Battery "eye" no longer green - what to do?

[rationull]

The OEM battery in my 2007 Civic has a hydrometer "eye" in it that's presumably supposed to tell you when the battery is going bad. Normally it's green. When checking stuff out under the hood this morning I noticed that it's not green anymore.

IIRC the manufacturing date for the car was sometime in November of 2006 or so, making the car (and battery) almost 4 years old. I checked with a multimeter and the battery was holding 12.5 volts or so (engine off). The car cranks and starts fine.

Do I need to do anything about this preemptively? Add water? Or should I just wait until it starts dying more obviously. I'm pretty sure the battery is supposed to be considered maintenance free since it doesn't have individual caps on the cells.

 

[eljefino]

I'd wait. I've had delcos give false positives of failure that lasted years.

 

[Bluestream]

check water level; add distilled if needed

 

[StevieC]

Check the electrolyte level, if it's ok have the battery load tested.

If it checks out then leave it until its a problem.

If it fails the load test replace it before it cooks your alternator.

Steve

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: rationull
I'm pretty sure the battery is supposed to be considered maintenance free since it doesn't have individual caps on the cells.


It most likely has two ganged caps which cover three cells each. Pry them up and add distilled water till it touches the bottom of the well.

The clue that it has ganged vent caps is that one of them will say "KEEP VENT CAPS TIGHT AND LEVEL". If you see that, then you know for sure it has vent caps that can be removed.

 

[Shuttler]

Not a Honda battery, but Ford had a TSB on a similar issue with the Motorcraft batteries which essentially recommended to disregard the red eye if the battery functions well and check the electrolyte level advice.

 

[brianl703]

The Honda batteries are made by Johnson Controls, as are Motorcraft batteries.

 

[babyjay8495]

Keep going until it dies.

 

[mechtech2]

4 years is a bit early for a battery to go out.
But warmer climates certainly make batteries go out faster.
Because of this, there are different batteries sold for northern and southern climates, in the USA.
In your case, check the water level and top it of as needed.
Is it OK? Check your voltage every few months with the car off.

 

[JimPghPA]

Add distilled water to all the cells if they require it, but just enough to get each to touch the bottom of the indicator for the eye. Do not add any extra. If you let the tops of the plates run dry the battery will fail in a short amount of time.

If you put more than minimum required to get all cells to height to touch the eye indicator, you could shorten the remaider of the life left in the battery.

 

[JHZR2]

12.5 may include a surface share on one cell. Drive the car 20 miles, turn off, turn dome light on for 10 min, then turn off, wait 10 min, check open circuit voltage.

 

[bepperb]

Those OEM Honda batteries from 05~07 are horrible, used on I4 Accords, Civics, CRV's... etc.

I'd replace it and call it an upgrade. My two cents from someone who spends too much time in Honda forums.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: babyjay8495
Keep going until it dies.
+1 If you can, check and add distilled H2O if necessary. If no maintanance/sealed just drive it.

 

[hemitom]

I had a 2002 ranger, at around a year old the the eye went orange, sold the truck in dec 2009 running the same battery. I don't put much faith in the green, orange eye.

 

[simple_gifts]

How convenient a device for the mfg, a device to tell you when to go out and buy another.

 

[HTSS_TR]

My S2000 OEM battery group size 51 is made by Panasonic, I checked and added distilled water as needed every year, the "eye" is still green.

The car was made in Japan on September 2003 and the battery is sill strong, it may be able to go another year or two.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: sayjac
Originally Posted By: babyjay8495
Keep going until it dies.
+1 If you can, check and add distilled H2O if necessary. If no maintanance/sealed just drive it.


Consider they are only $70ish at Walmart and last quite a few years, I'd wait till it has problem starting as well.

 

[stockrex]

Use a volt meter to assess the batt.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
12.5 may include a surface share on one cell. Drive the car 20 miles, turn off, turn dome light on for 10 min, then turn off, wait 10 min, check open circuit voltage.


The car had been off all night and then had the dome lights on for a little bit when I tested this morning. I'll do this tonight when I get home, though. By "open circuit voltage" though do you mean I need to disconnect the ground cable or anything?


Originally Posted By: brianl703

It most likely has two ganged caps which cover three cells each. Pry them up and add distilled water till it touches the bottom of the well.


Yes, I think this is the setup it has.

Originally Posted By: StevieC

If it fails the load test replace it before it cooks your alternator.


This scares me a bit...

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: rationull
Originally Posted By: StevieC

If it fails the load test replace it before it cooks your alternator.


This scares me a bit...


Why?