Left my headlights on, but car battery didn't die. Will it die soon?
I left my headlights on while the car was off for about 30 minutes. The car still turned on, I took a 10 minute drive, and turned it off then on again just to see if it still works, and it worked.
It's a 2012 Honda Civic, and it once died about a year ago when I left the headlights on for 20 minutes then I had to jump it. So I'm worried that my battery DIDN'T die this time, because I don't want it to randomly die on me sometime tomorrow.
Will my battery die soon, and what should I do?
It's fine, no harm done.
As long as the car starts, and the alternator is working properly, the battery will recharge in a few minutes. If the alternator isn't working properly, THAT is what will drain the battery.
It should be okay. The conventional wisdom is the battery is damaged if it drops below 10V, but in my experience the duration of that very low voltage is important. If the battery has drained low enough to need a jump, it has been depleted for a while and it will lose significant life. Otherwise you are good.
30 minutes is not a long time. It's the people who leave them on overnight who are screwed. If it seems OK, it probably is. This would be a bigger problem for an older battery that was on its way out anyway. I remember my last car, it was running perfectly, then I had to leave my hazards on for 15-20 minutes, and it killed my battery.
And sounds like the next time you buy a car, be sure it has the feature that automatically turns lights off before the battery discharges. Most Ford products do that.
Drive the car for an hour on the freeway with the headlights and other electrical items turned off and it will charge the battery enough to not worry. It won't charge enough idling or just going for short drives.
- Will Halogen headlights be obsolete soon? Someone at Honda told me that. But halogens for me are decent in terms of night time view. Like I had HID's before and I had a few people flashing me. But even now some HID or LED stock is still blinding with a glare.
- Why does the left front wheel on my 4wheeler lock as soon as i touch the lever but the other 1 don't even hardly slow down? I have a 2007 Honda Recon 250 4wheeler and it's been doing that off and on for awhile now, i thought it might have been a low tire because it's done the exact same thing before with a low tire but my tire pressure is fine. I'm guessing something is wrong with the brake shoes but i'm not sure what to look for because i'm not very experienced in the mechanic department and i don't wanna mess something up worse than it already is Haha very funny Andrew
- Bought a 1985 Honda inspector kid told me it needed new battery but started with jump got new battery and it was dead next day? Pretty sure its the alternator just wanted some second opinions also I got the bike for 600 dollars you guys think thats a good deal
- Will my car battery die while I'm gone for three weeks? My car is Honda Civic 2015. I purchased this new car in October this year. I wonder if my car battery will die if I leave this car for three weeks in the airport parking lot while I'm away?