Hi,

I have a 2006 Honda Civic Sedan 37.500 miles, automatic. I had just been up the street and turned the car off when shopping and restarted it with no problems. 10 minutes later I cut off the car to eat lunch (but was using the battery to listen to the radio) and when trying to restart it was only making a clicking sound. The car had only been using the battery for the radio for maybe 10 minutes. I was able to get help and after about 3 try's it was jumped off.

Do I need to have a battery test ran? What are the chances this will happen again randomly? I just want to ensure I am not stranded out some where like I was today. I am not aware of ever having to have a car jumped for no apparent reason like would be needed if the lights were left on.

Thank you!

Joy from Georgia

Hondas usually come with a three year battery. I would install a new battery and you should be fine. Buy a battery from Sears, which matches the battery to the climate of the customer. This is important, since batteries die sooner from the heat in the South.

It's not a good idea to jump modern-day cars. It increases the chance of a voltage spike destroying the ECM, alternator, or sensors. We've had our share of such disasters on this site--it's not fun and it's always expensive and time-consuming to diagnose and fix.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TxGreaseMonkey

Hondas usually come with a three year battery. I would install a new battery and you should be fine. Buy a battery from Sears, which matches the battery to the climate of the customer. This is important, since batteries die sooner from the heat in the South.

It's not a good idea to jump modern-day cars. It increases the chance of a voltage spike destroying the ECM, alternator, or sensors. We've had our share of such disasters on this site--it's not fun and it's always expensive and time-consuming to diagnose and fix.

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Thank you so much! I didn't realize about the jump starting and that the civic had a 3 year battery. I was stranded so far from home but won't be jump starting again.

Thanks!

It was probably your Daytime Running Lamps that killed the battery, not the radio. Was the ignition set to "ON" (dashboard is lit) instead of "Accessories" (key is turned toward you)? For some reason, the DRL's turn on before the engine is running. I've killed my battery several times because of this and it only took a few minutes for it to happen.