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

[Nevyn]

Agreed. A little insane, but hilarious!

[Mr. Pancake]

Originally Posted by cactus jon

Amen, Brother!! When I test drove my car, the window rolled down, but not up!! I made the lady give me another $100 off the price. I tore the door panel apart and put 12V directly to the motor and the window rolled up. There must be some kind of limit switch that has failed. Or perhaps it is just the main switch. For now, the window stays UP!!
My 1988 CRX had manual windows. I wonder if the mechanism could be transfered to the Insight?

Probably the main switch. Carbon builds up on the contact, take it apart, clean off the carbon and it should work. I just did this for my car last weekend, one of the rear passenger windows wouldn't roll down with the driver switch but operated properly with the switch at that window.

[MetroMPG]

Here's the car wearing its winter boots & looking funny without the OEM wheels...



They're one size off the OEM tire (taller - 70 vs. 65 OEM aspect ratio), but I'm OK with that.

Gently used set of four, on steelies... with wheelcovers! 160 bucks.



Nokain Hakkapeliitta 1

165/70 R 14
81 T (what's that mean?)
M + S Unidirectional tread

Max load 462 kg (1019 lbs)
Max pressure 300 kPa (44 PSI)

Plies: Tread 1 nylon, 2 steel, 1 polyester
Sidewall 1 polyester

Too bad they're not the special low rolling resistance "Hakkapeliitta R" winter tires that Chang Ho Kim used on his CRX to win the AMEC fuel economy run!

(See: Modified Honda CRX HF Scores 118 MPG in Fuel Economy Run | Hypermiling, Fuel Economy, and EcoModding News - EcoModder.com )

..

[MetroMPG]

Also:

I reset the hybrid system again today in preparation for tomorow's inspection. After a recal (computer directed hybrid battery recalibration), the car is once again showing all green lights on the dash (and a nearly "full" battery).

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Nokain Hakkapeliitta 1

165/70 R 14
81 T (what's that mean?)

81 is the Load Index (LI)

81 = 1019 lbs / 462 kg

T is the speed Index (SI)

T = 118 mph 190 km/h


Tire Tech Information - How to Read Speed Rating, Load Index & Service Descriptions

[MetroMPG]

Back from inspection.

Mechanic says it just needs front brake pads. I thought they looked OK, but will admit I only looked at the outside pads.

So, looks like 38 bucks plus a bit of tinker time and we're off to the races.

Actually, I'm off on an epic holiday. I may not actually get this sorted out until the end of June. We'll see.

[MetroMPG]

Chomping at the bit, I am.

Replaced the pads this weekend. Sanded the rust off the rotors (looked worse than they were because the car was parked outside & not driven from about Dec - March.)

And -- drumroll -- got the paperwork this AM. It's legal!

Hurry up and wait! Now it gets stuffed back in the garage for 3 weeks while I'm away. :P

[bwilson4web]

An interesting article about Insight tuning at:
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. . .
On my fairly demanding open-road test section, the Honda without its hybrid system working produced a fuel economy of about 4.2 litres/100km; that compared with about 3.8 litres/100km it achieved over the same stretch as a working hybrid.

With the new retune, the car achieved over this stretch of road the same fuel economy it did as a working hybrid – 3.8 litres/100km! Wow – no hybrid capability and the same fuel economy!

So was the tuned car always as economical as it was when a working hybrid?

No.

In city cruise conditions it used to achieve fuel economy as low as 2.8 litres/100km – and after the retune the best it could do in those conditions was about 3.8. (Incidentally, what clearly killed the fuel consumption in non-hybrid form was accelerating up to speed. In those conditions the missing electric assist gave the engine great thirst.)
. . .

This is the 3d part of a series about tweaking fuel-air ratios.

Bob Wilson

[nasoj007]

Originally Posted by Christ

Lol - Want manual windows in your power window vehicle?

1. Get a windup flashlight
2. Build a circuit so it makes 12vdc output.
3. Put a crank on the wind up generator, and bolt the assembly to a convenient spot in the door.
4. Wire in a dpdt switch to the motor, from the generator's circuitry.
5. Flip switch and crank like a mo fo...

Crank up/down windows! Brilliant!

This is either the most brilliant or crazy idea I have ever heard... I seriously can't decide which.

[Christ]

To ruin the fun of it, its called "unthinking".

The idea is to contend a problem using the inputs of the asker.

Darin wants crank windows, but they're currently electric.
A cranking, or rotational motion, is commonly used to generate electricity.
OH!? They're electric windows...

...!?!...

Crank generated electricity to power the windows!

It's an exercise in relative logic (re-lay-tive, not rel-uh-tive), designed to help you identify and establish relationships between illogical pairs. Fairly useless in normal life, but I also understand binary and ascii, with the aide of charts.