Help! I may well have to have our '08 HCHII with 52K miles towed to service people...but I look to the wisdom of the group.

Car was working fine yesterday, no lights left on overnight, etc. Today, we go to the car, it unlocks with our remote, although I think the parking lights flash a little dimmer than usual, then we turn the key, and all the lights on the instrument panel go into a flashing pattern, with a clicking sound like some relay behind the panel. No sign of life from the starter.

I plugged in my OBD reader that engages with my iPhone, it connected, but had no error codes.

We are on our second under-hood battery, it's not been acting weak or anything, but just in case, I have a trickle charge going to the battery now.

Anyone have any guesses as to what's going on?
Thanks in advance...

ck

 

Bad ground straps, main battery (-) cable and another grounding the CVT as well as one to the passenger side engine mount - I think... I've sold mine, and I can't remember.

Bad grounds can wreak havoc.

12V battery can go bad at any moment for any reason. Lights working aren't necessarily an indication of a healthy 12V. Load test the battery and/or attempt to start with another car providing a jump.

Check with another OBD reader or another app. I've had issues with Torque Pro reading codes due to heavy customization (ridiculous number of custom codes put in), but the Lite version reads codes fine.

 

Thank you again, S Keith. I'll look at the straps, keep trickle charger going overnight--but I think I'll have the car towed to our independent mechanic rather than the dealer.
I used the app EOBD-facile.

ck

 

For those who can't wait to hear the fix....tow truck did a jumpstart, car is running fine now. My wife is at the battery dealer, who is replacing the battery for free under warranty. She could actually get on with her day's errands if only the battery people could find the codes they need to enter...whatever that's about!

 

Good deal. 12V is always the first place to look when the electrics seem squirrelly.


FWIW, trickle chargers are kinda worthless for anything except maintaining a FULLY charged healthy battery during storage. You can't count on them for actual charging unless you're going to charge them for 4 days straight.


For actual productive charging, you need a minimum of 2A and preferably 6 or 10A in order to get a meaningful charge overnight. 2A will get a battery to an acceptable level overnight, but 6-10A will usually get one fully charged.

 

Thanks again, Steve. Turns out the esoteric code was my radio code, which I have online through Honda, so she's back in the proverbial saddle. Relieved to not have anything more expensive...although in the coming months, I'll have to address my aging IMA battery, with the choices between buying a grid charger, having Bumblebee do an intelligent discharge and charge, or just ponying up for a new battery from Bumblebee. Considering that the car is 9 years old, if I can get 9-10 more years out of a new battery, maybe I should just do that. But we've discussed all this before..being broke lately helps me delay the decision!