prchu

This morning I couldn't use remove to open the car and found the battery complete dead. Luckily, I do have charger, but when I hooked the two charger cables to dead battery, the horn start to active loud sound. Why?

RDX-Rick

Probably because when your computer came back to life, it realized a door had been opened without the use of the remote fob (and it wasn't awake at the time to see you use the key). It thought the car had been broken into and was sounding the alarm.

Is the horn still honking? It should have stopped if you used the fob (or key) to lock and unlock the doors. If you can't get it to stop, you may have caused some damage if you had connected the charger in reverse, or a component has failed which might also be the reason your battery died in the first place.

acura 1234

I had the same problem today. I took the portable jump starter and hooked it up, and the horn started blaring. I pulled the fuse, and jumped the car, and the headlights started going on an off for about 10 seconds no matter what position I put it in.
Then after about 20 - 30 seconds of driving, the VSA light came on and I couldn't shut it off. If that wasn't enough, the shift interlock kicks in every time I park it. So it sounds like this might all be connected and some kind of re-set needs to take place to get everything back in order ?
Any help is appreciated.

thoiboi

low battery voltage can cause all sorts of weird issues. Get a new battery and see if the symptoms still appear

jim_c

Why is the battery dead on a vehicle that's not very old? What year is your RDX?
A battery should last at least 6 years unless you have run it down too many times by leaving a light on or playing the stereo with the engine off.

Tech

Try 16 and 15 years for the factory original batteries in our last two cars.

charlie65

Batteries aren't what they used to be. Used to get a minimum of 10 years out of a battery. Now? Maybe 3 at tops....

thoiboi

Is it batteries or the plethora of electronics whozits and whatzits....

Tech

Not in my case, but then I worked with batteries in a defense lab and understand charging systems.
It is also why I have no use for VRLA (AGM or GEL) batteries for vehicle applications.
Those can have a short life if the charging system is not up to spec with those types of batteries.

charlie65

I don't use AGM or GEL batteries in my vehicles. Hell, I didn't use them in a solar system I built...even though the system could be configured to be compatible with AGM or GEL batteries.
Lead acid are the true and tested type I use.
First batter failed after one year in our 2003 TL... (Honda brand) A bad cell. The original battery lasted 12 years.
Second set failed (set of 2 - 12 volt) in my Dodge diesel truck after 2 years. Name brand... bad cell in each. The original factory set lasted 11 years.
Third battery that failed was a Yuasa in my motorcycle after 3 years... again, a bad cell. I never get more than 3 years out of these, so I change them out at the 3 year mark. Use them as a bench battery and it usually fails before year 4.
These were battery failures due to construction methods, not due to the plethora of electronics whozits and whatzits.
As they say, they ain't what they used to be.

acura 1234

I brought the car to my mechanic who advised once the horn fuse was pulled, the car computer needed to be reset - thus the problem with the interlock and the VSA light. Once the battery was recharged, he
reset the computer and everything was back to normal.....all of 1/2 hour labor charge.
The problem is COMPLETLY fixed now, as I traded it in and bought a 2014 TL.....and lovin it.....

Tech

Same here and with caps so that I can maintain them. I also have an on-board digital voltmeter connected directly to the battery on my vehicles so that I know exactly what is going on charging-wise.

Even though my VW TDI only went through four winters before turning it back in to VW due to the diesel scandal, it started on the coldest winter days as it does in the summer. While other owners on the forum had their batteries fail in two or three years. I suspect they had too many accidental deep discharges.

And then the clowns on the forums say to up the CCAs of the battery when starting is sluggish. You do not need more CCAs. You need to first load-test the fully charged battery and if it is good, then fix your connection issues and/or starter issues.

By the way, are you in the deep south where it gets hot? That will cut battery life big time. Every 8C above standard cuts battery life in half.

charlie65

We live above the 49th parallel. We spend our winters in southern Arizona now, but the failures occurred prior to our decision to spend time south.
Battery and cable connection maintenance an are key to longevity, but if a cell goes bad, there's nothing that can prevent that....
I think it's a new reality, batteries, like house appliances, are engineered to give a shorter life?

Skidoor

Be aware of corrosion where the negative battery cable attaches to the chassis. On my 2014 you can't see it unless you remove a plastic trim piece that covers the connection and I did find the connection slightly corroded.