I have a 08 TL-S. A little background info. Bought the TL-S in April. I traded my 04 TSX on it. Before driving the TL-S off the lot I swapped batteries with the TSX. The TSX had a 6 month old Yellow Top Optima battery. I heard/knew the TL's batteries weren't that great. Anyway, back to the present, 8 months later I went out to start the TL-S and all I get is clicking. Dash lights, overhead lights etc all came on as normal. But the car would not crank. Asked my neighbor to jump start the car and it cranked no problem. I had to do some errands and let the car run for a while to make sure the battery took a charge. That was a few days ago and so far no issues. Any idea what would cause this? I do have a radar detector plugged into the dash plug. I unplugged it to be on the safe side. Checked doors and trunk and they were all closed properly. Also check ceiling lights and again, normal. Any ideas? Anything that I've missed to check? Battery is clean and connections are tight. Hopefully it was a one time thing. I mean the battery is only about 14/15 months old.

 

Just letting it run at idle or doing errands after a jump start is not enough to fully recharge the battery- needs over 1500 rpm to make extra juice to recharge

The alternator is designed to put out a little bit all the time, in order to recharge a dead battery is has to put out lots for a while, --shortens life of alternator

Some optimas have been known to fail- give it a 30-45 minute freeway drive without use of headlights-ac-accessories, then stop by a parts store for a free battery-alt-starter check.

 

I did take it out on the interstate, but for only about 5 mins. The rest of the driving was around town. I stayed in the car while my wife went into the stores. I would vary the idle at times, so it didn't just sit on idle. Probably did that for a good hour or so. Good idea on getting the battery-alt-starter checked, couldn't hurt. Thanks

 

you would need a solid 30 minutes on the freeway,
and while you were waiting at the store it would need to be held at 1500 -1700 rpm with no other electrical loads to be recharging the battery.
Get to the parts store for that inspection!

 

Most shops have a battery charger as well which would be the best way to "top off" the battery. Usually takes a couple hours but ensures you have a completely full charge.

 

best bet is the invest in a battery charger, they are pretty cheap. http://www.tylertool.com/blackanddecker41.html i have almost the same thing except mine is a vector(vector = black and decker except B&D is cheaper). definitely worth the investment. only problem is it needs to be plugged into an outlet, it will not work on its own.

 

Good suggestion, I should get one. Thanks

 

Yeah.. better to play it safe.. The parts store will have a meter to make sure your charging system / alternator is giving the appropriate charge to your battery. Also.. sometimes the cable / terminal can be loose / faulty.

My optima died a couple times on me because I let my car sit for +2 weeks while out of town (forgot to disconnect). So those little trickle charges for small stuff even LED's can drain power out of your battery.

If the connections are okay and your alternator is okay.. I wouldn't worry about it.. but if it is the Optima (highly doubt it).. it's probably still under replacement warranty.