Hi,
I have a 2003 Civic Hybrid, and will be finishing my 9th year of ownership in January @ 90k miles!
The acceleration in the car has gotten slowly worse over the last few years. At about the same time this started, the battery started the process of circling the drain. At this point the car spends most of the drive charging the battery. Dealer has not found and IMA codes yet that would signal the need for a replacement, but I definitely thing it's coming up.

I suspect that the acceleration problem is linked to the battery performance. Have other people had this problem? And has a new battery fixed it?

It's getting to the point I'm not feeling safe driving this thing, as the car won't move even with my foot on the floor. I'm trying to figure out if this is something that can be fixed with a new battery, or if it's time to consider getting a new car. If I went for a new battery, I would get an aftermarket one and avoid Honda's 4K price tag.

Really appreciate any kind of insight folks can give me.

 

Are you still getting the same # of assist bars powered up?
Any chance that you have a plugged Cat. converter? H

 

1) Yes.
2) How can I tell?

 

It is hard to tell unless you remove it and see what happens. Muffler shop may have a way of testing? I normally remove the front connection and test it without. Hal

 

How about the 12V battery...has that ever been replaced?

Another option is to shift into S mode when you need more power.

 

Harold: I read a bit up on it, it doesn't seem like the other symptoms of a plugged catalytic converter are there. But apparently a repair shop can tell by the amount of pressure coming out of the tail pipe or the temperature of the cat. I might have it checked anyways, if it doesn't cost too much.

Gairwyn: The 12V has been replaced... But I don't understand how that would affect anything.
I know about S, but I don't want to start using it regularly. I worry with the shifter the way it is, it would be too easy to throw it into the wrong mode.

 

simply2crazy:
You could jack your car off the ground and see that each wheel turns with ease! I'm thinking brake drag, wheel bearing problems. I remember reading that the EGR valve can cause problems with the early HCH1. Requires cleaning about every 100,000 miles. You are getting to the miles that your spark plugs may be bad also the valves tappets may need to be adjusted. Noise will indicate this as well. H