Intermittent electrical issue

[Greg B]

I have a 2009 honda fit. Battery is less than 2 years old and I only replaced it because the old one was original. I'm running a kicker key on the front stage and have a few different sub amps I've gone between. All are 800 rms or less. I have the key up front so I used separate power and ground to each. I also rarely crank it up.
Anyways, I started to randomly see the electronic ps light come on at low rpms and had a low voltage code. Also sometimes when I turn the car off or go to start it there is no power to anything. Jiggle the battery and all is well. I was listening to some music on my break today and noticed the steering light would flicker and Bluetooth would disconnect whenever the compressor engaged so I monitored the voltage. It was in the lower 14s then dropped to 9 when the compressor clicked. Turned it off defrost and voltage stayed where it should be. With the heat completely off it was around 14.4-14.6.
Whatever the problem is it's gotten worse in the 6 months since I traded cars with my wife. It may have been going on before but she didn't notice. Anyways I'm thinking it could be a ground issue or possibly the alternator. I'm fairly good with electrical problems but not so much with aftermarket accessories

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[marc2112 10+ year member]

Sounds like a bad ground.

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Instead of "jiggling" the battery, try "jiggling" each cable individually to narrow it down.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

If your battery jiggles then you need to start there.

 

[Greg B]

Today when I popped the hood with the key on I got power back so it may have nothing to do with touching the battery. And I didn't mean to insinuate the battery was loose. That first post was painfully long so I shortened some of it

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Today when I popped the hood with the key on I got power back so it may have nothing to do with touching the battery. And I didn't mean to insinuate the battery was loose. That first post was painfully long so I shortened some of it

Battery terminals need cleaning and tightening.

 

[disciple420]

Greg most likely issue is terminals not making full contact with the battery studs. Possible air gap or build up of a contaminant not letting metal on metal contact sufficient enough for the starter to pull the needed amperes to crank the car. You could hve a damaged battery with something loose in the cells and I only say that because if simply popping the hood can fix the issue and a jiggle does also then the slight shaking of opening the hood doesn't seem to be enough to close an air gap or shake off corruption build up but Autozone can test that for free but if you cn pop your hood nd wiggle the battery and its lead acid then two years of it jiggling as you drive cn shake up the cells. Get your battery stapped down because if you get in a car accident and your car gets to spinning or rolling at a moderate rate of speed your battery could turn to projectile nd if it kills someone and it's found that your battery was left loosely floating round when it needs to be tied down sturdy you could be looking at jail time and if you think im full of crap just search up people charged with crime when they where driving and item from their vehicle stuck another person. Hell they just charged a trucker over hundered years when his brakes gave out and collided with multiple cars kills mpre than one person. With a professional experts looked at his brakes they agreed with his version and what a P.M issue that was the responsibility of his employer and the mechanic shop he still got locked up and only him.

 

[Greg B]

Thanks for the replies I took everything apart and re tightening it after the first few suggestions and hadn't had any problems until yesterday. Again popping the hood fixed it but the battery looked like it may be leaking. I'll have them warranty it the next chance I get