Car is currently in the shop because I don't have the time to mess with it right now (in the middle of a move and all my tools are packed away).

My wife's car and she complained a few months ago that it was getting harder to start in the mornings (Montana fall/winter). I put it off until last week when the car was really difficult to start.......slow cranking. Not knowing how old the battery was, I replaced it for $125 because I really like to waste money and apparently can afford to do so. Car started up great and no issues for her normal work week at the hospital on the graveyard shift.

After her work week (7-on/7-off), she goes out of town to celebrate a co-workers birthday and her car sits unused for 5 days. When we needed to use it, it seemed the battery was dead but no lights were left on. Hmm.

Figured there might be a parasitic draw, I'll just jump start it and be on our way. Nope, my jumper wouldn't crank it over. Got out my other jumper and had the same results. Hmm.

Grabbed a set of jumper cables thinking that both of my jumper boxes were either too small (not likely) to crank or they weren't charging appropriately (most likely). Jumping from my 87 Chevy 3/4 ton didn't prove to be any different. Could hear the idle drop on the truck as I tried to crank over the Honda, so I know that amps/volts were transferring. Honda battery (about 2 weeks old now) measured 12.15V on my DVOM prior to attaching the cables and 14.35V after, so again, all should be good. Nope.

I work 10hr day shifts, my wife works 12hr night shifts. We can't share a car and we are both subject to call hours at the hospital. I just bought a new house that has 5 heated garages plus a 40x60 shop, but I haven't had time to move in yet and my daughter's car (our other family wagon) just crapped out this morning on her way to school................Hmm. What the hell am I going to do now? Wife took me to get my classic out of storage (66 Mustang Conv). So, I'm in it and she's in my old truck. Why is it that the old stuff is reliable and the newer stuff has nothing but problems? I'm always having to fix the new crap!!!! Ok, rant over. The Honda is at the shop awaiting the magical hands of another mechanic. We'll see what the bill looks like later. Wish me luck.