2009 MDX - replaced battery, still won't start

[cary67]

Hi Gang,

I bought a CPO 2009 MDX last fall. The battery started giving me grief after a few months and this morning it wouldn't start for my daughter, whose ride it is. (clicking starter, flashing lights, etc.) I put the charger on it and was able to drive it down and get a replacement battery. Got it back home, installed the new battery (AutoZone Platinum 750 cca) and expected all to be fine. I will add that I have rebuilt motors, transmissions, rear ends, suspensions....replacing a battery is a minor job and I *know* that I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not an ASE master, but a long way from an idiot.. There's not much to it...

So....now here I am and I try to crank the car. Everything on the inside comes on, no worries. Lights, radio/nav (asking for the code, of course) steering wheel adjustment, even the air conditioning (no, I didn't leave it on while trying to crank...) No dice. No clicking, no flashing lights, no nothing. When you try to turn the key to crank it, nothing happens at all. Let the key come back and everything still works on the inside of the car. I call the dealer and find out, first of all, that my dead battery was still under warranty...doh! That issue aside, they really have nothing to tell me and now I have to have the car towed in tomorrow morning to let them diagnose...ughhh.

I'm looking for any advice anyone may have on dealing with the stealership, or anything else I may not know about this vehcile. If there there is something obvious that occurs to any of you, it would be much appreciated. I have made absolutely certain that the battery terminals are properly and tightly connected. I even tried putting the old battery back in there. I am beside myself that this thing won't start and there just can't be any way that I f'd something up. I have replaced many batteries in my 44 years...wow. I am dumbfounded. Is there some secret that is eluding me? I can't imagine that the starter is now bad or anything else. How could that be possible? Again, nothing out of the ordinary happened in the replacing of the battery, no shorts, no nothing, kept the terminals apart and covered during install. I don't get it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[revrob]

Not to be condensending but if the car is a CPO you can have the vehicle towed to the dealer for nothing. The battery as you know is under warranty. Why don't you give the dealer the benefit of doubt until they diagnose the problem. I would be interested in knowing the outcome.

Good luck.

[cary67]

I appreciate that and no, it's not condescending. However, just as obvious as your statement is the statement that time is money. I'm going to lose an entire day having my car towed to the dealer. So what if it's free? My time is not. In fact, it's very expensive - ask the firm that pays me...

Anyway, as an update, I checked all the fuses and they all seem fine - including the ones in the fuse box next to the battery, which according to the diagram therein are the ones for the main ignition.

This is my first time on this board and I am certainly troubled by the number of threads relating to electrical/battery/starting issues...wow. Anyway, I can't help but think that some anti theft thing is triggered or something. Was hoping someone on here might say "oh...all you gotta do is...xyz." Oh well...

[JL_SS]

Does the immobilizer indicator light go out when starting (meaning it recognizes the key)? If it blinks, it needs to be reset by the dealer. However, it disables the fuel system, so I would think you would here the solenoid clicking.

It seems odd that you were able the charge the old battery enough to start it and get to AZ, but the new battery will not start at all. It sounds like a solenoid issue, but it did not have that problem prior. Are you sure the new battery is fully charged - did you try jump starting with the new battery? If it starts it was not fully charged. Is the charge indictor registering 12 volts?

[kokerj]

Did you have autozone load check the original battery? Sounds like that battery was fine and this is an ignition problem. Does your dealership give you a loaner?

Also consider simple things - like the neutral safety switch.

[AC_MDX]

You need to make sure that the ground cables are bolted correctly to the chassis, and that you did not blow one of the main engine/starter fuses.

You could test to see if the starter gets power by hearing a click when you put the key in position 2 or testing the voltage at the starter terminals..

Any decent mechanic can perform the basic ignition tests and go from there..

AC

[boston]

So it was great until the battery was replaced then nothing.
Hmmm...we have the positive lead going to the positive terminal.
Next stop assuming battery is not defective is to check the 100 amp master fuses.

[cary67]

Just to clarify... the vehicle is driven every day - so it's not sitting around or anything. Today was the second time we have been faced with a drained battery - but nothing was left on - no lights, no door left open - nothing like that. To me, that means the battery is going bad. I don't think it's an alternator problem. It's certainly not unusual for a car with all this electrical gear to kill a battery in three years. I had a 2006 BMW 325 that did the same thing and it had no electric tailgate or anywhere near as many gadgets as the MDX. So, this morning there was enough juice in the battery to light up the dash, etc., but the starter clicked rapidly, headlights flashed, etc. No start. A couple of hours on the charger and yes, it cranked and ran so I could drive it down to AZ to get a new battery. After putting a brand new battery in, everything on the inside still works - and works with authority - you can tell there is a new battery - but turning the key over does nothing - no clicking, no flashing lights, no nothing.

Thanks again, everyone, for your replies. I'm sure I'll get it sorted one way or another and I'll post the resolution.

[cary67]

Sorry, it took so long for me to do this, but I thought I should resolve this post for future viewers who might be frantically searching for any reason their MDX would not start. In this case, it was dealer error. The dealer I purchased the vehicle from installed a kill switch device on all of its inventory, offering this additional security feature at the time of sale - which I declined. However, they did not remove the basic device that they kept on all their stock - which they admitted was their error. This device (you guessed it...) senses if the battery has been disconnected or changed and trips the kill switch.

So, after Acura had to tow my car down to the dealer, they had a clicker in their drawer that resolved my issue immediately and the dealer removed the device and replaced my battery with an OEM under warranty. All's well that ends well. Kudos to Acura and the dealer for stepping up.

Thanks to all who replied and to the host of this forum.