If you are not swimming in cash for a replacement battery i am happy to recomend this for some people - you know who you are.

I bought the 2006 HCH with 80K miles. For the next 40K miles i got a steady 40-43 mpg (depending mostly on my stress levels)

Then it became difficult to get out of the high 30's.

THen the IMA light started coming on for a day or so at a time. OBD codes said the battery was bad.

i used this parts locator: http://www.partshotlines.com/

They found several batties within a few hours of me.

I chose All Foreign Auto Parts in Fredericksburg, VA

They wanted $600 - no core charge (i get to paly with the old battery)

They offer a 101 day warranty and they deliver (FOR FREE) from Baltimore to Virginia Beach.

I had to get a local garage to agree to take delivery of the battery for me.

The info provided said the battery came from a wrecked 2007 HCH with 37K miles. The VIN was included so i could have probably confirmed the story with CARFAX.

What I got was the whole battery pack with cut wire sticking out.

But it would have been more difficult to remove my entiere batery pack and replace it-

Instead, i swapped out the actual battery and then the converter in two seperate evolutions, leaving my original metal box in place.

The instalation was pretty easy. You need a T30 torx, and a a couple metric sockets. Throw the big switch on the battery pack and disconnect the 12V.


The results are pretty good- i'm seeing a steady 40 MPG

In the 40,000 miles i've had the car i am also dealing with the bad rear control arm issue so i am running lousy tires until i get that resolved.

I figure with 123K miles on the car, a $2500 battery from Honda may not be a wise choice.

If i had to do this once a year (i don't expect to) it would be worth it.

Good Luck

 

Thanks Dave! Good thread. Hope you have lots of trouble free miles to come. Keep your tires at 40 lbs. ft. and 38 aft. and lighten up on the throttle and you will see the 50's.You can go a long ways past 50 as well. I have some trips in the 70's! Three years of practice! You probably have the old upper control arms that where wrong from the get go. Negative camber . Honda replaced mine. Talk to your dealer about this as a notice came out on this. Only people that complained got new upper control arms. H

 

Really though. It shouldn't have come down to this. I'm hoping my IMA battery will last longer than my first one did. When the moons align (more like my finances) I will no doubt consider going diesel/electric/or hybrid (not Honda). With the mpg I'm getting now, I could have gotten in an Civic EX and I would of had a sunroof to enjoy!