Forum Discussion

SteveRuff's avatar
SteveRuff
Explorer
Jul 11, 2017

2014 CRV

We bought this car new especially to tow. We originally bought a 2015 then discovered they had changed the transmission and no longer listed it as towable, so before ever actually taking the keys we asked for a 2014. We have been pleased and follow the instructions explicitly. That being said, if we tow a full 8 hour day the battery is dead when we unhook. There is nothing obvious turned on. Any ideas of what is causing it and more importantly how to work around it?
  • Alpiners's avatar
    Alpiners
    Explorer
    Jul 22, 2017
    We have a 2003 Honda CR-V with over 165,000 miles and all we do is run it through the gears as recommended and make sure everything is off. We always start it up for a few minutes at rest areas every 4 hours if we will be towing a long day. We never had a problem until the car was maybe 8 years old. It was dead every time. It was then that we realized we were still on the original battery ??. Once we replaced it we were back in business again, no problems since. Now my husband is working on setting up our 2003 CR-V for towing.
  • falconbrother's avatar
    falconbrother
    Explorer II
    Jul 15, 2017
    My toad was a CRV (that I still own) and what a great car it has been. Best toad out there.
  • GrampaR123's avatar
    GrampaR123
    Explorer
    Jul 13, 2017
    Of all of the improvements and refinements I've done over the years regarding towing different cars, adding a charge line to our harness when I set up our 2013 CRV for towing is by far the best improvement I've made. No pulling fuses, no flipping switches, just plug in the harness and go. Friends we travel with say "I wish I had done it that way".
    Happy travels
  • Finally_Time's avatar
    Finally_Time
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2017
    I had a charge line added after I got to Yosemite Valley and had a dead battery. No additional steps, no switch, don't have to pull a fuse. The charge line connects through the electrical cable between the motorhome and CR-V.
  • Popsie's avatar
    Popsie
    Explorer
    Jul 11, 2017
    We put in a switch such as shown in this video (different manufacturer but the same thing).

    If you switch off the radio/music player while towing, you can tow all day without running down the battery.
  • lryrob9301's avatar
    lryrob9301
    Explorer
    Jul 11, 2017
    The easiest way to eliminate the problem is to replace the battery with a higher capacity group 24 battery rated @ 850 CCA or more. Honda's OEM battery is only rated @ 500 CCA. You will need to install a battery tray from a Honda Odyssey ($30) to hold the larger battery.

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