Battery knackered?

[ctrlaltdelboy]

door handle failure? - common problem, here's the solution

[TheSebringOne]

No probs Steve, I drive her every 2 weeks at the mo since leaving her standing even with a new battery for 3 to 3.5 weeks, it will not start as I found! In Winter I put on the trickle charge since my P & J only goes out when its dry & crisp!

[stan321]

When my NSX battery goes flat and has to be recharged, the engine idling speed seems to take a long time to re-establish itself. Often the engine will stall for the first half hour or so after starting. Do others see this?

[Steveycaz]

i've not noticed any changes in engine performance due to battery condition Stan. I suppose the alternator may be working harder, but I'd be surprised if this would affect such a powerful engine! mind you, I know nothing!

[Mr_Spanners]

When my NSX battery goes flat and has to be recharged, the engine idling speed seems to take a long time to re-establish itself. Often the engine will stall for the first half hour or so after starting. Do others see this?

It's common with older cars as the EACV* valve becomes increasingly worn which means the ECUs learning cycle is more difficult. The best way for the ECU to relearn its values after the battery has been disconnected is to start the car with all the ancillaries switched off and DO NOT press the accelerator. Allow the car to idle until the fan has come on at least twice. Switch the car off and then restart - you should find the car runs fine and the revs don't drop too low now!


* The EACV valve is essentially a wax cylinder that melts as the engine coolant passes through it. As this happens an electronic signal is sent to the ECU to set the rev 'boost' during the warm-up cycle. The EACV is only used during cold starts on fuel injection cars and replaced the 'choke' we used to have on carburettor cars. If you have major problems with idle during warm up then replacing the EACV will solve it 99 times out of 100.

[stan321]

Makes a lot of sense (P-reg NSX-T 102K miles). I guess it's not worth replacing this EACV valve. After an initial warm up it's generally fine.

[Andy]

The Sebring One said:

"£65 not bad, but Steve if you don't use the car regulary, would be worth investing in a battery trickle charger that feeds enough to replace charge used up by alarm/immobiliser. My was by Draper (a little transformer really) £16.00 I think"

The Manual says do not connect a battery charger while the battery is connected to the car. This means that in winter if the battery goes flat I have to remove the spare wheel, disconnect the battery and charge it.

What I would like to do is connect a trickle charger to the car via the connections in the fuse box and leave it on all the time. I can then easily disconnect this when I want to drive the car. Can I do this without damaging the electrics? And if so what charger would be recommended?

Thanks Andy

[Mr_Spanners]

Trickle chargers are a cheap option and the Draper unit for under £15 is hard to beat, however a 'Battery Conditioner' is much more Battery-Friendly as it controls the voltage\current going to the battery and monitors it's status.

Arguably the best on the market is the CTEK XS3600 (which is ideal for the NSX) but at nearly £50 it's a tad-pricey. Highly recommended though!

EBay Link

HTH

~Phil.

[Andy]

Thanks

Is it OK to connect up the battery conditioner via the fusebox and leave it on all the time?

Regards Andy

[TheSebringOne]

Andy, I know to fully charge a battery with a normal charger its a off the car job with cars +/- cables unconnected, but these trickle chargers only feed a small amount of charge since I've had no problems charging with the battery connected to car in the past over Winter or lack of use. Just make sure you turn off at mains before connecting & reconnecting, but not sure if this is needed. Just looked at said trickle charger, its input is 230V. -50HZ A.C. 5W and output 12V.D.C - 300mA. 3.6VA. Got my 3 years ago, paid 17.99, got it from Motorworld. HTH

http://www.draper.co.uk/Pages/Pagesource/p66.pdf