Got a new UFO*: 2000 Honda Insight 5-speed (ailing IMA hybrid battery pack)

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, I'm digging the colour too.

Quanto... well, I don't want to say in case I decide to sell it at some point, and advertise it on EM . A reasonable price. Maybe not quite the deal War Wagon got on his Insight!

[orange4boy]

Congrats!

Green with eco-envy.

[groar]

What a lucky man

I'm so jealous No insight1 has been sold in France, so I'm looking at Germany to try to find some but the only couple I found was sold at 25k€ (35k$US), ie the price of a new PriusIII with solar panel roof option...

Have fun,

Denis.

[MetroMPG]

Wow, Denis. That's crazy.

I'd be sorely tempted to look for a VW 3L or Audi A2 instead - I assume those are more available in France.

[groar]

Someone on insightcentral gave me a link to a German site where I found 10k€ insight 1. Too much for me and at that price I would prefer a Prius 2 as the local dealers have experience with it.

About the 1.2TDI by VW & Audi, I searched them during a couple months but it seams they are rare in France. I'm talking about CO2 a lot, but more and more I want a really clean car about NOx and particles, which any diesel isn't able to reach, even the 50k€ "clean" diesel sold by Audi, as it's only ULEV while Insight and Prius have always been SULEV.

Anyway, I'm really interested into what you'll achieve with your Insight, by hypermiling it and ecomodding it.

It would be interesting to see what an Insight 1 without batteries can achieve

Have fun,

Denis.

[silverinsight2]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Potentially good news: the hybrid battery may not be quite as toast as I originally thought.

In January, the original owner decided to ditch the car primarily because the dreaded IMA light came on and a check engine light appeared with code P1449. The dealer quoted ~$3K for a replacement pack.

• The IMA light was on & accompanied by a lack of assist, regen or charging via the ICE. However the DC/DC converter continued working (to supply power to the 12v system) and the engine continued to start from the IMA motor rather than the 12v "backup" starter.
  
  Because IMA was offline, the pack state of charge has been steadily falling since Jan. At the time the car was taken off the road, I'm told there were approx. 15/20 bars showing on the dash battery gauge. When I got the car last week, there was one bar showing. This change would be due to both self-discharge and from the IMA system starting up the ICE, I assume.

• The P1449 code relates to the IMA battery. From what I've been able to gather, it's thrown for a number of potential issues:
  
  - cell over 80°C for at least 2 seconds
  - pack out of balance (weak cell/s)
  - shorted cell

Clearing the code via the ScanGauge & resetting the CEL didn't help. Immediately after starting the engine, the charging display would briefly (for ~1 second) show up to 4 bars of charging. Then the CEL & IMA lights would come back on and charging would cease. Back to square one!

Resetting the entire system, however, seems to have temporarily solved the problem. I read that disconnecting the 12v battery could help in a P1449 situation, so I gave it a try this evening.

And it worked!

Upon restarting the ICE, the dash showed 4 bars of charging while idling, and the battery gauge started adding bars. After idling & driving the car for ~15 minutes, the pack was up to ~15 bars.

Driving gently, I saw & felt both assist and regen working. After 20 km the CEL or IMA lights have yet to come on again. The pack got as high as 19 bars, and as low as 17 during the drive.

So! While I may not have a completely toasted pack on my plate, obviously there is still some very warm bread. At a minimum, this reset "trick" may allow me to get the car through safety inspection with all green lights on the dashboard (so to speak), and then I can worry about the pack later.

Please consider a HV grid charger before putting anymore miles on it. Contact Ron @ Hybrid battery repair Hybrid-Battery-Repair.
Your not doing you battery any favors, it is unbalanced. A drop in rebuilt is ~$1,200.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by groar

Someone on insightcentral gave me a link to a German site where I found 10k€ insight 1.

This, probably :

Mobile.de Insight I

Still, the price is excessive for an almost 11 years old car.


Good find, Darin !
Maybe Jim can make a few copies of his boattail
You know you want one

[Angmaar]

That's a sweet color. Nice find.

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

That's not the behavior of a healthy pack.

An unmodified car only monitors SoC when the key is in the On position. It will start showing a few bars of background charging once you get to three bars SoC, so the only way for an unmodded Insight to reach zero or one bars is with a "negative recalibration", i.e. when your pack voltage was found to be below a certain threshold (either under load or at rest) and the BCM decided it was time for you to stop drawing power from it.

You can keep resetting the code until the pack is blackened toast, but you're not going to get good performance out of the pack until you refurb it. The sooner you do so, the easier it will go in terms of how easy the refurb will be and how many cells will be scrap.

And similar to what Bob Wilson said, if you want to bring the Insight over to my (heated) garage for a battery swap or MIMA install day, I'm game.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by silverinsight2

Your not doing you battery any favors, it is unbalanced.

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

You can keep resetting the code until the pack is blackened toast, but you're not going to get good performance out of the pack until you refurb it.

Oh, I definitely understand this. I've got my fair share of experience with unbalanced battery packs and the implications thereof - viz. ForkenSwift.

The main benefit to making the CEL and IMA lights go away is getting it through inspection with a minimum of raised eyebrows, as mentioned.

Following that, the pack will be shut off (if I'm even still using the car) and I'll see about refurb'ing it. I'm looking forward to tackling that job myself.

I definitely prefer my toast lightly browned, not blackened. (And, lately, buttered with home-made maple syrup on top. Mmmm...)