Hi EdRotberg:

___Recal’s have been discussed literally hundreds if not thousands of times of times over at InsightCentral.net and as many times if not more in the Yahoo - Honda - Hybrid group(s). Here is a direct link to the InsightCentral.net forums search engine:

InsightCentral.net - Search --> Type in the term “Recal” without the quotes into the Search for keywords box and hit the search button on the bottom using the default search options.

___I counted at least 119 threads with hundreds of individual posts about what it is, why do Honda hybrids have them, and when if ever it is time for a new pack. I hope you find the threads of great use because what you have described so far is a very mild recal event and is absolutely nothing that Honda needs to do by your description? Honda is doing exactly what they have always done at your point of mild pack degradation. When you get a good feel as to the definition of a recal, post to this thread because I can tell many here including Honda IMA owners have never heard of it nor do they understand what it is and why one may occur. Relax until such time the degradation becomes so pronounced that you have drivability issues with it. HCH’s and even Prius’ could have one of these events although they would be hidden from the end user because there really is no good way to tell what the cap of a group of NiMH cells are worth at any given time no matter the algorithm used. Watching the actual pack voltage of a Prius II vs. the SoC meter cycling between 3 and 5 bars just this week over an extended period tells me no manufacture has a good handle on this issue just yet.

___Again, I never experienced one when I owned my Insight but I was always leery of them and avoided cycling the pack as well as exposing the pack to high internal ambient temps in parking lots on hot and sunny days at all costs. In fact, I never touched an IMA assist other then for a few seconds of every hour when it was sometimes unavoidable to see 4 bars of 20 while accelerating through second gear before up shifting into third. Most of the time under acceleration, I could keep assist at bay all the way up to highway speeds. If you can use this light acceleration/maximum SoC battery management technique, your FE will sky rocket as well. For pack temp management, always crack those windows when parked because like any car buttoned up on a 90 + degree day in the summer sun, your internal ambient will reach upwards into the 160 + degree F range pretty quickly. Look at the temp range specs of any NiMH pack and I am sure you will see why I believe temperature management of a hybrids pack is just as important as SoC management while under way.

___Finally, do not expect a tech from just any Honda dealership to understand what a hybrid is doing let alone how to attempt to diagnose one without a Honda Scan Tool and training. Unless the tech owns an Insight or HCH for himself and follows the various online forums, he is more then likely clueless about issues a hybrid owner may see over the life of his or her vehicle. There is nothing wrong with this because there are so few hybrids that come in so these guys never get the chance to get skilled on them unlike a non-hybrid Civic or Accord they probably work on multiple times a day.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net