March 2014, I returned to N.C. home, gone 3 weeks. As in March 2013, my RDX 2013 battery was dead in my garage. Called Acura Roadside, which jumped me back to life. Roadside local said if "battery reads BLACK after driving one hour, have Acura check battery." After 2 days driving, still eye was black.

Local dealer service rep ran charging test while I watched, showing printout. While BLACK reading in battery eye, test result indicated beyond "Good" level in his hand-held device. He said this is "normal" for Acura batteries, due to electronix drain. If not started during 3 weeks (garage kept), expect no better, said Acura service rep.

Acura service rep suggested I buy a trickle charger (about $35?) to help if stuck.

Have owned 7 new Acuras, owned this new RDX 1.5 year.
Sound normal?

 

Acura OEM batteries are weak to begin with.
not sure about canadian dealers, but here in the U.S. the batteries are warrantied.
they can get replaced but usually crap out in a years time.

I suggest buying a better battery.

 

yeah letting a car sit for 3 weeks without driving it may result in a dead battery. Car batteries have very THIN plates that deliver a lot of amperage to start a car. The down side is that they literally have no reserve capacity so things like your radio, ecm and other things that draw a tiny amount of current out of them over a long period of time will kill them.

Marine batteries are much larger because they have thicker plates so that you can have the reserve capacity (ie trolling all day and still have enough to crank up the outboard)

On side note my 2002 CL-S's Acura OEM battery lasted me 8 years before I replaced it (November 2001 to October 2009). I replaced it with a battery meant for a piece of construction equipment and here 5 years later the car still starts when it is -27F outside (last month)...

 

Sorry, don't buy that about sitting for a few weeks drains the battery. The new cars on the dealer's lot sit for weeks at a time, and they are fine. You may have a bad battery.....it does happen. A new battery should give at least 4 years of service, if not 5.
Do you have any aftermarket alarms, stereo equipment, or phone chargers plugged into an outlet?

 

I had a bad relay on my 08 RDX that was draining the battery. It took about +3 days to run down the battery; but, I usually drive the RDX every day and it could have been bad for a while (may sit for a day at most). Wasn't until I was out of town for 3 day weekend and the RDX sat during that time before I noticed the problem.

If your battery test A-OK, you really have to push the Acura techs to check the entire electrical system.

 

[QUOTE=rosen39;14930069]Sorry, don't buy that about sitting for a few weeks drains the battery. The new cars on the dealer's lot sit for weeks at a time, and they are fine. You may have a bad battery.....it does happen. A new battery should give at least 4 years of service, if not 5.
Do you have any aftermarket alarms, stereo equipment, or phone chargers plugged into an outlet?[/QUOTE]

No, nothing.

 

This is a not accurate....

letting a car battery (or any battery) sit for 4 weeks will result in some form of self discharge. Add to that the draw that the various electronics use to maintain their memories and you can wind up with a battery that will not be able to start the car especially if you do a lot of short trip driving where the car does not really have enough time to charge up the battery.

It is HIGHLY recommended by many a shop that if you do not drive your car for a month or more, you put a battery tender on it. Acura goes as far as to say to disconnect the battery if you put a charger on it (page 310 of owner's manual).

 

+1 on the battery tender. Letting your car sit for weeks is not good for your battery, not to mention original factory batteries these days tend to be pretty weak. There are a lot of electronics in your RDX, some of which are probably "on" all the time, regardless if you drive it or not.

 

We travel once in a while and have never had this battery problem. One month without driving and all has been fine. I also have a 2005 BMW 330CIC and those boards frequently complain about this issue also, but again I have had no problems with that battery either. Just my experience so you might want to explore problem further.

 

YeuEmMaiMai,
I use a Battery Tender on my motorcycle during the winter months when not in use. I also use during the riding season. An brand new automobile battery should not discharge after sitting for four weeks. There are new cars on dealer's lots that start up after sitting for longer than that. No way.

 

problem is that the car really isn't off when you turn it off. there are multiple devices that draw current from the battery

security system
power train control module
radio
navigation

since automotive batteries do not have a large reserve capacity, they will discharge quickly when you have even a small load on them.

I deal with rental generators and their associated monitoring systems and if the customer does not use the genset on a regular basis, the monitoring system will kill the batteries in about 3 months time. Gensets have 2 or more batteries. the monitoring system draws less than 2 amps of current and transmits one to six times a day for less than a minute and then goes to sleep.

I do not find it odd that the RDX battery would be dead after 4 weeks given the design of a typical automotive battery.

 

My dad's 03 Accord was sitting in the garage for 2 months and it still started. It was winter time when I started it.

 

yeah and your 03 accord does not have the tech that the newer cars do like touch entry.... and you also don't know if the new battery has the same characteristics as your 03 battery that has been replaced by now at least once.

 

When I purchased my new 2009 RDX, I noted that the dealers were starting all of the cars on the lot every few days (in Feb). And at the other dealer, more than one car had a dead battery, because the cars were in a holding lot, and they were not started every few days. The trickle loads on new cars can indeed kill a battery in 2-3 weeks.

As for lasting 4-5 years? not likely. My own OEM battery did last 4 years, but the car was driven daily, and the battery was never allowed to significantly discharge, by sitting for any length of time.

Current batteries, along w/ everything else is marginal, because of weight. The OEM battery in my 09 RDX was rated 440 cca, while the replacement CostCo battery is rated 660 cca. The higher capacity means it can sit longer, and still start the car. And allowing the battery to completely discharge, means it is simply not going to last very long.

Still, to the OP - there could be other things *wrong* other than the battery - you just need to diagnose the actual *problem*.

Specifically, if the *eye* is BLACK, then the battery is *not good* regardless of the handheld tester. Those are not a true load tester, and the only good tester I have ever seen is the ones used at SEARS stores, the ones the size of a small cart.

You just have to make certain that you are present during the test, to avoid the *mechanic* scamming you into a new battery.

 

I had a dead battery today after sitting two days. They said it might have something to do with the started button. I might have hit it twice exiting the car, putting the car in accessory mode, and that will kill the battery. I'm not buying it!!

 

Check for a draw. You should have no more than .050 amps of draw. Any more is not acceptable by Acura. Possible HFL unit is staying awake or a/c coil relay sticking on.

 

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