tht

I brought something similar after a similar experience with a dead battery from a dash cam and car not used for a a few weeks, and of course have not needed to use it since… it has been useful during power outages. The same lack of use during CV19 meant that battery died and had to be replaced under car warranty… when it needed to be replaced again I brought a non-OEM battery from Interstate.. and even that was an issue, they put in a cheaper battery, but I noticed and went to have it swapped out… some chemistry deals better with the cold and that was all in a V6, so needed higher amps, so make sure the started you buy can support your car type.

tht

I brought something similar after a similar experience with a dead battery from a dash cam and car not used for a a few weeks, and of course have not needed to use it since… it has been useful during power outages. The same lack of use during CV19 meant that battery died and had to be replaced under car warranty… when it needed to be replaced again I brought a non-OEM battery from Interstate.. and even that was an issue, they put in a cheaper battery, but I noticed and went to have it swapped out… some chemistry deals better with the cold and that was all in a V6, so needed higher amps, so make sure the started you buy can support your car type.

tht

I brought something similar after a similar experience with a dead battery from a dash cam and car not used for a a few weeks, and of course have not needed to use it since… it has been useful during power outages. The same lack of use during CV19 meant that battery died and had to be replaced under car warranty… when it needed to be replaced again I brought a non-OEM battery from Interstate.. and even that was an issue, they put in a cheaper battery, but I noticed and went to have it swapped out… some chemistry deals better with the cold and that was all in a V6, so needed higher amps, so make sure the started you buy can support your car type.

Pulaski

There are several variables, notably whether you choose a "remanufactured" engine, or one pulled out of a wrecked car. I had a bad experience with a remanufactured engine with the first swap, and did not get the build quality I expected, and paid $3,000 for.* Some remanufactured engines can cost more - I think $5k-$6k is currently typical for a 4-cyl Honda. The second swap was for a salvaged engine, which cost me $1,200, delivered (and $100 on top because there was no fork lift to unload it), allegedly with 50,000-60 000 miles on it, but I have no way to verify that. I'll give more details later this week when I post an update on what I have had done.

The labour cost about $2,000 at our local Honda dealer in 2017, and I paid a non-franchise Honda specialist $1,600 for labour in December 2022.

As you're replacing an engine in an automatic vehicle, you might consider a combined replacement as many salvaged engines seem to be offered with an auto transmission attached.

* Soon after the "new" remanufactured engine was installed it suffered a severe misfire, which turned out to be overheating caused by a part missing in the coolant channels in the engine block, so water wasn't actually circulating through the engine, and the temperature guage never showed an excessive temperature in the engine.

The severe overheating caused the cylinder head to warp. So that required a repair partially at my expense as the warranty only covered labour at $45/hr.

Then two years later, after only 64,000 miles the timing chain tensioner failed, with the predictably ugly consequences. So this time I decided that I would sooner take a used engine that was built in a Honda factory, over a remanufactured one.

newadventure

Thanks! Useful info

Steerpike

Yep! Here's a snippet from the manual. I love how they call it the 'exclusive jump starting terminal'!

Just to clarify, the gray shaded item associated with 'A' is the fuse box.

mrken30

I had issues with battery dying after switching to a per mile insurance option that wanted and OBD device fitted. This device was killing my battery after 2 to 3 weeks of the car not being used. When I unplugged it the insurance company complained. I have now switched companies

Steerpike

Interesting; I've considered those 'OBD' (on board diagnostics) devices myself, and explored some options with insurance companies, but never pursued it far. Do others have any observations on this? Are all OBD devices the same (battery suckers)? Has anyone got a serious discount by attaching one?

I drive very conservatively these days, so any 'recording' of my driving habits would likely result in a positive improvement on insurance. This article gives an overview - https://www.usnews.com/insurance/aut...g-devices-work .

Interestingly, my 2-year-old car has some features like this built-in; I can get a report of my 'driving habits' from an app on my phone; it will tell me how many 'hard braking' or 'hard cornering' events have occurred, and gives me a 'rating' on my driving. But I wasn't able to find an ins.co. to work with that info.

Pulaski

Yeah, I can imagine that new vehicles have more always-active circuits even without adding further parasitic devices that constantly draw power.

Steerpike

When I walk up to my car, and get within about 3 feet, a variety of lights come on. Similarly, I can wave my foot under the tailgate, and the tailgate opens. That tells me it has radio devices 'always on' looking for the key signal. It's a great convenience, but - definitely scary!

btar

About three years ago I decided to replace the battery in my 8 year old VW Golf and found the first question was "Is it stop-start" as they need higher power batteries (which were also more expensive). Fortunately I didn't but one wonders how much additional drain is caused by the stop-start feature not to mention wear and tear on the starter motor etc. I suspect that re-starting also produces more noxious gases than if the engine were allowed to idle for a couple of minutes.

Pulaski

Starter motors in stop-start vehicles are, like the batteries, also larger and more powerful than in a conventional vehicle. I find the stop-start feature intensely annoying, especially in "stop then crawl" traffic, where the engine stops, starts just seconds later, then remains on anyway as I crawal, pause, and crawl some more, towards the junction. So always disable the stop-start feature.
I agree, any environmental benefits are likely extremely marginal, and probably illusory.

markonline1

Our ops vehicle at work has the stop start feature. It’s massively annoying, especially if the engine cuts out during a radio transmission and it briefly interrupts the message. What’s even more annoying is GMC don’t give you the option to disable it!!!! There are many reasons why I would never buy an Arcadia as my own vehicle. The stop start feature that cannot be over ridden is up there near the top (unbelievably lackluster engine will always be top).

ddsrph

For little used cars the best thing to do is buy a battery tender which is a very low power trickle charger. They are supposed to greatly increase battery life plus it’s always fully charged. I have several from Schmacher which cost around $20. My motorcycle, Jeep and zero turn has them in use during winter months.

Pulaski

From 2020 model year there has been a button on the Acadia's dash to disable stop-start. Apparently, (per article linked above) you can defeat the stop-start feature of the 2017-2019 Acadia, by starting the engine with the hood open.