2005 Civic Hybrid IMA trouble

[midfield99]

Well, I have an update on the battery situation. Honda ended up giving me an amount of goodwill assistance I was happy with, so I just had the dealer fix the car.

I did learn one interesting thing though. I had heard rumors that Honda sometimes replaces battery packs with remanufactured battery packs. I asked Honda if the price was for a used pack, and they mentioned that they only reuse the case, all the cells are new. So it looks like Honda's batteries are as new as any other non-OEM battery packs.

[Cobb]

Thats interesting. I hear the guys who are in the hybrid battery business have to "rotate" stock so to speak and charge the packs every so often to keep them fresh. See when you let the battery type sit that Honda uses the electrolyte settles to one side of the battery and effectively reduces its capacity. Once that happens the best way to redistribute it is to slowly charge it at 350 ma or do a maintenance charge. This seems to be the case with all cylinder cells. The prius and others uses a soft plastic shell that needs to be constrained under pressure when in use and does not have the same problem.

Glad they are doing that for you. I sometimes think about tossing in the towel on hybrids when I get another car, however getting 300 miles on half a tank that holds ten gallons empty is hard to pass up.

[elhigh]

I don't know what you call a long trip, but my daily commute is about 45 miles and the IMA doesn't affect the long distance driving at all. Even with the IMA light showing however, I wouldn't be too concerned. With the IMA completely dead, you would wind up with the 12v system starting the car. It sounds COMPLETELY different and quite surprising to hear a conventional starter turn your engine over, after you've gotten used to the near-silent activation via the IMA system.

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by elhigh

With the IMA completely dead, you would wind up with the 12v system starting the car. It sounds COMPLETELY different and quite surprising to hear a conventional starter turn your engine over, after you've gotten used to the near-silent activation via the IMA system.

It always surprises me when I turn the key and hear a conventional starter motor run. This also happens in very cold weather, the computer uses the 12V starter to protect the IMA battery.

My 2003 HCH can be driven without the hybrid battery as long as a few tweaks are made. The mother board from the battery back needs to remain in the car and hooked up, a wire from a harness has to be pulled to keep the car charging the 12V battery, and engine RPMs have to stay above ~1,500 rpm to maintain a charge to the 12V battery.