Wonderboy's 2001 Honda Insight (5 spd)

[jamesqf]

I've gone to the $20 fillup - a bit over half a tank these days. The cheap station I pass has a machine that takes bills, is about $0.05 less per gallon for cash, and the $20 lasts 3 weeks or more.

[MetroMPG]

There's merit in not filling up every time: Getting a bit OT, but a detailed and consistent hypermiler (PaleMelanesian) has demonstrated reduced fuel consumption from weight savings as he empties his tank (Civic).

[Wonderboy]

The battery has been acting up lately. I've used the homebrew charger based on that nerdy Insight expert guy's plans to no avail this time. Might have to take the pack apart and charge individual sticks to get CEL to turn off. I don't know how lenient inspections are going to be about the CEL on a 2001 vintage vehicle. I dislike this about the "modern" world. An exaggeration: "Oh, your dome light is broken? Can't pass inspection without a $300 lamp."

[minispeed]

Originally Posted by Wonderboy

The battery has been acting up lately. I've used the homebrew charger based on that nerdy Insight expert guy's plans to no avail this time. Might have to take the pack apart and charge individual sticks to get CEL to turn off. I don't know how lenient inspections are going to be about the CEL on a 2001 vintage vehicle. I dislike this about the "modern" world. An exaggeration: "Oh, your dome light is broken? Can't pass inspection without a $300 lamp."

Take the dash out and remove the CEL bulb! They may not bother to read codes if the light is off.

[Wonderboy]

Hey there's an idea! I think I've solved the problem (at least for now). When the 12v battery is disconnected, it forces a recalibration of the BCM (which intentionally shuts off the DC-DC converter when the HV pack gets to a low enough voltage). This solves both the DTC and power problem. Since my last post, I've been nearly stranded due to this shutoff happening and running entirely on the 12v battery. After reading a bunch of stuff over at insightcentral, I understood a bit more about this recalibration. My mistake the second time around was that I began using the car normally again, thinking the battery was depleting due to negligent use (I have a clutch spoof switch that I have engaged all the time so as not to use HV battery regen or assist). I think the lesson here is to keep feeding (regen and/or slow charge) the HV battery every once in a while, and make serious efforts NOT to use assist, risking weakening the battery pack even more. Also, I think I really ought to get the pack reconditioned, even if I don't plan on using it a lot. I think keeping the pack as topped off as possible is the healthiest option right now for keeping the CEL off and best maintaining the already poor battery.

[HyperMileQC]

This is exactly what I am trying to do with my battery since I reconditioned it. I charge it every week-end and try not use assist as much as possible (I plan on installing a clutch switch soon) and the SOC goes from 19/20 to 3/20 pretty slowly. I regen when I hit a light, so this helps keep the SOC too.

For the IMA reset I bought a SOC reset device from Mike Dabrowski.
Also usefull for reading the sub-codes and testing your IMA fan.

[minispeed]

Originally Posted by Wonderboy

Hey there's an idea! I think I've solved the problem (at least for now). When the 12v battery is disconnected, it forces a recalibration of the BCM (which intentionally shuts off the DC-DC converter when the HV pack gets to a low enough voltage). This solves both the DTC and power problem. Since my last post, I've been nearly stranded due to this shutoff happening and running entirely on the 12v battery. After reading a bunch of stuff over at insightcentral, I understood a bit more about this recalibration. My mistake the second time around was that I began using the car normally again, thinking the battery was depleting due to negligent use (I have a clutch spoof switch that I have engaged all the time so as not to use HV battery regen or assist). I think the lesson here is to keep feeding (regen and/or slow charge) the HV battery every once in a while, and make serious efforts NOT to use assist, risking weakening the battery pack even more. Also, I think I really ought to get the pack reconditioned, even if I don't plan on using it a lot. I think keeping the pack as topped off as possible is the healthiest option right now for keeping the CEL off and best maintaining the already poor battery.

Sounds like you need this to limit and or increase charge/assist.

[sheepdog 44]

Just so everyone knows this an option if the situation suits them.

I've driven the car with the traction battery physically removed for a week with much success. 12 volt charged by itself with some hardware mods. But if i'm correct, IT WILL NOT LEAN BURN without the traction battery for some reason. If i didn't need to pass inspection once a year i would leave it out. An option would be to "borrow" a friends healthy pack once a year for inspection. Of course doing this will not help your traction battery's health at all.

I have a feeling no one has spoofed a fake HV battery circuit because that would pretty much kill the market for gridchargers and aftermarket hybrid batteries.

[Wonderboy]

Still nothing new and doing okay since the recal. I'll keep everyone updated on the battery health saga though. I'd prefer to not have to run with the pack at all either, but I also really appreciate lean burn and don't want it to go away if it's true that it isn't allowed absent the pack.

HyperMileQC - I'd love to take a gander at that SOC gizmo next time I come through MTL if you don't mind.

minispeed - good lookin' out, that gizmo looks pretty cool too. I'll have to look at it later. Thank you.

[HyperMileQC]

Originally Posted by Wonderboy

I'd love to take a gander at that SOC gizmo next time I come through MTL if you don't mind.

Anytime!

Edit : Here is the link for the SOC device on Mike's website :
http://99mpg.com/ProjectCars/socresetdevice/