ECM Enabler. Running a G1 Insight with no IMA.
 

Worth a look for those without $2000 to drop on a new IMA battery.

Making the car driveable with the IMA inoperative. - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8wCj7Y2F4g

Comes in at a much more reasonable $49 for the hex code + $10 in parts. ;)

I really want one of those, Can you explain exactly what it does?

I think this is a safe forum, so to heck with the legal people at IC. If my car only gets 63mpg with the battery removed instead of 65mpg, who cares? It'll still be cleaner than 99% of cars on the road.

I had my battery out for a week once. I had a connector made up so my 12 volt would charge. But of course it had all those lights on (Which in some states need to be off to pass inspection.) I think you know what question i'm trying to ask?

Will this enable lean burn in a MT car with the IMA battery physically removed?

Thanks For posting here Peter.
How about the "readiness monitors" do they set?

I expect LB will operate fine and the readiness codes will be ok as the car thinks the ima is present but is just not able to give any assist/regen.

The cel/ima lights are all off, the whole point of the device is to enable the car to run normally without the IMA. Not everyone can afford 2k for a battery.

Personally I don't use it as I like having the ima working.

Someone needs to try it in earnest/long term. So over to you. ;)

I may not understand, but this only requires wire splicing? Or do we have to build the board and program it ? that is beyond my skill set.

This.

Peter, if you would like to build one and send it to me, I would happily test it in my CVT insight for a few weeks and see how it does. I do have a few questions however.

What about auto-stop? Will that cause problems with the car wanting to turn off?
What about 4krpm+? Does it just always have the DC-DC converter running?
Can I completely remove the IMA battery from the car, for the reduced weight savings?

As long as i can get the car to pass inspection it would be great. My battery is original and over 14 years old. The CVT has done a remarkable of keeping it functional over these years without issue. But as more years pass i know it will fail completely, and my long term goal for this car is to keep it running as a gas only car.

For those interested, my experience with driving my CVT with the IMA physically removed: The idle is a little rough, you don't really notice until its gone that the IMA does smooth it out. The idle is perfectly fine and normal to what a 3 cylinder car does though. The car is lighter but since it accelerates slower it "feels" as those it's heavier. It starts up and runs on the 12 volt, and auto stop is permanently disabled. It charges the battery perfectly fine, when you go above 3K something rpm the Brake lights go on but go back off once you lower it. The CVT does a fantastic job of keeping it under 3K rpm anyways. What you really notice is that the power band is fine except when you start from a stop. The IMA helps a tremendous amount from a standstill (0-15mph), without it the car stays in a lower gear and you really miss the IMA.

The overall experience is good and highway performance is unchanged and possibly better. IT does much better up extended mountain climbs on the freeway. Vtech will kick in, where as with the IMA the battery would discharge halfway up and force regen up the other half making the car feel like a pig.

At this point i wasn't trying to hard to get good mpg. With IMA i averaged 65-66mpg, without IMA i averaged 62-63mpg. I attribute it to idling at red lights and having to put in more throttle from a standstill. Overall the car performs exceptionally well without the IMA, much better than a Geo Metro i would think. Just like driving a normal gas car.

Autostop is not a problem as one of the signals I modify tells the car it is not available so it never tries to do it.

The dc-dc is always on but does stop above 4K rpm due to excess voltage. That's always been an issue with a dead/disabled ima batteries. Note i did propose a partial solution to that on IC but have not had time to build anything to test it yet.

Preventing dc-dc shutdown above 4000rpm or 200v - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Yes you can remove everything, ima battery, mcm, bcm.

You need the connector for the 12V side if you are removing the IMA battery/switchboard.

I'm happy to knock up a couple of circuits if people want them, but the price built is $199 + postage $15 + paypal 5%. It would then just need splicing into the wires in the back.

Looks pretty easy to build, the programming part is what i don't understand. What's required to upload the hex code to it?

It's also possible to drive the SOC gauge on the dash with 19 bars soc or whatever you want with the addition of an RS485 line driver chip.

You could also drive the IMA light to mimic the start up sequence for that as well.

If you wanted to do both of those then we need a slightly bigger pic.

This sounds excellent! I'm gonna reset my trip and drive this rest of this tank without using any assist and see what kind of mileage I get.

I just grid charged my battery this weekend, and immediately lost a bar after using some assist, got it back, and lost it again after using it. Grid charging didn't seem to help my battery at all, this time.

How far did you end up driving it with it installed? I saw in your YouTube video that you had driven it around 20 miles, at that point. I assume the car will drive pretty much just like it would if the clutch interrupt switch is depressed? Also, can you still use air conditioning without the IMA? My assist pretty much kicks in immediately when I turn it on.

I like this idea, it'd almost be like nothing changed for me, except having less power.

Yes you can use the air con.

I only drove it around 20 miles as I hate the car without the IMA so only fitted it for testing purposes.

I don't intend to do any work on the schematic/code for driving the IMA light and soc gauge unless some people actually buy and use it. ;)

The schematic I have published works fine as is.

This is something I am very interested in and would like to thank you for you contributions to our community!

I don't think it's necessary as no one in inspections knows or cares if the IMA should blip on startup or how many bars soc you have. Best to leave it as is so potential future buyers will know whats up.

Does it come with instructions on how to build and install?

Are you certain you can lean burn with this while the battery is removed? I heard the car needs to have the IMA battery to be able to leanburn. If so i want to buy one.

The instructions (schematic) are in the thread on IC.

ASFAIK it lean burned fine when testing.
If it doesn't then if you send it back you can have your money back.

You might be happier installing a MIMA which would allow you to cut out the IMA for those long climbs, and then drop it back into the mix when you're done with the mountain.

+1 on pig. I have a 1.5 mi. climb on my way home and an IMA light showing, the batt capacity is down to maybe 40% of new. Regen during climbs bites hard. And no, I don't have a MIMA either.

Well to put my money where my mouth is I will send the hex code free to the first person who actually builds and tries one and reports back on here ;)
Post a picture of it built/installed and ready to go and I'll send you the code FOC!
The free code will be personalised to only run on your chip.

No takers on the free code offer. Oh well :(

Sorry, I really do wish I had the knowledge to take you up on the free code by its self.

I've been working on getting a parts list and learning how to read the diagram.

Only 5 parts are needed if you don't want to bother with a pic socket or connectors.

Here is a digikey parts list.

1x Pic 12F1822 Microchip PIC12F1822-I/P-ND
1x 5V Voltage regulator LM78L05ACZFS-ND
1x 100uf Capacitor P10404TB-ND
2x 0.1uf Ceramic Capacitor 399-4454-1-ND

You will need a pic programmer to load the hex code into the device.
This is the one I use.

iCP01 - USB Microchip PIC Programmer (with ICSP & PICkit 2)

Or I will send you a programmed pic and all the parts for $99 inc postage. ;)

Do you mind giving a new part number for this? That one is only sold in quantities of 2,000.

I ordered the programmer already. Do you have part numbers for the pic socket or connectors? And just a picture of the front and back of the device would be extremely helpful so i can reproduce it.

It's now essential that i get this device built. I picked up an Insight with an Ima bypass installed. It seems bypassing an ima throws an Afr code, and it didn't leanburn at all on the drive home.

Had the ima light off not been a requirement to pass inspection, i don't think the owner would have sold it. It's essential we get this device up and running to save these cars, it is now year 15 to have an original battery. It could be a life saver for these owners to not have to spend more than their car is worth to keep them running.

This should work:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...5123-ND/244982

I don't have pictures of the device as I just built it on some breadboard.

Layout is not that critical but put one of the 0.1uf capacitors across the power input pins of the PIC as close as possible.

Hope to hear some progress soon.

I do not have part numbers for the socket just used what I had in stock.
I spliced wires into the lines required in the back so did not use connectors.

Because i only know how to build circuits if i have a copy to look at: Would the electronically inclined members help me turn the top portion of this image into the bottom portion?

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...20combined.png

I have enough parts to make 3 attempts at making a working circuit. And i have the battery opened up ready to splice wires.

Important edit: Connect 5V to the PIC, not 12V.

I'll take a shot at this. Somebody who's more current on electronics can correct me.

The small ceramic capacitors don't have polarity, so don't worry about which end is which.
http://s3.postimg.org/lcf3zknyr/wiring.png

Did you make a mistake in the diagram, or is that just a clarification?

What am i to understand by j1 and j2?

Well, I originally made a mistake but it's corrected now. J stands for jumper, I believe. It's what you're wiring into. Probably looks something like this:
https://cdn.harwin.com/images/M80-836.jpg

I just built the circuit but there appears to be a problem. Pin 6 in J-1 (motstb out) isn't connected to anything.

I plugged in the programmer to see if it would recognize the pic, it didn't. Of course the circuit wasn't connected to the car yet.

I'm tempted to say, connect it to Pin 4 of J2 (also MOTSTB). But I'm not sure. Can we have a picture?

Ecm enabler is installed and ready to be programmed. Pic programmer recognizes the pic. Just have to find suitable 12volt power and ground lines from the MCM harness, and download Peters code into it.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/GEDC0692.jpg

Quick note: All 3 MOTSTB should be connected together in the diagram in the previous posts on page 3.

If successful, this would delete both BCM and MCM computers, and IMA battery. My one worry for the time being, is if the 12volt battery will charge properly. From my understanding the MCM is integral to running the MDM which feeds power into the DC-DC which charges the 12volt. All current IMA bypasses have so far left the MCM connected.

The Eagle has landed!!! Ecm enabler is up and running, no IMA or CEL codes on the dash. Ima battery, mcm, bcm have successfully been deleted. This is now a 100% internal combustion engine Honda Insight, "batteries-not-included."

There are 3 giveaways that the Ecm Enabler is present. 1, CEL turns off after 1 second when dash is lit to secondary key position. It should stay lit for about 15 seconds and turn off to show emmissions system is ready, or if the 12 volt was just disconnected it should blink a couple times to indicate it is not ready. 2, When you short the obdII with a paper clip to read blink codes, the CEL stays lit, but does not blink to indicate any codes. 3, Battery gauge is empty, will not assist or regen.

This is a momentous occasion! I haven't driven it yet, tomorrow i'll register her and see if she passes Inspection! Would anybody like to temporarily loan me an OBDIIC&C Gauge to test for leanburn among other things and document how the Ecm Enabler affects the car? I live in Pittsfield MA, USA. I'd be willing to put down a refundable deposit for it's return.

Notes: Peter sent me two versions of the code, the correct version appears to be "ECMFooler12F1822_080215.HEX" at 2.26kb vs "100215" at 2.44kb. Version "100215" turned off the IMA light but gave me CEL 69 and 36; basically saying MCM could not be communicated with (unplugged).
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/GEDC0696.jpghttp://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/GEDC0702.jpg

Congrats i'm excited to hear if it passes.

Glad you have it in and working, looking forward to the results.

The real deal will be if you pass inspection. If you do, this will be a great advance in the right direction. If not, we'll then that's going to suck.

Bad news first: There's a problem. After about 11 miles of driving the CEL comes on with blink code 69. CEL stays on, IMA light stays off. At that point the engine stops behaving smoothly. It's like it loses a little power or there's hesitation between throttle application. Uncertain, but the brake light on the dash could be related. It came on momentarily when i lugged the engine (stalled, or to high a gear), or i believe when i revved about 3k-rpm out of gear. Currently brake light is on, will not turn off. Brake light does not flash a blink code. Momentarily goes off while obdII is shorted to give blink codes. Battery dash light has never come on so far.

I was driving it well during the 3rd attempt at 11 or so miles. It came on at a nice steady cruising speed.

I don't know the sub code, but CEL blink code 69 refers to either (P1600, P1601, P1644 and P1645). All related to the MCM which the Ecm Enabler replaces in the car.

P1600: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6E...9td1lDYUU/view
P1644: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6E...1UV05JTDg/view
P1645: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6E...l6dW13RVE/view

Good news: Durring the time the ECM Enabler functions, LEANBURN WORKS!!!

From an even throttle position at steady speed on constant grade, the mpg gauge will suddenly move up 25-30mpg. Like wise on occasion it'll suddenly dive to around 50-65mpg from 90-100mpg. Steady state mpg can be much higher than is possible for the speed and throttle position; likewise it can have more engine power than should be possible at a given mpg reading. In addition i can feel the car regularly go in and out of leanburn, it feels like mass gets added or dumped from the engine load. From my own experience driving a non-lb CVT and a MT with lb disabled from ima and cel lights: 100% it Leanburns!:):turtle: