$1500 Insight pics
 

Well here it is, all 369,000 kms worth of Insight. The 1.0L seems decent, but the battery pack remains a mystery. Driving it around the yard where it's stored seems ok, but I could not get the feature where the 1.0L shuts off at a stop with the clutch in to work. The charging lights never came on either while driving, though I never got over 30 km/h. I know the display itself works as the pre-start cluster check lights everything up just fine. I wish there was a local Insight guru that I could bribe with beer and/or Burger King to come have a look at it and let me know where I stand. Failing that, I guess I will just find out the hard way. Wish me luck!

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[IMG]http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...t/DSCF1259.jpg[/IMG]

looks to be in excellent condition, bodywise at least.
I would really suggest you convert it to all-electric, don't bother trying to get the engine working etc. just ditch it all, and put a DC electric motor in it.

gorgeous whip mate!:thumbup:

Autostop doesn't work when the engine is cold. Coolant temp needs to be (my experience) above 140 in summer, higher in winter. There's some fairly complex logic in there: you also have to get above a minimum speed, have shifted at least into second, the climate control needs to be off...

What's the battery charge indicator show, full, empty, or part? It won't usually do charging at low speeds...

Best of luck on the endeavor ! I wish I had an Insight (pun intended)..

The battery shows about 2 lines under full for charge. I let it run for 15 mins or so as I was driving it around, but I don't know if that got it hot enough or not. I guess I won't really be able to test it out until I can get it out on the road for a good run. If the IMA battery is toast I won't get stuck will I? As in I should be able to drive around on just the 1.0L right?

Thanks for all the thumbs up, I am a bit out of my league with this car but I do really want to see what I can do with it.

Correct, assuming everything is in order with your 12V battery. You can drive an Insight for a long time with a dead 12V and not know it if the IMA system is in order. Also check the condition of the tranny-to-frame ground straps: they like to corrode.

If you're going to be working on the car, you should pick up a copy of the factory service manual.

Your car appears to have 9 visible "H" logos. :rolleyes:

It looks like a great car, and I wouldn't hesitate to pay $1500 for another Insight. What plans do you have for this car, in terms of modifications?

Then you probably won't see charging except when decelerating from a good speed - 30 mph or so. There's some demand logic in the system, so it's more likely to charge as the battery gets lower.

My guess is not. Even with a partial radiator block, on a day near freezing it takes 5 miles or so of driving at 50 mph to get up into the 140 degree range. A note on the (pretty much worthless) temperature gauge: it'll show 2 bars when cold, at about 145 will suddenly jump to 5-6 bars, and won't change again unless you get into mountain climbing on a hot day and forgot to take the radiator block out. I recommend getting a ScanGauge.

Yes, as long as the 12-volt battery is good. Even with the IMA system totally inoperative, you should be able to drive as long as the 12-volt provides sufficient current to run the electronics & spark. And even if the battery pack is toast as far as providing assist, it should still be able to run the DC-DC converter to act as an alternator.

Another good reason to have a ScanGauge: if the system voltage is in the 13+ range, the IMA is charging the system. As I mentioned earlier, you can see the occasional fault where the DC-DC shuts off for some reason (it's like it trips a circuit breaker or something), but they're easily reset by switching the ignition off for a second or two.

So jealous. I've never even seen one for less than $4k. Good luck with that!

JMac

My jealousy knows no bounds! Congrats and treat her well!

Ok, thanks for the IMA info. When nothing was showing any charging going on I was starting to worry. I am still going to assume that the IMA will need to be rebalanced/replaced and get some money set aside for that - that way if it does not need to be done it's like a bonus.

As far as modifications go, once I get everything working as it should and fix a few small issues (worn side bolsters on the seats, the power window switch on the dash is cracked and doesn't work for the passenger side etc), I am just going to start with a Scangauge and learn how to drive it. Is there any point to lowering these cars, or are they pretty much where they should be in that department?

[QUOTE=War_Wagon;231167]...the power window switch on the dash is cracked and doesn't work for the passenger side etc...

There's another switch (confusingly labeled "Main", which for a long time I thought must be an emergency electrical shutoff) that controls this. Try it both positions before tearing things apart...

I think it's already about as low as you want it, unless you do all your driving on smooth pavement and never see snow. (That's one of the few real drawbacks of the Insight: more than about 5" of snow, and it starts trying to play snowplow, but just doesn't have the power.)

Great find! Excellent price, I'm looking at twice the price to buy a car less functional and needing two body pieces replaced(although easy bolt-on pieces but still extra expense) and I'm thinking about passing on it unless I can haggle it down quite a bit, I sent the guy an email with questions and told him to call, he sent an email back vaguely answering my questions and not giving me a phone number, I'm not going cross-country for a car if someone won't talk to me. You got very lucky with that price, awesome!

Do you have a ScanGauge or a code reader? I had a code that was set but it didn't turn on the check engine light and came back immediately after clearing it, car drove fine but I also lost the autostop.

You can test to see if the car would restart itself after a normal auto-stop but the car is just inhibiting itself for going into it. If you stop at a stop sign, give the clutch a reverse stab in 2nd gear to stall it and push the clutch back in right away, as soon as the oil and battery lights turn on because the car realized it stalled, put it in 1st gear. Does the engine restart? Also the car doesn't auto-stop if you have the climate control temperature too far out of range or not in econ mode. Do this, drive until the car is showing 6 bars on the temp gauge, hit the off button on the climate control, and when you are slowing down put it in neutral before you drop below 20mph, normally it will auto-stop. Climate control likes to disable auto-stop, especially if its set to 60 or 90, if its below 45 degrees out and the climate control isn't completely off, or if the econ mode isn't selected.

Hope this helps.

nimblemotors, "looks to be in excellent condition, bodywise at least.
I would really suggest you convert it to all-electric, don't bother trying to get the engine working etc. just ditch it all, and put a DC electric motor in it."

The OP just bought a donor Insight in my price range. The thing is, the car he bought, as far as I can tell its probably working just fine, just with a few extra H's to it than a normal one. I just need to find one in the states for this much, or even a little more.

Thanks MN, I will try out your suggestions to see if the auto stop works. I do not have a Scangauge yet, but I will get one as soon as I free up some funds by selling off some of the fleet!

I don't get what you folks mean about the extra H's?

"I don't get what you folks mean about the extra H's?"

For example: Right behind your drivers side tire and in front of the door right above the crease. Look for an H. Compare the picture of your Insight to another Insight and you'll understand.

I'm trying to find the 9th one that RobertSmalls mentioned. I'm only seeing 8. I'd find 9, but you are missing one under the hood that's on the plastic engine cover that's designed to make the engine look larger than a rabbit to convince people you show the car to that it has a cylinder displacement larger than a standard sized bottle of oil. :)

I hope the fusebox diagram is in the owners manual or if you don't have a manual, you might want to print out the diagram of fuses. There should be a sticker on top of the bigger fusebox that is right between the drivers side strut and the coolant reservoir.

Your car apparently has a few more Honda "H"-logos stuck on compared to a stock car.

Could #9 be the licence plate holder ?

Great find though.
They are extremely rare in Europe.
Autoscout24.eu lists only 1 for Europe, and the list price is a whopping 10900 Euro / 15800 USD !

http://www.autoscout24.eu/Details.aspx?id=v4wsjijzrwgd

The previous one I found on there was in Russia, and it wasn't cheap either.

Oh, I get the "H" thing now. The ones on the fenders have body colour paint in the back of the logo so I thought they were factory. There's 4 on the wheels, 2 on the fenders, an H decal on the hood, and one on the back. That's 8, so now I want to know where #9 is too!

Unless he is referring to the H on the sticker on the rad support.

PS Euro, for $15800 you can have mine, I'll deliver it in person ha ha

I suppose the steering wheel logo would be number 9 but I thought he was going by the pictures, which you didn't have any showing the steering wheel so I didn't count it.

War_Wagon -

I must say she's a beauty. If you don't *need* the battery to run the car, I would just run it as-is. If the MPG is still good with a bad battery, then take your time to save your pennies and research the best price for a new battery.

CarloSW2

Thanks CarloSW2, I was thinking the same thing. Once I sell off some other cars I should be able to get the battery sorted if it does need one. The only thing I am worried about is the fact that I have to make a trip through the mountains every few months, and I don't know if an Insight just running on the 1.0L would be able to hack a climb like that. I also want to go through the Rockies on a road trip this summer and I must admit the whole 11 year old hybrid thing has me a bit worried about getting stuck in bear country!

That engine cover is silly. The three cylinder-suggesting lumps don't even line up with the cylinders, with one of them being over by the IMA motor.

Yes, the 9th H is on the steering wheel, and I didn't count any H's that aren't legible from a few paces away.

Yes, it will - because even with a perfect battery, you'd run out of charge in about 2000 ft of climbing. The trick is to keep engine RPMs & load in a range where assist doesn't come on, otherwise with the standard IMA, once the battery is low it will tick on a bit of charging even when you want every bit of power for climbing. MIMA is a great help here.

I spent a couple of years driving across the Sierra via Calif 88 through Carson Pass (sea level to 8000+, and back to 4500 ft), and drive this road Nevada State Route 431 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a couple times a week on average, as well as other mountain roads around here.

PS: On an open highway, you'll probably want to run in 3rd while you're climbing. For best mpg, though, you want to keep the RPMs below about 3000, where the VTEC shift point is.

I wouldn't worry too much about the Insight being able to get through the mountains. Even without the IMA, you can always downshift to fourth or third if need be. You might have a little extra noise, but the car is so light, it really shouldn't need more power.

Now, I'm not talking from experience here, but I seem to recall reading a thread somewhere of a guy driving with a completely non-functional battery pack and still getting good mileage out of the car. I don't recall any complaints about the performance either.

Even if your batteries are indeed toasted, I'm still jealous. :)
JMac

Edit: Didn't see Jamesqf's post. Definitely explains it better than I.

JMac -

Me too! What a great bargain.

CarloSW2

Ok, thanks for the confidence boost on the mountain travel, though even if I do get stuck I am pretty sure I can run faster scared than a bear could run hungry.

So here's an odd question - I have a set of VX rims, would there be any advantage to using those on the Insight, or are the factory Insight rims the best choice?

Pretty sure factory rims are best. They're very light, lighter than anything but a very few specialty aftermarket rims. Same with tires, the OEM are about the best you can find. Honda did put a lot of work into lightening the Insight, reducing friction, etc.

I agree with Jamesqf. I've done a good bit of research on Insight wheels (going to be buying some in the coming weeks), and they're about as good as it gets. It is worth noting that the VX rims are 13" as opposed to the stock 14", and are less aerodynamic. Insight wheels give you the better gearing ratio at 14", and are nearly as good for aero as the mooncaps. Lastly, you wouldn't have much choice in 13" tires.

But hey, if you wanna sell those Insight rims, you've got a buyer right here. :thumbup: Too bad I just tried to talk you out of the VX rims... Forget everything I just said! Go with the VX rims and sell the stock ones! :D

Hope this helps,
JMac

I really dont get how people find deals like this, don't shells usually go for more than that?

Yeah, it's pretty amazing. When you have a skilled negotiator, and someone who doesn't know that he has one of the most fuel-efficient (mass-produced) vehicles ever, you end up with a great deal. At least, I'm guessing that's what happened. War Wagon?

JMac

Mwah ha ha I can't give away my secrets! Just kidding, I used to work at the biggest wholesale (dealer only) car auction in western Canada for 10 years. I don't anymore, but I still go there every week. I saw the Insight buried in amongst the SUVs and F350s, and thought to myself "I bet no one here will even know what that car is." And I was right. There were 600 car dealers at the auction that day, and there was only one other person that looked at it and bid on it when it went across the auction block, if it hadn't been for him I probably would have got it for $1000.

I'm not usually in the right place at the right time, but when it does happen it usually works out pretty well!

War_Wagon -

Man oh man oh man, what a deal! I have always wanted to do the car auction thing, but I think you need a "nose" for a good deal. I think I would get snookered. My only "grace" is that I think I would go for the boring-car that (hopefully) no one wants.

CarloSW2

CarloSW2, auctions definitely aren't for everyone. But if you look at the right things you can score a good deal. Working at one for 10 years helped me with knowing what the "right things" are. My quick starter advice , for what it's worth, would be this:

1. Never ever buy a car at your first auction. There is a lot going on, so go to a few and just watch how everything works, and learn what your buy fees & other fees will be. Some places have monster fees, that $2000 car was a great deal until you see the 15% buyers fee on it.

2. See if arbitration is available on the vehicle you are interested in. Since you usually can't test drive a car at an auction, some auctions offer an arbitration period on certain cars, meaning if you take the car out and the transmission falls out in the parking lot, you might not necessarily be stuck with it. But find that out first, and see what their policy entails (ie what is covered, what is the minimum amount the repair must be before they will get the seller involved in covering it etc)

3. Look for units at the auction that have come from a finance company or a bank as a repo. Those companies usually have no choice but to auction their cars off, so they are more likely to be decent than ones brought to the auction by car dealers (hey if it was good, the dealer would sell it on their lot or wholesale it to a broker, if it's at the auction it's generally kinda fishy).

Just my $.02, but if nothing else it can be a fun way to spend a few hours.