Bought a 2000 Honda Insight ! ! !

[MetroMPG]

FYI: the "herky-jerky" problem is distinct from the "hiccup", in my experience.

I had the herky-jerky EGR issue when I got my car. Symptoms were: after entering lean burn, the engine would sometimes buck/jerk -- sometimes mild, sometimes annoyingly severely -- when changing throttle position (ie. wanting more power). It went away after cleaning the EGR system (see my UFO thread)

The hiccup/stumble happens only when entering/exiting lean burn. It seemed to diminish after cleaning my EGR system. "Hiccup" may even be too strong a word for it. Sometimes I can't feel it.

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As for your "self-draining" pack... that's a new one to me too.

[Tango Charlie]

Okay, first of all- a HUGE "thank you" to you guys. Seriously. I would be so lost with this car if it weren't for you guys helping me out. I've been meaning to get over to insightcentral.com but haven't found the need for it...yet. Maybe later.

Right. You've convinced me that I need to clean the EGR valve. Check.

Now about this pack recharging thing. I don't think it's draining itself overnight or anything like that. I'm starting to learn to pay more attention to the battery indicator, and James, I think you nailed me when you said "are you using enough assist while driving to drain the pack?...(it's) just a matter of learning how to drive for it." Busted. I haven't exactly been easy on her, especially when running errands on my lunch breaks. I noticed today that the pack was pretty low (4-5 bars) when I got back from lunch. I definitely need to rein in my right foot. (but I just bought the car, gimme a break! )

But Then...

It didn't recharge on the way home. Well, it started to. It tried several times, judging from the Charge/Assist Indicator. It got up to 7 or 8 bars at one point. But I pulled into my driveway with only three. Three! Yikes. Now, my commute is (roughly guessing) about 70/30 highway/in-town. But even the in-town part is a nice steady 45 mph with timed lights. Which is why I go that way. It should have (and has the other two times) provided plenty of opportunity to recharge the pack.

But Then...

A couple hours later the wife and I went out for a date in the new date-mobile (the Insight ). And it started charging. And charging. And charging. A short jaunt across town, and the pack was up to roughly 25%. On the way home, same thing; it just kept charging. Up to 50%.
What gives? Do I have some intermittent problem?

[jamesqf]

Humm... Without seeing what's actually happening when you drive, I can't even hazard a guess. I've never seen anything like what you report. The only times I've seen the charge level drop without obvious use of assist is in what's called a "recal". I've only seen it when the pack has been unbalanced: it will use normal assist/charge from full down to some level, maybe half or a quarter, then drop quickly to zero (and maybe, but not always, light up the IMA light).

You should see pretty aggressive charging (and less eager assist) when the level's near zero. The system tries to keep the charge up, so the lower it goes, the more it wants to kick in the charging.

[Tango Charlie]

I'm probably not explaining it right. It appears to me that the pack IS being depleted from Assist, like during my lunch break outing yesterday, and then NOT recharging during the next drive cycle, i.e.; on my way home.
And then on the next drive cycle it woke up and started charging again.

On the way into work this morning it charged up just fine. Full pack, the highest level I've seen yet.

Intermittent problems. I hate 'em.

[MetroMPG]

Something you should consider as a first mod to the vehicle:

Add the clutch-switch mod to disable assist. A.K.A. the "Calpod" mod (if I'm not mistaken - search insightcentral). To get the most out of this car, you will want to be able to choose when to use battery/electric assist and when to use the gas engine alone.

In my (admittedly limited) amount of driving with the hybrid system fully enabled, I find the car far too eager to assist under even moderate acceleration. The clutch switch for me will be mod #2, following the grid charger. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm sure I will do most of my accelerating with assist turned off. Better for a tired, old pack too.

[MetroMPG]

When it wakes up and starts charging while cruising, are you seeing bars on the CHRG meter, or is it "background" (no bars) charging?

[Tango Charlie]

I saw about four bars on the charge meter while in cruise.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

Intermittent problems. I hate 'em.

I think this is a "problem" that will be fixed by gradual adjustment of the nut holding the steering wheel :-)

The clutch switch is a good idea. (I have a MIMA system on mine, but I don't know if they're still available.) Also just learning: when to get most regen, like decelerating into lights, or down hills, and when to down/up shift - you'll use a lot more assist trying to accelerate in 5th, rather than dropping to 3rd.

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I think this is a "problem" that will be fixed by gradual adjustment of the nut holding the steering wheel :-)

Ha ha! You may very well be right. I certainly hope so anyway. It just seems like it should recharge fully when I'm cruising home for 45 minutes with minimal stop and go. I dunno.

I'll keep the assist disable clutch switch in mind. But I want to get it working properly in stock form first. The EGR cleaning is rapidly rising to first priority on my mental checklist.

[MetroMPG]

So your engine is bucking / herky-jerky while in lean burn?