My 2008 Accord Euro wont start up!

Hello,

As per the topic, I tried starting my Euro today but it would not start. It appears the battery is completely dead as the lights wont turn on, the doors wont lock/unlock etc.

What happened was I left the key in there since Tuesday, however the keys were in the shut-off position (i.e. not on standby or starting the engine). The lights weren't switched on either, I just forgot to take the keys.

Does anyone know what the problem is and what I can do to fix it? I tried calling NRMA roadside assistance but they said due to delays today, the ETA is around 3 hours and I wanted to see if I can try and fix it myself.

My friend suggested jump starting the car.

Thanks in advance

Very interesting. I'd like to know what the outcome is. I often leave my key in the ignition in the off position, but only for a few hours at a time not for a few days. However, you would not expect this to cause any battery drain.
Good Luck!

i hope u had ur car in a locked garage when u left ur keys in the ignition...otherwise it would have been easy for a thief to break the window or just simply open the door if it was unlocked and drove away with ur keys


but any how....jump starting the car could be an idea...try it an see how u go...also check if the battery is still covered by warranty from honda...it might be a faulty battery

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IndoStyler

try it an see how u go...also check if the battery is still covered by warranty from honda...it might be a faulty battery

---

Good idea, my battery died on me even before I was able to drive my brand new car out the dealers' gates

yeh the battery drains fairly easily on the euro.

How old is the car? How often do you drive it and for long trips e.g 30mins or more

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crapdaz

yeh the battery drains fairly easily on the euro.

How old is the car?

---

If the title says 2008 Euro, how old can the car be? :zip:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crapdaz

yeh the battery drains fairly easily on the euro.

How old is the car? How often do you drive it and for long trips e.g 30mins or more

---

hahahahah daz. didnt read the title? :p

back on topic: try charging?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by unity

Very interesting. I'd like to know what the outcome is. I often leave my key in the ignition in the off position, but only for a few hours at a time not for a few days. However, you would not expect this to cause any battery drain.
Good Luck!

---

I seldom leave the key in the off position, only if I now I'm going to be using the car again in 30-60 mins. This instance, I must have forgotten completely and just left the key but am surprised it has caused the battery to drain as I can't think of what is requiring battery usage - the only thing I can think of is the beeping noise made when you open the door and still have the car in, but once you close the door it shouldn't make that noise anymore.

The lights, music etc were all off.

However, I can't even open my boot now or lock all the doors.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IndoStyler

i hope u had ur car in a locked garage when u left ur keys in the ignition...otherwise it would have been easy for a thief to break the window or just simply open the door if it was unlocked and drove away with ur keys


but any how....jump starting the car could be an idea...try it an see how u go...also check if the battery is still covered by warranty from honda...it might be a faulty battery

---

Thanks for the reply.

Do you think it would be best to get someone from NRMA to come and check for me? I am covered under the 5 year roadside assistance with Honda/NRMA and I've just asked and its a free service to come and check/fix my problem.

I'm just thinking its safer for them to help with the jump start than me trying on my own in case of any stuff ups.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crapdaz

yeh the battery drains fairly easily on the euro.

How old is the car? How often do you drive it and for long trips e.g 30mins or more

---

This is the first time that's happened to me. If that battery has been drained, does this mean a jump start will/can solve the issue or will I need to replace the battery fairly soon?

The car is fairly new - 2008. I only drive it on the weekends for approx 1 hour trip/s.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mp-

hahahahah daz. didnt read the title? :p

back on topic: try charging?

---

Thanks, by charging, do you mean jump starting the battery from another car's battery?

Shoudnt leave the key in the ignition.

ECU wont go to sleep. Causing you to have a higher standby current draw than normal. (which is usually 0.01amps or something.)

On newer cars with the immobiliser in the key, the chip interacts thru the ignition barrel.
That barrel reads the code on the immobiliser chip and also supplies power.
If you leave your key in there, the ECU will always think that youre about to drive off, or just take the key out.

Im not sure if the euros have a standby/sleep system even with the key in the barrell.
But usually, current draw tests are checked with the key out of the ignition. (on cars with immobiliser keys)

well jump start your car n let it run for 30 mins then should b fine afterwards ,ive got that prooblem last time when the battery were drained cuz i didnt shut one of the doors and would not start haha

The reply about the ecu not sleeping is spot on,

if the battery is completely dead and you can't even get reds on the dash, jump starting will be useless.. It will not work.

Buy a car battery charger for mishaps like this in the future..

Ps events like this are really bad for the battery too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xxb4xx

The reply about the ecu not sleeping is spot on,

if the battery is completely dead and you can't even get reds on the dash, jump starting will be useless.. It will not work.

Buy a car battery charger for mishaps like this in the future..

Ps events like this are really bad for the battery too.

---

Would a silly mistake such as this be bad/detrimental to the car in any way apart from hurting the battery? I hope I haven't stuffed up the car.

Got someone from NRMA to come and inspect (since I'm covered by 5 year roadside assistance) and they recharged a bit of the battery for about 2 minutes and I was able to start the car.

He told me to let the engine run for 5 minutes and then drive it around for 30 minutes, to let the battery recharge itself. He said I still needed to get a battery recharger to recharge it.

I'm hoping this doesn't happen again.

How can I tell if I need to replace the battery? For a 1 year car, it would be quite soon to have to replace the battery right?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 2008 Accord Euro

Would a silly mistake such as this be bad/detrimental to the car in any way apart from hurting the battery? I hope I haven't stuffed up the car.

Got someone from NRMA to come and inspect (since I'm covered by 5 year roadside assistance) and they recharged a bit of the battery for about 2 minutes and I was able to start the car.

He told me to let the engine run for 5 minutes and then drive it around for 30 minutes, to let the battery recharge itself. He said I still needed to get a battery recharger to recharge it.

I'm hoping this doesn't happen again.

How can I tell if I need to replace the battery? For a 1 year car, it would be quite soon to have to replace the battery right?

---

Batteries can last for 5-6 years depending on the quality.
In a daily driven car, the battery should not go within one year.
My advice. Look at your built date.
You might have bought your car at 2008. Or complied at 2008. But doesnt mean it was built then.

It takes 2 seconds to take the key out of the ignition.
Euros have that "luxury" feature.
If you realise. The interior light doesnt turn off or start dimming once you close the doors, unless you lock the car.
Last time i didnt lock my mommas car the light stayed on for at least 30 seconds.

=]

Loose terminals won't do anything.. thats ok, just won't charge the battery properly whilst driving.. which means you'll end up with a weak battery ot it won't start at all as it's not making contact..

Buying a battery charger is a must for everyone in case of stuff like this, $30.00 from supercheap auto dude will get you a half decent one.

it will take 30 mins for the alternator to charge the battery to a good cranking state (cranking the starter), but will take a little longer then that to get back up to full charge..

from memory most batteries don't receive charge till the motor is revving over 2,000 rpm

I don't think the alternator will ever "fully charge" the battery, better off using a mains trickle charger to charge if properly.

FYI

not saying the info is incorrect

but i leave my jey in ignition every night

and its fine

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jonno5454

FYI

not saying the info is incorrect

but i leave my jey in ignition every night

and its fine

---

Problem is that the guy left the key in the ignition for 4 days.This must've slowly drained the battery somehow.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xxb4xx

Loose terminals won't do anything.. thats ok, just won't charge the battery properly whilst driving.. which means you'll end up with a weak battery ot it won't start at all as it's not making contact..

Buying a battery charger is a must for everyone in case of stuff like this, $30.00 from supercheap auto dude will get you a half decent one.

it will take 30 mins for the alternator to charge the battery to a good cranking state (cranking the starter), but will take a little longer then that to get back up to full charge..

from memory most batteries don't receive charge till the motor is revving over 2,000 rpm

---

I suppose I will buy a battery charger on the weekend. Would the $30 one from supercheap stop charging once the battery is fully charged? I'm just worried it will continue charging.

I spoke to someone from the services at the Honda dealer this arvo and was told that there is no need to recharge the batter using a battery charger. He said as long as the car is in a drive-able state, then I should just keep driving it and it would recharge itself this way.

Thats what I was told though.

When I checked the colour/indicator on the battery, it currently is in the "charging necessary" state. I wont be able to go to a Supercheap auto til the weekend or Thurs night anyway, so might continue driving it a bit and see if the condition improves on the battery.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 2008 Accord Euro

I suppose I will buy a battery charger on the weekend. Would the $30 one from supercheap stop charging once the battery is fully charged? I'm just worried it will continue charging.

I spoke to someone from the services at the Honda dealer this arvo and was told that there is no need to recharge the batter using a battery charger. He said as long as the car is in a drive-able state, then I should just keep driving it and it would recharge itself this way.

Thats what I was told though.

When I checked the colour/indicator on the battery, it currently is in the "charging necessary" state. I wont be able to go to a Supercheap auto til the weekend or Thurs night anyway, so might continue driving it a bit and see if the condition improves on the battery.

---

Tricklecharges won't overcharge your battery from what i remember, we've been using one and never had any problems with them. They should stop when the battery voltage is the right amount

Car battery chargers all have a load that they charge on.. when the battery is weak / dead they will up the amperage needed to charge the battery, once it's reached a level it deems appropriate it will reduce the current to a very slow "trickle" and keep it at that level.

People leave car battery chargers on whilst the car is not been driven, and it could be weeks... Although I don't recommend doing this with the $30.00 as they will prob blow up from being left on for that long LOL.

but no.. you will not OVER charge the battery.. it will just stop charging when it needs to.

This is how the cheaper $30-$40 supercheap auto chargers look like - - CLICK

If you can spend a bit more like $70+ you will get a lot better quality try looking for an Arlec one, or go to Jaycar / Repco etc..

if manual.... Push start FTW....

You can charge the battery up again, but it will never be as good as it is already..... its lifespand are probably shorten by 10~20%.... but over the period of few years, you wouldnt notice it, so dont lose any sleep over it.

My old car used to have pretty highend car audio with a LED voltage indicator at the distribution block at the boot. When I was in the hospital for 2 weeks, my parents only drove the car once, yet the LED voltage indicator manage to drain my battery flat. New battery somemore, just installed that batt 1 month before I got sick. Send it back to get tested/warranty claim, the guy say its good, no problem with the battery, recharge it for me.

Dude.. as I mentioned before..

If your car battery is completely dead.. I mean NO reds at all..

You can push the car to your hearts content.. it won't start..

You might as well put your passengers in there and push the car to the destination, and make car sounds of vtak with your mouth like a little kid.. :)

Without any reds / battery power, it won't charge the ignition coil for a spark to start the engine.

I havent seen any battery's that complete dead before..... What is NO reds ??

I have experience battery that is not pumping enough current, no crank at all when you trun the key, yet still able to be push started.

No reds, as in no ignition at all.. as in no lights on your dash when you turn the key..

back in the days, all the dash lights were red (warning symbols) which come on when the key was turned before the start..

this is the "reds"

but back in the days when cars engines are mostly carburetors, you can still push start it..... :p

I think that last reply is my queue to leave this thread.

hmm i guess the owner of the car solved the problem oredy :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xxb4xx

I think that last reply is my queue to leave this thread.

---

ahhh... but you didnt....:p

Just take the key out of the ignition. The reason your battery went flat was because the immobiliser was reading the chip in your key for 4 days straight, which drained it. The way the immobiliser reads it is through some sort of radio wave by pulsing to the chip inside the key and the chip pulses back in return based on the power sent by that initial pulse from the immobiliser. The chip itself has no power source, so that's why the battery went flat, because the initial pulse will take some measurable amount of power. Take the key out. If you leave the key in and your car is stolen, comprehensive insurance WILL NOT cover your car for theft because you left the key in the ignition.

In addition to aaron's comment -
You have to know when your key is in, it is charging the battery inside the key.