2014 Honda Civic EX-L has had battery drain issues for quite a while, but has gotten worse. Now, if my wife doesn't drive every day, the battery is dead the next. Even will die same day if driven early in morning, and by afternoon it's dead.
3 Batteries later, no relief. Took to repair shop (not a Dealer), and could not find issue.

So we're researching solutions ourselves. Tested all the relays with multimeter, they seem OK.

Now looking at door lock issues (since they seem a common cause of battery drain). My wife's Honda has an odd behavior -- if you walk close to the car with fob in possession (pocket, purse, hand) it will unlock without touching a thing. Is that a feature or is something broken?
I'm thinking this might be the cause of her battery drain is the remote unlock feature is stuck on or broken in some way.

Thoughts?

 

Were you ever able to get a solution to this issue? I too have a #29 draw. Shop first thought the keyless access unit with first draw test but, on a subsequent test, the draw went away. now they are not too sure what direction to go.

 

We did not have any power draw on fuse #29. so not sure our issues are the same.
That said, our problem was fixed by replacing the alternator (actually the voltage regulator which was inconveniently built into the alternator) and replacing the battery one last time. It seems the VR was overcharging the battery all the time and killing the battery. Your shop guy should be able to test the VR output. It should be high (around 14-15V) for a bit then settle down to about 12V if the battery is fully charged. Turn on the headlights with the car running and it should ramp up to 14-15V again.
The odd door unlock behavior remains, though.

 

I must have jinxed myself. Now, the battery is back to dying every 1-3 days. This is frustrating. My wife drove it yesterday and today, it won't start. I measure the battery voltage and it is 7.x volts and dropping. I took the positive clamp off the post and measured the battery voltage and it was 10.7 and rising. Why would it go from 7 --> almost 11V just by taking the positive clamp off?

 

Did you guys install any accessories? I hardwired my Rear View Camera and if it sits 3 days straight, it won't start without a boost.

 

Haven't installed anything. We even keep the phone charger unplugged from the cigarette lighter socket.

 

I'm not 100% sure on the specific features of your particular car. but auto unlock within 5 feet of driver, sometimes passenger door is a common feature on cars. normally there is a button on the door handle or a sensor on the handle that senses your hand to complete the unlocking process. the way you describe it, if your car was parked somewhere and you walked beside it with the fob in your pocket with no intention of getting in. you would inavertadly unlock your car and leave it unsafe and a welcome mat for thieves. This would be a bad feature. unless, when you walk out of range of the divers side door, it lock up again. test that with your wife, if it does lock up again, I'd say thats a great feature if you have your hands full and don't feel like digging out your keys.

now for the battery 10.7v is quite low and with the battery disconnected 11V is still quite low. a fully charged battery is usually in the high 12v or 13v range. once the car is started it would probably climb up to that. but at 10.7, there is not much juice to start it.
the voltage drop means there's a load on the battery. when you did this test, was anything on in the car, did you just come out of it so the dome light may have still been on or the exterior courtesy lights? that would explain the voltage drop. but if everything was off, you need to find the culprit of the discharge.
if I was troubleshooting. I'd get someone to hold the multimeter probes on the battery and I would remove each fuse in the engine compartment. one at a time, remove fuse, see if voltage goes back to 11 like it did when you removed the cable. if not, reinstall the fuse and go onto the next. if you get through all the fuses in the engine bay fuse box and the voltage doesn't change, then move onto the fuses in the cabin.
also check the voltage when the car is running, if it goes into high 12v range like 12.7ish, then you know your alternator is doing its job, then shut off the car and see what it drops down to. I cant review your post when typing in the reply, I don't know if you said you changed the battery or not. If you know anyone who has a battery charger and you can borrow one, let it charge on low amperage overnight (trickle charge) you can sometimes restore weak batteries by giving them a good long charge. Also Google nearby battery stores, ones that sell marine batteries and deep cycle batteries. they usually have chargers on site and could charge the battery for you overnight if you can go without your car for a day and can bring the battery itself in.
once a battery gets weak the alternator can't keep up and bring the voltage back up. causes of this is alot of start and stops. people doing deliveries that make alot of stops and shut off their engines see this problem more commonly. Hopefully I gave you a start to diagnosing your issue.
when mechanics don't know where to start for finding a solution to a problem. it usually means open up your wallet.
also, I'm rambling now... but if you pull a fuse and the voltage climbs up like it did when you removed the terminal. then see what the fuse goes to and thats what needs to be repaired, replaced etc...

 

rereading your post. your measuring 7 volts and dropping. and when you disconnect bat. it climbs back up to almost 11? that's alot of power being sucked out. ignore my previous post about having a weak battery etc... there's definitely something drawing a decent amount of power. alternator just got replaced so scratch that. I had electrical problems.. good luck friend.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

We had the alternator replaced again last week and have kept the neg battery clamp disconnected when not in use. We're taking it in to an electrical system repair shop for troubleshooting. Months ago we went through measuring fuses and relays and didn't find anything abnormal, but I believe whatever is draining is erratic and not predictable, which is why it worked for months after replacing the alternator last time, and now works fine for 3 days then just one day.

White flag -- we give up.

 

I have been dealing with the same issue for about a year now. I’m on my third battery and everything is testing fine.. including the alternator. I did find it odd that when I first purchased the car it would not unlock unless you touched the door handle or the little button on the handle. It started unlocking randomly when I would go within a few feet of the car.. That’s when it started needing to be jumped frequently/ almost daily in the winter. I need to drive it daily or it won’t hold a charge. Sometimes when it’s really cold it won’t even last a day. No matter where I go there are no answers.. just to drive my car more to charge the battery. Has anyone figured it out?? It seems to be a frequently talked about issue from my search

 

Sounds exactly like how our experience was. My last post in June had us taking the car into an electrical shop. They were not definitive on a cause, other than to say there was a slight drain of a few milliamps, but not enough to drain a battery overnight or even in a day or two.
So, we had the battery checked again (tried to get it replaced but they wouldn't do it after it tested good), so we had the alternator replaced (again). Since then (June) it has been perfect. No issues.

Oddly, we have the same issue with the doors locking/unlocking. If lock the doors with the remote and get to close to the doors (either side) they unlock on their own. It's annoying as heck. No one knows why. We couldn't find it was a "feature" so there seems to be some defect in this model Honda I suppose.
In any case, I'm not sure what alternator you had put in (dealer or other shop?) but we put in I think it was a Demco which we understood are rebuilt but are the OEM of the Honda alternator. It seems for now, it's done the trick. Now, weather here in SoCAL has been very warm (downright HOT) and if the issue starts happening again when the weather cools or is cold, we'll know it's not mechanical.

Good luck. If there's any other questions, let me know.

 

Was your alternator testing okay and they just suggested that you replace it? I’ve had it tested by a few different places and it’s testing fine. I live in CT and been getting pretty cold at night already. I’ve needed to jump it a few times already. I really don’t want to go though this all winter!

 

It depended on who tested it. One would say that 13V was enough, another would say it wasn't and that it needed 14+ volts, but it was a little wonky when we tested it ourselves so we took the chance it was the alternator.
We were also given the story that in cold weather batteries don't work as well, but we're in southern california, mind you, not Minnesota. And there are a million Honda Civic's around and you think they all have battery issues? No, they don't, so logically the cold weather excuse is just that, and excuse.
If I were to replace the battery, I saw there is a newer kind, not lead acid, it's called AGM:

AGM batteries (short for Absorbed Glass Mat) are constructed slightly differently than their flooded counterparts. The plate separator within an AGM battery is made of fiberglass, which helps to hold the electrolyte in place. This enables you to mount them in a variety of different positions (don't turn them upside down though) without fear of spilling, which can happen in flooded batteries. AGM batteries also have a lower internal resistance, giving them a higher voltage output and a dramatically shorter charging time.

AGM batteries also have a number of other advantages over flooded types. For starters, they have longer life cycles and stand up much better to vibrations and impact. They are also more resistant to extreme temperatures, making them ideal for regions with high heat or intense cold. The greatest disadvantage of AGM batteries is price, with AGM batteries costing more than flooded batteries.

One thing to note, if your car's original battery was an AGM type, you have to continue using AGM batteries going forward, as your car will not accept being "downgraded" to a flooded battery.

Maybe that might help by at least giving you something else to try.

Good Luck.

 

My OEM driver door actuator on my 2014 Civic EX-L Sedan caused a 1/4amp parasitic leak. I replaced with a relatively cheap aftermarket and it resolved the issue. HOWEVER, after about 6mo (now), the leak is back and am "assuming" it's the same issue <sigh>. For those of you starting or are in the middle of troubleshooting this, here's the best Vid I've seen thus far: . There's no sure way to pin this problem down to the actuator since there are still other potential root causes via fuse 29...not unless you want to go through a major disassembly process. Simply disconnecting the fuse or actuator will not allow a full sleep mode (been there done that). I had to simply narrow it down to the "likely" culprit and gambled on the part purchase which was the lucky straw (phew!). I'm quite warry of refurbished parts for this problem so the question now is whether it's worth the OEM cost to replace???
I'd sure like to know what fails in the actuator to cause this issue!
I hope this helps someone, but anyone out there that is next level with a better understanding and answers, please bring it!

 

I have the same issues.Several new batteries and alternators over the last couple of years. Learned the hard way about the two stage Honda alternators! Auto Zone was also unfamiliar and didn't know how to test them. Parasitic draw seems to be intermittent. 2015 Civic EX or SE. When I do amperage test I'm showing 10 milliamps of parasitic draw. Have not been able to recreate the parasitic draw. Both rear door regulators bad (probably not related?). Same issues with smart entry. Doors unlocking seemingly at random when walking past the passenger door with remote. Also doors not unlocking when I put my hand on the handle like it is supposed to. When I pull the passenger outer handle (but not driver side) the doors unlock. The buttons on handles will lock the doors. I've seen a lot of YouTube on this and seems like a lot on Honda's, that I'm not sure they really solved the problem. New batteries may get you going for a while but with a minor parasitic it will come back.

 

Hektor has a couple of other Civic Parasitic draw videos. Looked like he solved his issues but I'm not sure. Mine seems intermittent. Did you resolve yours?