Is the PCX's battery a crap?

General Honda PCX chat, questions about the PCX, or questions about riding.

Moderator: Modsquad

Cascanciu
Regular User
Regular User
Posts: 283
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:49 pm
Location: Asturias, Spain

Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by Cascanciu »

Second time it happens. Yesterday I came home late after hanging out with a few friends. We've been having low temperatures here. Make it between 2-4º C (that's cold, for our standards) and when I hit the ignition button she was reluctant to start. She did eventually start, but the engine wasn't sounding right. It sounded like she was coughing. Once on the move everything was normal, no performance loss. Weird.

First time it happened was worse. I got lights on the dash when I turned the ignition switch but got nothing when I hit the ignition button. Tried a few times and she did eventually start. Since then I had been riding without the start/stop so the battery got properly charged, but the second incident made me thing that it's quite likely that the battery is just crap.

She's eight months old and 4300 kms right now. She'll be due for service soon so I'll talk about it at the dealer. Some other thing I'll do is checking the battery with a tester, but this I'll have to do it at work. I don't own one.

Ah, something else. Got my mechanic mate to hear the engine since I was suspecting some tappet noise. He didn't agree. The dealer says they'll do the valve adjustment when they hear tapping :roll: , so I'll get her in for the oil service, then go somewhere else (to a proper workshop, of course) to get the valve adjustment done or I'll do it myself, depending on my mood .

It's been a while since I didn't post but don't think I haven't been monitoring you :P .
User avatar
maddiedog
Benevolent Overlord
Benevolent Overlord
Posts: 3640
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:04 pm
Year: 2011
Color: White
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Re: Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by maddiedog »

Sounds like you have a shitty dealer if they refuse to do the factory recommended maintenance. If you've already replaced one battery with that low of mileage, you may have issues with your stator. If so, this is the first case of a stator failing on a PCX that I've heard of.

I have way more miles than you and have ridden in colder weather. I stored my PCX outside under a cover last winter too, exposed to temperatures as low as about -10C, and my stock battery is very strong -- it always starts first click.
Currently ride: 2011 Honda PCX 125 - Upgraded windshield and seat, keeping this one mostly stock
Previously rides: 2005 V-Strom DL650, 1974 Vespa Ciao, 2011 Honda PCX 170 (tons of mods - takegawa 170cc big bore kit, gears, etc), 1996 Honda Nighthawk 250, 1987 Honda Spree, 2000 KTM 125SX, 2003 Honda Silverwing, 2007 Genuine Buddy 125, 1998 Honda PC800, 2008 Buddy 125 (white), 2008 Buddy 125 (red), 2001 Honda Reflex, 1987 Honda Elite, 1988 Honda Spree, 2007 Yamaha Vino, 2007 Honda Metro, 2x 125cc pure-chinesium dirt bikes
Cascanciu
Regular User
Regular User
Posts: 283
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:49 pm
Location: Asturias, Spain

Re: Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by Cascanciu »

maddiedog wrote:Sounds like you have a shitty dealer if they refuse to do the factory recommended maintenance. If you've already replaced one battery with that low of mileage, you may have issues with your stator. If so, this is the first case of a stator failing on a PCX that I've heard of.

I have way more miles than you and have ridden in colder weather. I stored my PCX outside under a cover last winter too, exposed to temperatures as low as about -10C, and my stock battery is very strong -- it always starts first click.
Dealer is shitty, that's for sure. Battery is still the stock one, didn't had it replaced so far. I thought of an stator failure too, but disregarded it when I saw that she was still running after some good 200 kms after the first incident.
Taz
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
Posts: 889
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:55 pm
Location: Hobart Tasmania Australia

Re: Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by Taz »

Did you just flood the engine? Its happened to me once or twice and Ive had to then get it going per the manual by cranking it over with full throttle for a bit, then starting it. And it runs rough then for a couple of minutes. Or does the plug need changing? Otherwise yes the battery could be suspect. Glad you are still on the forum!
User avatar
gn2
Forum Benefactor
Forum Benefactor
Posts: 7767
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:54 pm
Year: None
Location: NE Scotland

Re: Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by gn2 »

There have been a number of battery replacements under warranty due to a batch of bad ones.
Four decades on two wheels has taught me nothing, all advice given is guaranteed to be wrong
Pcxdemon
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
Posts: 931
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:13 am
Location: Gold Coast,Australia

Re: Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by Pcxdemon »

15000k's and still original battery,i try not to use stop/start feature too much...
TasmanianDevil
New Member
New Member
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:27 pm

Re: Is the PCX's battery a crap?

Post by TasmanianDevil »

Almost three years and the original battery rules. And always with stop start...
Post Reply