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granny_6's avatar
granny_6
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014

Dead battery

We are towing a 2012 CRV with a Brake Buddy. The battery in the CRV keeps going dead within 90 minutes of towing.

Any ideas as to what may be causing this?

Very frustrating as we travel!!

Thanks for your help.
  • Does the Brake Buddy get its power from your toad or from your tug? If from your toad, it will deplete the battery especially if you brake a lot.

    If from the tug, this should not happen as the charging system keeps the tug's battery charged.

    You could consider running an extra wire from the tug's charging system to the toad's battery to keep it up to snuff.




    You don’t need a parachute to skydive, but you do need one to skydive again.
  • The owner's manual instructs you to pull a fuse. Apparently that keeps the battery from being drawn down.

    Having a charging wire installed between your coach and the toad is an excellent idea.
  • We have the same tow set up. We added the 12v charge line from the MH, 7 pin to 6 pin on CVR. Then put in a 12 v fuse just before the line connected to the CVR battery. We don't pull a fuse and have never had a dead battery while towing. The Brake Buddy is plugged into the 12 volt receptacle on the CVR.

    That said the 12 CRVs and early 13 models as well are known to have battery and charging issues. We had ours go dead at least 5 times last year, before Honda finally admitted there was a problem. Every time the car would sit for about 3 days, the battery was dead.
    Check with your Honda dealer for campaign # L96. This changed the battery to a heavy duty 475cca, and changed the charging to over 13 volts, from the previous 12.2 volts.

    Beverley and Ken
  • Beverley and Ken,

    Thanks for your help. We will be at a Honda place tomorrow!! We have taken it in about 3 times with this problem and they say battery is fine.

    Will not leave without a new one this time.

    Great help!!

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