2006 Acura TSX - Battery Problems
 

A couple instances in the past month I've had issues with my battery. The first time, I had a problem and was waiting for AAA to arrive. I sat on the side of the road with the key turned to accessory for 45-60 minutes, with the flashers on and the radio on.

the battery died and i needed a jump.

the other night, i drove to pick up some skis from some friends, and double parked. i turned the car off, turned the key to accessory and had the flashers on and radio on for about 20 minutes.

the battery didn't die, but the car wouldn't start right away. i shut the car off completely, and after 5 minutes, it started.

i had walmart test the battery, and they said i need a new one.

so i called acura, and brought it in for service under warranty, since i am at 40,000 miles. well, they ran their tests, and said it is fine.


does this sound fine and normal to you guys? i've never had a car where it was an issue to listen to the radio for 20-30 minutes on accessory. i understand the night it died after 45-60 minutes, but 20-30 has never been a problem.



is it a crappy battery that just can't handle much? are there many other things running in the background that i am not aware of?

Yup, crappy battery. A search will bring up numerous threads on the topic. If you regularly use the battery to listen to the radio, I suggest getting a stronger battery like an Optima. They cost more, but won't give you as much trouble.

Get a third opinion from autozone or kragen. Have them test the alternator also to make sure it is charging the battery. You might want to consider optima red starter battery. It has enough cranking power in cold conditions and after running an aftermarket stereo for an hour or two. Costco is a good place to get them at a decent price.

I do not take a chance and run my radio for more than 10 mins on battery power based on the information from this and other threads about the crappy OEM battery.

I can sit in my 97 Accord for +90 mins with the radio on and it will start with its full size battery from sears.

i guess when i need a battery i'll hit up costco. how much do they run? does costco install them?

They're not cheap, something like $160 IIRC. It's a different type of technology with coiled electrodes and gel electrolyte. They're much more robust than your typical lead acid battery.

and would costco/sams install?

I am having the same issue. If I clean my car out and leave the radio on... the car will be dead before I finish. I hate the '06 battery!

They all have the same one until sometime in the last year or so where they've started putting a slightly bigger one in. If the dealer replaces it, you'll get the bigger one. It's still not fantastic though.

As far as install goes, I think they will. It's about as simple a maintenance task as you can find though. Make sure you have your radio codes handy before disconnecting the battery.

Costco has the 51R (OEM replacement) for about $70. It has 500 CCA.

:agree:

I have 90K miles now and still on the original OEM battery. I have a lot of electronics running in my car too, but I never turn the radio on with the engine off.

I bought the battery 2/16/2007
item # 12853 $139.99
battery disp $ 5.00
7.75% tax $ 11.24
Total $156.23
I love the tax rate here in Sacramento. I'm glad they didn't pass the Sacramento Kings new stadium plan or it would have raised it another percent. It's an over sized battery that requires the removal of the battery tray and a slight bent of the tie bar to accommodate the width. Other wises the battery works and fits smugly.

another thing that kills a battery is using the emergency flashers for extended periods.

2006 tsx battery failure
 

I have been experiencing battery failure, and hard starting for the last 5,000 miles. Sometimes I have to jump it when it sits 3 days or more, I have 58,000 on the car, runs great no other problems. I checked the battery, it says maintenance free, however it has an indicator that gives several choices, charge it if indicated, add water or do nothing its ok. The battery indicator always says ok when I have a problem. I checked the charging system and it checked out ok. The Fix… I opened the top six filler access holes on top of the battery, checked the water level it was low, checked specific gravity with a battery gage it was in specs, filled it with distilled water, charged it, I have not had a problem since. It seems that the battery is so small that with all the electronics and nav system you do not have much to play with if the battery is not in top condition.
Best regards
jm

Try adding the extra load of HID fogs and turning your car on with all 4 HIDs already on in the middle of winter. Yup, I did this completely forgetting that HIDs are battery killers.

Why do I do this? cuz I never turn off my headlights as they shut themselves off. During our winter season when I get to work, it's dark and when I leave it's dark. Kinda nice having the headlights light up the area :)

It's the flashers, not the radio, that killed the battery.

The radio uses hardly any power compared to the lights. You should be able to listen to the radio for an hour easily and still start your car without a problem. Unless of course you have some kind of aftermarket setup which draws a lot of extra power.

My recommendation: quit using your flashers for so long.

I agree/I listen to the radio when I have the car motor off-no problems (knock-on-wood) with the OEM battery on my 06 tsx.
Short drives with a/c/heat, radio on shorten battery life.

Guys:

I dont think this is an original battery problem.

It happened to me several times with an aftermarket Interstate Battery.

With the engine off, i listened to the radio for 30 to 45 minutes.

Then i tried to start car. It did not start right away. Left car and came back after hour and it started.

That has never happened to me with other cars.

Does the ignition switch for the TSX have several settings?

With the car off, if you put the key in the ignition and turn it one click up, is this called accessory 1 and gives you use of radio?

If you turn the key 2 clicks up, is this accessory 2? You can also use radio in this setting but I think it is here that I can maybe hear the fuel pump activating without the car actually starting.

^^ yes. primes your fuel pump and powers ac fan and all that good stuff

It's not accesory 2, it's the run position which is where your key is after you hit the starter and get it running. It allows everything to run in your vehicle. The only thing it doesn't turn on is the starter, which you don't want running all the time.

i installed a 600 watt rms soundsystem in my car with the stock battery, and now my alternator sounds like a kazooe. lol

Acura battery strikes again, and their support is dismal..

If I was on the fence about leaving the Acura family before, I an not anymore...

2006 TSX. I have had the battery replaced at least once if not twice. Each time the dealership puts a new Honda 4 year battery in the car. Should last four years, right? Nope.

Well, apparently the four year warranty/rating is NOT for the life of the battery, but an OVERALL coverage. Once a total of four years since purchase have expired, Honda does not care that their 4 year battery only lasted one year. I am on my own for a new battery.

I feel like the design, quality AND attention to the customer have all fallen far short of what I thought I was paying for with an Acura.

No disrespect to any Honda owners (I was one for MANY years), this is what I would expect from Honda, not Acura. What's the difference at this point?

Ouch stogie. Hope your situation is resolved easily.

For the OP (a while back) and anyone who finds this thread: I suspect the dealers' battery test showed proper voltage because the battery wasn't dead, but it wouldn't hold a charge for long. It would've charged it on the way over and it would have kept enough power to pass the test, but it may have failed if the car was left with the dealer and they tested it cold in the morning.

When I had the annual NC state inspection done on my 06 tsx in January the acura dealer replaced the battery. They told me it tested low even tho I never had any problems with it. Did not complain about it-it was free under the 4 year unlimited mileage warranty.

yeah dealer just replaced mine in my 08 cause it was bad....

Dealer tested it and the reading was 345 CCA and should be 410 CCA.

I will hit Costco on the way home.. I hope it makes it.

My new to me 2006 recently failed to start for the first time for me also. It started on the second attempt however, anything to worry about?

I noticed on my service records that the battery was replaced by Acura just under a year ago, will they replace it again if it fails the load test? My bumper to bumper is set to expire end of December.

If Acura will replace it, go for it. As soon as they say no, buy aftermarket.

The original battery in my 04 lasted either 4 or 5 years, can't remember precisely. However, it was slow to turn over fairly often in the winter. Other than that, I never had problems with mine.

I think the heat does more damage than the cold.

Each time Acura replaced my battery here in Phoenix, the tech looked like he had been swapping them out all damn day in people's cars...

The battery in my '06 lasted 3 years, and given all the complaints on this forum, counted by blessings that it lasted that long, went to Costco, got the replacement, and its been good ever since.

About the Optima battery: One can buy 3 new batteries for the price of one YT or a RT, and it just doesn't make sense (to me) to go that route.

It hasn't really been that cold outside yet (40-50*F in the morning) and my '05 doesn't sound strong when I want it to start. A courtesy battery test by the dealer said it was okay back in July (warm out so that makes sense). I'm thinking I may have the original, or close to original, battery since I bought my car c.p.o.

My 2006 TSX had the same problem. It passed the load test at the dealer and they acted like I was crazy. It died again less than a week later. I replaced it with a more heavy duty one and no more problems.

I have 06 Acura TSX with original battery, it died 2 weeks ago after I left headlight on for 5 minutes, it died this morning for no apparent reason (last night was cold though). Is it just a battery problem? I am thinking to repalce the battery, what is the best option?

AutoCraft Gold Battery, Group Size 51R, 500 CCA -- Advanced auto parts $106
battery (51r/500amp85) Part #: 31500-SR1-100M -- Acura dealer - $104
Duralas 500 CCA - Autozone $106

I replaced my OEM TSX battery last summer with the 75 month Interstate MegaTron 51-R 500 CCA and 625 CA for about $100+tax. I put the same battery in my RDX when the OEM battery fail several months later.

Gotta say the Optima was NOT a good experience for me. Failed about a week out of it warranty. Replaced it with a Consumer Reports top rated Wal-Mart battery. Crazily enough, I expect this one to last BECAUSE I can open the caps and top up the cells. It's these Texas summers that kill the batteries...and the TSX uses just about the smallest out there...which means less water/acid to evaporate.

As for the Optima, I was not impressed. It's CCA is low for it's size and price, and it didn't hold up. Note that the previous gen 51 type Optimas had problems and they stopped producing/selling them for a while.

There are any number of replacement batteries available, including of course the ones you list. And my guess is that everyone who responds on this thread will have their favorite (and they'll mostly likely all be different). I would have bought the battery that Walmart sells, but I couldn't find one (not the first time I've experienced availability problems with batteries at Walmart). I went with an ACDelco 60 series battery. I found good reviews on line and it was at least $25 cheaper then the rest (around $75). It's not quite as powerful at 460 CCA. But I'm in either CT or MA, and my car sits outside. I haven't had any problems with it.

I got an Optima YT, thinking that my radio playing while the car was off led to problems with the original battery. Well, the YT didn't last that long, not any longer than the original battery. I agree with DD -- not worth it, IMO. I've got the "Duralast" now, and it seems good, but haven't had enough time on it to know if it lasts longer than the others.

I've had my Duralast well over a year and still like new. I put one in my wife's Civic. I won't waste my money on Optima batteries. The battery is a limited life item and you are just going to have to replace it someday. Unless you have some high performace stereo amps you don't need any special battery, just one that can crank out the amps to start the car.

Duralast will work for 99% of TSX owners.