Your 12V battery that is.

My Civic Hybrid has been acting sluggish, and actually started using the starter motor to power up, The engine always seemed like it was laboring, and my MPGs were down.

My car is a 2007, that I put into service in November of 2006, and it had its original 290 Cranking Amp (CA) 12v battery in it.

I had the battery tested, and its capacity was down to 165 CA. So I replaced it with a Costco 51R 500 CA battery today (about $60), and I must say that this change has made all the difference in the world.

The car is quieter, the Regens are less frequent, and the gas mileage is up.

The battery fits just fine, it is longer than the stock type 51 battery, but the battery tray without the plastic liner takes it just fine.

If your 12V battery is over 3 years old, I would recommend getting it tested, and if it has less than 200 CAs then replace it with a new one.

BTW, Costco batteries are made by Johnson Controls, the same company that makes Interstate, DieHard, Motorcraft (Ford) and the US Honda batteries.

 

That's exactly what the guys at cleanmpg been preachin for years. they say many of the problems plaguing hch2s can be traced to a bad 12v battery. Good to hear it worked for you to.

ks

 

Here is the CleanMPG forum discussion on the 12V battery.

 

I believe I replaced mine at around 60K. I was doing a lot of forced engine off coasting at the time at night and I noticed my headlights grew dim very quickly... and more important was the assist part of the steering became intermittant.

I replaced the battery, I believe it was $49 at the auto store and at almost 200,000 miles it probably needs another new one.

 

$49? I've replaced mine TWICE in the last 8 months and the auto parts store (3 of them) didn't have the battery. I had to get it from the dealer and it was about $120.

The battery wasn't listed in their manuals and based on the size they wanted to give me a tractor battery. Is that what you got?

 

I got ours replaced at 73237 km's, approx 4 years after purchase. It had a couple of indavertant drains: one time headlights left on while parked for about an hour, another time an overnight leave on of map lights. Also, it had been in a body shop once for close to a month, pretty neglected. I'd managed to revive it in all instances, but figured between the abuse and it's age...

Went with the spec'd. Honda battery.