Surprisingly getting a replacement 12V battery from Honda is also apparently a pretty good option. Somewhat higher price than Costco, I think around $150, but it has a terrific warranty, 100 months total. The first 36 months is full replacement including labor, the remaining 64 months are prorated. Costco is a 36 month warranty, I'm not positive about the terms of the Costco warranty but it says limited warranty so I am guessing that only the first year is full replacement and then prorated after that.
Car Dies and shows "12 Volt Battery Charging System Problem", "Low Battery Charge. Power Reduced" Messages.
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Just to make sure we understand the situation, your Clarity sat for two weeks unused, then when you tried to start it for the first time after two weeks is when you experienced all of the above problems. No problems prior to this?
You mentioned charging, I assume you mean that you used a 12V charger? Do you have some type of jump starter, either jumper cables or one of those jump start batteries? If you don't I recommend get a jump start battery, they are good to have anyways, the lithium ones are small and lightweight so you can keep it in the glovebox or in the storage bin in the trunk. They cost around $50.
I would try doing what I suggested in post #39 to Sky9ine, connect a jump starter, but don't try turning on the car, instead while you have the jump starter connected plug in the EVSE and see if you get a steady green light indicating that HV battery charging has started. Or if you use scheduled charging and just get a blinking green light then use the key fob to start charging. Once you get a steady green light you can then remove the jump starter and the green light should stay on. If it does then let it charge for a couple of hours. Use the HondaLink app to check SOC while it is charging. After a couple of hours of charging try starting the car and seeing if it is drivable. There may still be a couple of error messages but they should go away in the first mile of driving. If they don't or if the car is undriveable even after two hours of charging, your next step would be to either replace the 12V battery or have it towed to the dealer as it could be a larger problem not the 12V battery. What is the mileage and years on your Clarity?
Yes. It sat for 2 weeks and I found the 12V battery dead. Absolutely dead. When I left the car HV battery had 55% charge. I plugged in my 12V charger and charged the battery. Everything came ON, the HV battery showed 55% charge. All the warnings lights came ON, but the infotainment screen says “ This car lost power…..something about antitheft system, asking me to hold the power button pressed for more than 2 second, and then it goes blank. I drove the car in and out from the garage few times hoping it will reset itself but with no result. Maybe I should drive it around town for a little bit??? On the dashboard I get a “Ready to drive but with 20km/h”
Good news that's an easy one. It's a confusing message because they don't make it clear that they are referring to the AUDIO power button not the main power button. Don't feel bad everyone including me fell for it the first time we got that message
Simply hold the audio power button until you get a message asking to reboot, that will start a reboot of the infotainment system which takes a few minutes. That should get rid of the antitheft error.
It all good. Thank you very much brother.🙏
And the last question to ask. Since my plans are to keep the car stored for the winter what is the best way of doing that? I was planning to leave about 40% charge in the HV battery so I can start the ICE from time to time. Now I’m not sure how to proceed with the 12V battery. Obviously it dies very quickly in my case within 2-3 weeks and I will be out of home for longer periods. Any suggestions?
None of these rule out a battery that has gone bad. A weak battery can still power the dash lights, etc. Best to check the voltage after charger is done. It should be over 12.5 volts at rest, and well over 13-14 volts when the car is running.
A "float charger" such as a Battery Tender can be used to maintain the battery during long absences. Normally, a car battery should survive 2-3 weeks without dying so you may still wish to have your 12v battery tested or just replace it.
$50, or a 50% increase, is a lot for a (possibly) better warranty on a weaker (OE was 460 CCA in my car) battery.
Generally I agree. But eight years is a long time for a battery warranty. I was guessing at the $150, I just know someone said it's somewhat more than a Costco battery. Also Costco will not install the battery. For a DIY person that's no problem, but some people put a value on convenience, and someone who already takes their car to the dealer for oil changes might appreciate having them install a new battery at the same time, and that also means they don't have to deal with returning the core. Which again is no big deal to many of us, just depends on what value someone puts on convenience.
It's also likely that a purchased replacement battery from Honda will be higher capacity than what they stick in as OEM, since they know you will be looking at the CCA number along with the price. After all how many people notice the 12V battery capacity when they purchase a new car?
Which battery comes out ahead overall cost wise will depend on when the battery fails, which obviously is an unknowable during purchase. My guess is that figuring average battery life it's probably something of a wash. I was just pointing out that whereas we are normally trained to assume that anything done at the dealer is a ripoff, depending on the price a 12V battery replacement from Honda may be an exception.
Thank you 🙏 to everyone for the advices.
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Just a quick update. Battery arrived early, installed, got the car back. So far so good. Glad Honda is stepping up in getting these fixed. Can’t be cheap swapping out the entire traction battery when the problem is with some kind of controller that handles the charging of the 12volt.
I wanted to buy the old traction battery for the batteries, but the service center wouldn’t sell it to me. A lot of diy videos on turning Prius batteries into house backups.
That's great news!
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As was stated, if the battery is inside the vehicle it will be a Gel Cell. Once the person located the battery under the hood, guess what that means, wet cell. Service information does not provide you with that information, neither does the owners manual. However, Great Call on Jump Starting, follow the procedure located in the owners manual.
I would think it would be very rare for a car to come with a Gel battery, as far as I know most vehicles that have the battery located in the passenger compartment use AGM which is cheaper and more suitable for an automobile, and which is also leakproof similar to Gel.
It seems like there was a trend for a while for some cars to have an AGM 12V battery located under the trunk or under the rear seat or elsewhere, with jump start terminals located under the hood. Especially hybrids which can use a smaller battery that can be stuffed away somewhere in the passenger area. The idea being that the temperature would be better for battery life. But an AGM costs more, especially if it's a special smaller size that you can't always get at a normal discount auto store.
The higher battery price and less accessibility to the battery doesn't seem to be worth whatever longer life they might provide. The first three generations of Prius had an AGM battery located in the cargo area, but starting in 2016 Prius has a normal wet cell located in the engine compartment. The Honda Insight has an AGM battery located under the center console in the passenger compartment, accessed by removing a trim panel. The Honda Accord hybrid has a wet cell battery located in the engine compartment. It would be interesting to see a list of what current model cars still use AGM batteries located in the passenger or cargo area.
My 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid has an AGM battery located behind a panel in the cargo area in the back.
I just checked the 2022 Pacifica Hybrid owners manual and that still seems to be the case. The non-hybrid Pacifica has a regular battery in the engine compartment.
Are replacement batteries for it harder to find and more expensive?
I still have the original battery and haven’t needed to research a replacement. I would imagine they are both harder to find and at least a little more expensive. One thing I have learned, however, is that with both the Pacifica and the Clarity you will risk draining the battery if you let the car sit for more than a couple of weeks without driving it. I’ve had it happen twice with the Pacifica and once with the Clarity. Now if I intend for it to sit that long I put a “smart” battery tender on it.
A battery tender is the best way. I have one that I use on an older car that I don't drive very much. What I have started doing on the Clarity is an alternate method, I leave town with the HV battery at about 50% and set a timer schedule to charge for about 30 minutes each day. That's using a level 1 charger so by the time I get back the HV battery is full or nearly full, and the 12V should be good because that should be plenty of daily charging to replenish whatever the parasitic losses are. I haven't done any two week trips in a long time but I might try it on a two week trip also.
The vast majority of automotive 12V batteries, that are located in the vehicle (either under the hood, or in the trunk), are of the wet-cell type. Lead-acid (PbA), to be more precise. Some are of the AGM type of PbA. I've yet to encounter a gel-cell automotive battery in 50 years of driving.
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