfact...thanks for explaining that. I will keep an eye out for that - I think it did stop doing that a few days ago now that you point it out!
My former RL ate 4 batteries in the 10 years I owned it. These cars use a lot of accessory juice and frankly the OEM battery needs to be beefed up. My 1st 3 batteries all went in 2-3 years and were replaced under warranty. By the time the last battery was installed, Acura changed their battery warranty from complete replacement to a pro rated credit towards a new Acura battery. Obviously they know a lot of batteries failed during battery warranty period.
The telescoping steering wheel failure is just one of the symptoms long timers noted occurred before the battery failure. My RL did it consistently and usually 2 weeks after I noticed the symptom, I had the exact experience you had - click, click, dead. I even predicted the last battery failure on the RL forum. So if you did not notice the symptoms, or were not aware to look for them, you would have an unannounced battery failure as you experienced.
After my last RL battery replacement, I purchased a portable jumper kit and kept stowed in the trunk. I think that should be a standard feature on these cars.
I agree with Tampa, i also keep a portable battery booster in the back of the RLX and the MDX. $75 is a small price to pay for some piece of mind (that goes for the spare tire kit, too).
Using a connected app the SH battery voltage is holding steady at 14.4V so far.....of course its only about a year old......
Update - dealer called me and they replaced the battery. It got rid of all the symptoms, but one....which the code is indicating a battery sensor replacement is required. They have ordered the sensor and they will install tomorrow. Hopefully that solves it
I think I will take pgeorg's recommendation and look at a portable battery booster.
I replaced my RL's and now my RLX's battery every two years. My 2004 BMW 330CI has a five year old battery that is still going strong. The difference is the BMW battery is in the trunk where it seldom sees more than 110 degrees. There is a rule of thumb in chemistry to the effect of a doubling in chemical reaction velocity occurs with a 10 degree C increase in reactants. Today's space constrained (because of external aerodynamics minimization, frontal crash absorption structures) together with increasing electrical drain requirements lead to short battery life spans.
I consider a new battery every two years to be in the same ownership expense category as changing the oil every XXXX miles or changing the tires at 4/32". It is another on-going ownership expense and one that I'm glad to pay if for no other reason for the peace of mind it provides. This reminds me of the time my late father-in-law was looking for a particular business and rolled up to a parked police car for directions (pre-GPS days). It was a rough part of the town. The policeman gave him directions and cautioned him about the area. My father-in-law responded, "Yes sir, I may be lost but I know where I am." A new battery is insurance for those times when my bride or I contemplate the downside of being in potentially problematic situations.
By the way, the Acura service advisor said, "Are you sure you want to replace the battery in the RLX, it is testing fine." I said, yes, please change it at my expense. He then said to something to the effect, yes, when these batteries go bad, they usually go bad with little or no warning.
yup - did you see my statement:
Agree that battery may be undersized and they are not accounting for drain when off or excessive heat in the engine compartment.
The battery in my wife's 1999 3 series has been replaced once
Sorry Tampa - you may have already explained this.
Why doesn't the Hybrid Battery also serve as "House" battery? That would eliminate any drain from Starter Battery when turned off.
Or vice versa, are there conditions when the Hybrid Battery can start the ICE?
My understanding was/is that if the main battery was dead, the hybrid batteries would reverse charge it? If so how could we ever get stuck with a dead battery? Maybe I am wrong?
Sorry Tampa - you may have already explained this.
Why doesn't the Hybrid Battery also serve as "House" battery? That would eliminate any drain from Starter Battery when turned off.
Or vice versa, are there conditions when the Hybrid Battery can start the ICE?
The SH does not have a starter motor. The car cranks from the pancake motor between the ICE and the 7DC tranny. The pancake motor power source is the lithium battery pack (for which it also regens power). The 12V battery is accessory serving and is also recharged by the lithium batteries (there is no alternator in the SH). Theoretically the SH should never have a no start condition due to a dead 12V battery. However, I believe a SH owner did report such condition. Perhaps a dead 12V disables the onboard CPU preventing the electronic control of engine starting.
I guess the 12V is not yet obsolete to the SH as the accessories are all designed for 12V support. Even though the lithium batteries recharge the 12V battery, the lithium batteries may not be compatible directly to the 12V accessories and the 12V battery serves as the 'buffer' between the two systems. I may also reduce threat of electrocution by touching an accessory feature. That is my guess.
And....no apologies needed...ever.
Last edited by TampaRLX-SH; 08-29-2016 at 07:40 PM.
Yes - now I recall that, but I thought the OP in this thread has an SH.
So I am confused as to his "click, click" condition on starting. That is classic low battery
This explains it some. Also i believe there was a charging sensor malfunctioning in bigred123's SH, and that might explain the dead 12V battery....
I will post more as i go through the material....
I just drove the Blackbird a short while ago and I swear I heard a fan sound coming from the back seat area. Is there a fan back there to cool the batteries in the trunk? Maybe I'm nuts? Well a little probably.
pgeorg can look in your bag of tricks for a chart or diagram?
Is there a fan back there to cool the batteries in the trunk? Maybe I'm nuts? Well a little probably.
Yes. If you look just below the center of the rear seat cushion (where the battery tunnel is) you will see the vents for the fan. It is to cool the lithium batteries and keep the rear seat from getting too hot - potentially cooking your bird. Note the center 'hump' in the SH rear seat center is more pronounced than the PAWS model.
Yes. If you look just below the center of the rear seat cushion (where the battery tunnel is) you will see the vents for the fan. It is to cool the lithium batteries and keep the rear seat from getting too hot - potentially cooking your bird. Note the center 'hump' in the SH rear seat center is more pronounced than the PAWS model.
You are right! Does it run if the car is off? I would think on a hot day after driving it, then parking it in the sun, the batteries would not cool down without the fan continuing to run. So does it pull air from inside the cabin over the batteries or cycle outside air in on them?
Thanks Tampa! The bird is done! Speaking of which, I have to go to the USS Intrepid in NYC and see the real Blackbird!
Tampa is correct, and getakey is correct also:-)
The SH uses both, air and liquid cooling. There is a small coolant refill container a little further up from the battery, and that is for the cooling of the high voltage battery......
Go see the Blackbird. I've seen them up close and personal when they took off. As I told you before, also nicknamed the "Habu"
I forgot about that! While in San Diego last month, I saw a CA license plate on a white 1960's era Corvette convertible with a grey haired well tanned guy driving it. I think the plate was Habu 003 or something very close to that. What are the odds that was the 3rd SR71 retired pilot? Maybe it was just a chance random plate? If it was that pilot it would have been really interesting to chat with him.
I'm running down to Philadelphia over the weekend, but maybe on Labor Day the family and I will head down to the Intrepid and see that exibit. Last month I was on the USS Midway in San Diego for a private party of about 1500 people and that was super cool. Below are a couple of cool pictures from that evening:
are you sure it was 003? Could have been a reference to mach 3+
I'm not sure. It would have been great to snap a picture but I could not get my phone camera open fast enough before he was too far down the street. I'm not 100% sure that was the plate, but I think I'm right.
And people complained about how many buttons were on the previous Acura models... Wow that is cool, and who cares if it is off topic! It is interesting stuff! Love it!
Yes - now I recall that, but I thought the OP in this thread has an SH.
So I am confused as to his "click, click" condition on starting. That is classic low battery
Makes sense that the 12V is the "House" battery
Yes, my car is the Hybrid. It has been sitting outside in the hot sun for all of August since I purchased it late in July. I drive the car at least an hour to work each way, so it has had lots of time to re-charge the battery. Replacing the battery solved most of the issues, but one...the code is sending a battery sensor issue so they are replacing the sensor (it was explained to me by the dealer as the "ground wire") tomorrow to see if that clears up the issue.
So I guess most of the issues with the batteries to-date have been in the P-AWS model?
I will keep the thread updated once the dealer calls and will update as I drive to see if the problem comes back again.
Here is the status currently reported by AcuraLink (car is sitting at the dealer right now):
I should have taken a video of the car when the issue started, but the car unlocked (power mirrors unfolded) and everything else seemed normal until I pressed the "Start/Stop" button when the car lit up like a Christmas tree and the "click, click, click...." sounded for quite some time.
Just replaced the battery in our 14 p-aws. Funny thing is ours gave all kinds of warnings before I just said to heck with it an got another one. No click click, just real slow cranking. I didn't go with an oem, wanted to deal with the parts house close to me, and it came with 5 year warranty. So I guess two years from now I will be swapping it out again.
Why would the car refuse to start just because the 12-volt battery is flat?
Is it because he would be driving without proper instrumentation visible to him?
Or am I incorrect in my belief that the 250-volt battery uses the 47 HP front electric motor to start the vehicle?
Originally Posted by getakey
Interesting they use air cooling. Most full EVs use liquid cooling for the batteries.
Yes, well. :-) Our batteries aren't supposed to get that hot, but we evidently drive a little harder than anticipated, some of us.
Originally Posted by pgeorg
Tampa is correct, and getakey is correct also:-)
The SH uses both, air and liquid cooling. There is a small coolant refill container a little further up from the battery, and that is for the cooling of the high voltage battery....
The SH does not have a starter motor. The car cranks from the pancake motor between the ICE and the 7DC tranny. The pancake motor power source is the lithium battery pack (for which it also regens power). The 12V battery is accessory serving and is also recharged by the lithium batteries (there is no alternator in the SH). Theoretically the SH should never have a no start condition due to a dead 12V battery. However, I believe a SH owner did report such condition. Perhaps a dead 12V disables the onboard CPU preventing the electronic control of engine starting.
Originally Posted by George Knighton
I am confused.
The original poster's car is a Sport Hybrid.
Why would the car refuse to start just because the 12-volt battery is flat?
Or am I incorrect in my belief that the 250-volt battery uses the 47 HP front electric motor to start the vehicle?
Looking at the documentation, it appears that the SH apparently "does" have a starter right under the 12V battery........
Now i am confused, because there is a starter motor that is part of the front electric motor housed within the 7DCT, and that is suppose to start the engine.....
I will have to go look at the engine and confirm.....
08-29-2016, 09:11 AM
