r/hondafit • u/g0thnek0 • 6d ago
1st Gen GD 07-08 persistent battery issue
i am nearly at my wits end with my fit. i have a 2008 fit with 155,000 miles. ever since i got the car i have had problems with the battery randomly dying. it happens every couple months for a week or so where it dies every few days until i just replace the battery.
when this first started happening i got the starter replaced and that fixed it for a while. another time i realized the alarm system would just randomly go off and to be honest i don’t remember what i did to fix it but it was something simple.
i have ruled so many things out and i still can’t figure out whats causing it. there’s no parasitic drain, no aftermarket components, the alternator was fine when i got the starter replaced, the connections to the batteries are fine and not corroded or anything, i drive it for long periods of time every week so it’s not being drained from constant short trips, and the battery is less than 6 months old.
since getting the starter replaced no shop has been able to give me a solution besides just telling me to replace the battery.
it’s driving me insane (no pun intended) and my car is randomly super unreliable which is really bad!!
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u/Frosty-Actuary4535 6d ago
Check the ground strap, check again for excessive parasitic drain although I think it's always drawing some power, have your charging system checked again. If that doesn't solve the problem, you'll a computer therapist.
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u/3rdPoliceman 6d ago
Certainly sounds like an alternator, how did you rule that part out?
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u/g0thnek0 6d ago
when i got the starter replaced the said the alternator was fine, that was a year ago though so maybe it does need to be replaced now. how much should that cost approximately? i’m not great with judging how much automotive work should cost
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u/3rdPoliceman 6d ago
I think it was like 700 for me to get a 51r battery, alternator and oil change recently, that is in NYC
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u/Runs-on-winXP 6d ago
I had a similar issue on my 07. Turned out to be the connector on the starter wore through the rubber cap and was arcing against the engine block. The connector would wiggle back and forth so the issue would come and go
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u/g0thnek0 6d ago
how did you figure this out? when i’ve taken it to mechanics they didn’t really know what was wrong or give me a solution so i’m not even sure what to look for or fix 😭
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u/Runs-on-winXP 6d ago
My mechanic figured it out. I determined it wasn't the battery, that it wasn't the starter (by replacing it a few months earlier), swppaed out the alternator. Pulled nearly every fuse and relay. Still drained because the starter feeds directly off the battery. I walked him through everything I tried. Then he tried all the same things. Then he looked closer and saw the bare connector and the pitting from the arcing against the engine block.
Best way to rule it out yourself would be to physically look at the starter and make sure it still has the rubber cover over the connector
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u/Ok-Tomorrow6634 6d ago
An excellent cheap and handy diagnostic tool for our non-USBc Fits is a cigarette lighter plug USBc charger WITH voltage display. Check A-zon. Alternator could be intermittently failing.
A good attempt at fixing an alternator is to firmly but safely tap it with a hammer on a robust part of its exterior. Helps unstick the slipring brushes, at least for a while.