Problem Starting Car Honda Fit 2015

Car Forum Repair & Maintenance Problem Starting Car Honda Fit 2015

  • expos4ever
    Community Member
    January 31, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    I live in Montreal, Canada – a relatively cold place in winter. Yesterday, to my surprise, my car would not start. I was especially surprised since I bought a brand new, relatively expensive battery three months ago. I cannot remember what brand it is, but I ensured that it had a solid rating for winter use. Here are some facts of relevance:

    – The car has been sitting for a week;

    – The temperature the preceding night had been about -15 Celsius

    – The preceding week had not been that cold – lows ranging from -16 C to -5 C. This is not really that cold for this part of the world and, historically, I have never had problems at these temperatures here, even with an older battery.

    – When I turned the key, all I heard were a series of clicks. I did confirm that some of the interior electrics (e.g. dome light) were functioning, although at noticeably reduced levels.

    Question 1: Does the ability of a battery to start the car depend only on its temperature at the time of attempted start? Or is also a function of the amount of time since the last start.

    Question 2: It will get up to zero Celsius in a couple of days. Do you think there is a chance the car will start at this warmer temperature without a boost?

    Question 3: Assuming the battery is the problem, does it not seem odd that a new battery would go so dead in such relatively warm conditions?

    Thanks.

    MSelleen
    Administrator
    February 1, 2021 at 1:49 am
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    The colder it is, the tougher it is for the car battery. However, if your car just clicked when you were trying to start it, and you are sure that you didn’t forget to shut off any electrical consumer – I guess something is draining the car battery, especially if the car battery is new.

    Unfortunately, it is often quite difficult to find what is causing the battery to drain. You often need a special tool to check if there is an unusual amount of power drained from the battery.

    I really do recommend letting a workshop check if the car is draining the battery before buying a new car battery.

    That the car will start when the temperature goes up is possible but quite unlikely. You probably need to charge the car battery.

     

    expos4ever
    Community Member
    February 1, 2021 at 1:31 pm
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    Thanks for the reply. A follow-on question and more information.

    Question: If I measure my battery voltage and it is low, would this be relatively convincing evidence that the starter was not the problem? I assume the answer would be “yes”.

    Something  I forgot to mention: In the summer, I also could not start my car (it would not even crank – don’t remember if there were any “click2) and that is why I got a new battery. But perhaps the problem in the summer was not the battery itself but rather the possibility that something is draining the battery. And perhaps this is still happening with the new battery.

    samrobbins
    Community Member
    February 13, 2021 at 4:58 am
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    Yeah! because of weather problem it occurs many times to the battery, It is better to get it to service center so to confirm there isn’t any other faults. then get a battery work done.

    Sam Robbins is an auto industry expert. He provide his expert advice to anyone in need to buy cars, motorcycles, trucks, boats and more .Till now he has taken part in 40+ forums. and a proud member of online car auction website bidexport.com

    old garage mechanic
    Community Member
    December 1, 2021 at 11:23 pm
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    A battery that is 3 months old should work,  Have them check the battery {Have seen them come out being new and last a month}   If you are having constant problems then I would look at something electrical,  Ex  radio trunk light on or even the computer.  Even the voltage regulator will drain a batteryt.    If you can not figure out where the drain is I would try getting a small solar battery charger.  plug into cigarete lighter outlet and the sun will keep the battery charged up.   I have two because our cars sit and with the electonics they have out now there is always some little voltage in the system.

    MichaelHRitzel

    lincolnclay66
    Community Member
    April 22, 2022 at 7:34 pm
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    The colder the weather, the more difficult it is for car batteries, which generally operate at a minimum of -20°.

    I write, speak & consult about Cars, Car Jump Starters, Air Pumps, Water Pumps, Chargers & Car Batteries