HELP! 2000 Honda Insight first IMA battery reconditioning - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

jscott · 03-26-2016, 04:58 AM

I just completed an IMA battery refurbishing but it still gives me an IMA light. Did I do something wrong? I used the IMA battery grid charger for the Honda Insight 2000 after installing it. Now the IMA light comes on immediately, rather than after the charger recharge wears down.

cowmeat · 03-26-2016, 07:51 AM

What steps did you do exactly?

jscott · 03-26-2016, 07:55 AM

Pulled the pack, reconditiioned the battery sticks individually, then reinstalled the pack. I don't think I am giving you the info you need. I used the IMAX 6AC to discharge/recharge the sticks, but could not find anywhere any information on exactly how to do that or what parameters to set. I have 2 battery packs, so I am always able to work on one or the other and keep one operating (I hope) in the car with the other in the garage. I followed the online checklist pretty closely, and think I did everything else right. Just not sure of the parameters for reconditioning. I then tested the sticks with a battery tester from Harbor Freight, and one of the sticks was discharging rapidly. I reconditioned it again, then it was fine. I then put it all back in the car. I then hooked up the grid charger, and it was reading 169, so I left it on to reach about 175. When I cranked it up, the IMA light was pretty quick to come on before I started driving. I suppose I must have done something wrong.

vskid3 · 03-26-2016, 12:41 PM

Is the IMA battery hooked up correctly? Does the engine start using the IMA or the 12v starter?

jscott · 03-26-2016, 03:42 PM

I will disassemble and recheck the connections, but I followed a checklist and rechecked everything. I don't know how to tell if the 12v battery is starting it or if the IMA battery is. This is my first time, and there is not a lot of direct procedural info that is complete enough to do this. I am piecing together different information from different sources to do the reconditioning process. I need to get the codes checked.

I did not check codes before and after. Oops. Probably would have been a good idea. Last code checks were from a dealer. Of course, they said I needed a replacement.

I had been recharging with the grid charger for about a year to postpone having to go through the ordeal of pulling the battery and reconditioning it. Finally, it was not lasting long and I pulled the IMA battery about 2 months ago, taking my time to recondition the battery sticks as I have two IMA batteries (one in and one out for reconditioning). I was very careful to put it together right, including making sure of alternating positive and negative sticks. However, that being said, I did not make an original map of the positive and negative positions. I did, however, mark the sticks on one side, and did not take out more than four at a time. Therefore, I likely did not get the polarities wrong. I checked them again before closing up the battery.

The car runs peppy, but the IMA light comes on right away (15 sec or so) when using the key. After resetting the code by removing the neg terminal on the 12v battery for 10 sec, I would get the light again. Like you said, I need the codes.

On the side, the grid charger fan was not working and the charger was beginning to smell of overheat. That is the second time my grid charger (first one was sent back for repair) has had a fan failure.

S Keith · 03-26-2016, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jscott

I will disassemble and recheck the connections, but I followed a checklist and rechecked everything. I don't know how to tell if the 12v battery is starting it or if the IMA battery is. This is my first time, and there is not a lot of direct procedural info that is complete enough to do this. I am piecing together different information from different sources to do the reconditioning process. I need to get the codes checked.

I did not check codes before and after. Oops. Probably would have been a good idea. Last code checks were from a dealer. Of course, they said I needed a replacement.

I had been recharging with the grid charger for about a year to postpone having to go through the ordeal of pulling the battery and reconditioning it. Finally, it was not lasting long and I pulled the IMA battery about 2 months ago, taking my time to recondition the battery sticks as I have two IMA batteries (one in and one out for reconditioning). I was very careful to put it together right, including making sure of alternating positive and negative sticks. However, that being said, I did not make an original map of the positive and negative positions. I did, however, mark the sticks on one side, and did not take out more than four at a time. Therefore, I likely did not get the polarities wrong. I checked them again before closing up the battery.

The car runs peppy, but the IMA light comes on right away (15 sec or so) when using the key. After resetting the code by removing the neg terminal on the 12v battery for 10 sec, I would get the light again. Like you said, I need the codes.

On the side, the grid charger fan was not working and the charger was beginning to smell of overheat. That is the second time my grid charger (first one was sent back for repair) has had a fan failure.

It's pretty wasteful and confusing to have essentially the same post in multiple places. Please pick one and stick with it.

jscott · 03-26-2016, 07:07 PM

Sorry, desperate. Car still charges when slowinf/braking and engine still shuts off/on at stopping. This didn't happen before with IMA light on. Looking for a store that does free code reading right now.

Xist · 03-26-2016, 07:56 PM

Good luck!

vskid3 · 03-26-2016, 08:12 PM

The 12v starter cranks like a normal cars, should sound similar to most other Honda starters. If you're getting auto stop/start, then the IMA is being used for that. That means that everything is likely plugged in correctly. For the battery's sake, you might want to disable it until you can figure out what the problem is. The car will start with the 12v starter and you'll lose auto stop/start and assist/regen.

Have you asked on Insight Central?

elhigh · 03-27-2016, 09:11 PM

Dude,

S Keith is the man. He walked me - very patiently I might add, we won't get into how lousy I am at following directions the first time - through the process of doing a deep discharge/grid charge on my car, and it turned off my IMA light which had been on for about a year at that time.

I know it's kind of an obvious consideration but here it is: you're sure you got all the packs in facing the right directions, right?

Get all the temp sensors hooked back up correctly?

Since the system is still providing regen and autostop, it isn't completely bollixed. Definitely pull the codes and find out what the computer is complaining about.

Be sure you aren't leaving your grid charger connected to your IMA pigtail when you're just driving it around. I think that contributed to my persistent light problem.

Be sure all your engine grounds are secure. That was a source of difficulty for me, too, when I did an EGR cleaning.

NOTE to S Keith - if you're ever in E TN, I owe you a beer. That light is still off. I haven't had to repeat the DD/GC process yet, even though you recommended considering doing it at every oil change.