Walmart battery in my Honda Civic Toad

[Harvard]

About 2.5 years ago I installed a Walmart sourced battery in our 2007 Honda Civic Toad thinking it should last a few years. Of late I have had 2 separate incidents where the battery went flat while just sitting in the driveway for 2-3 days.

My question: Can a (faulty?) car battery just go dead like this (2-3 days sitting idle) without having any apparent load?

I replaced the Walmart battery yesterday with a genuine Honda battery so time may answer my question.

[Ductape]

Lacking any real provenance on either brand- what's the probability the low prices everyday brand is built as well as a Honda branded battery?

[red31]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Battery was recycled. Johnson Controls (ie Wal-Mart) blacklisted

Others like their Johnson controls batt, eve you suggest such

"One NEW Wal-Mart group 29 battery ... ... Sold battery to customer who uses it on a rancho. Two years later now he still waxes eloquent how good that battery works."

Maybe he's a 'hermit' or 'Neanderthal grade', got any other funny names to label folks?

[GMandJM]

Bumpyroad wrote:

GMandJM wrote:


I like RoyKen's idea, although my Honda CR-Vs doesn't have an "always-active" DC/cigarette lighter plug, in case that matters.

my highlander was that way and a little bit of jumpering at the fuse panel overcame that.
bumpy

Thanks, Bumpy. I might look into doing that.

[wa8yxm]

Short answer is yes. epically if
1: Battery is nearing end of life
2: YOu do not drive far enough to re-charge it
3: You have loads that should not be there.

Have battery tested and if there is still warranty have them adjust a replacement.. Wal*mart's batteries are actually made by a decent company, though I am not sure they do not cut the quality a bit to meet Wal*mart price demands.. I have seen batteries by that company last far longer than 2.5 or for that matter 5.2.

[Bumpyroad]

GMandJM wrote:


I like RoyKen's idea, although my Honda CR-Vs doesn't have an "always-active" DC/cigarette lighter plug, in case that matters.

my highlander was that way and a little bit of jumpering at the fuse panel overcame that.
bumpy

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Just For Drill

Walmart Battery around the same birth date premium grade.

Failure, intermittent, due to product defect

Broken post interior strap connection to plates

Car would start sometimes, othertimes, feeble tick tick attempt to crank

Battery was recycled. Johnson Controls (ie Wal-Mart) blacklisted

[landyacht318]

If a healthy and fully charged battery is being sucked dry in 2 to 3 days from parasitic loads, no 18 watt panel is going to make a difference.

I suspect this is yet another case of:
"the alternator is an instant magical battery recharger!"
"I jumped it and drove to the store and back, and now it will not start again! Stupid battery!"

[Crazy_Ray]

My Wall World battery(6 years old) in Honda Accord, sits 4 months and has NEVER went dead .

[ScottG]

The answer to your question is yes it can.
I bought a new battery several years ago that had a shorted cell off the shelf. I've also had two batterys over the years that just suddenly shorted internally. But they we're dead and would not recharge.

[midnightsadie]

battery should last longer, check belt tension, also load test battery my 2003 has a wal mart battery its 7yrs old , two wal marts in my boat 5yrs old. no problems.

[GMandJM]

How much did you actually drive your car? If it was sitting for 2-3 days at a time and then driven just short times/distances when not sitting, then your battery likely wasn't getting fully charged.

I like RoyKen's idea, although my Honda CR-Vs doesn't have an "always-active" DC/cigarette lighter plug, in case that matters.

[B_O__Plenty]

Very possible that the Wal Mart battery and the Honda battery are built in the same factory but with different names on the side. There are only a few battery manufacturers in the U.S. unless your Honda battery came directly from Japan...Just sayin.

B.O.

[DrewE]

It should not go dead in a couple of days with a good battery. Depending on your climate conditions and driving habits and so forth, 2-3 years might not be unreasonable for a car battery's lifetime. That said, I would expect somewhat better life around Calgary than in hot southern climates; in Vermont, I seem to get five to seven years or so. It does help that I don't generally need to go on short trips where the battery doesn't have a good chance to recharge completely.

I would check to be sure you don't have unexpected loads on the battery. Sometimes they can be very hard to track down.

It's certainly also possible that the other battery was defective or broken. If it had been discharged completely several times, that in itself could make it quite weak. Car starting batteries do not handle deep discharging well at all; they're optimized instead for a quick burst of peak current (to start the engine).

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Without facts meaning electrical numbers...
It's drag out the crystal ball time...

[RoyB]

I certainly can 'NOT' let my Ford F150 truck sit very long. Once you let them get drained below the 50% charge state they just don't seem to re-cover well.

I suspect your new battery will do the same thing if you leave it sitting for a long period of time - you need to add one of those solar panels you lay on the dash area behind the windshield. Mine is a 18WATT model I think it is (AMAZON) and plugs into an always active 12V socket and keeps the battery going for me...

Who knows home many computers these cars and trucks have going 24/7 these days...

Roy Ken