I had my battery checked yesterday and it was fine. Anyone else know anything about this? Eventually, the car does start, but this last time it took three turns of the key. The lights are acting funny on the display, coming on after being off for a while. Please help.

Found this at edmunds.com, same problem....

Last week, my 2003 (manual)civic hybrid started hesitating during accelaration, especially in the lower gears -- sort of a shuddering... then my IMA light went on, then my SRS light, and my emergency brake light -- I brought it into the dealer, they recharged the battery pack, said I was all set. Drove it for a day, it started bucking again and then the IMA light went on again -- brought it in, they had it for two days and now they say they "think" it is the ABS which is somehow related to the IMA? and they need to order the part, which by the way is $900 bucks. Said they didn't know if that would solve the problem but the computer codes indicated that the ABS was a likely candidate. But my ABS light never came on. I have 84,000 miles on this car and at this point I just want to sell it. Any advice?

Maybe it is a bad ground, loose battery cables (to the 12v) A lose connector at the computer. I had my car freak out on me and it turned out to be a loose battery cable on the 12v.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

That would be great, but with the bucking that my car is already having I have a feeling I'm in for some bad news.

My car is at 71,000 miles and the lead-acid cell under the hood needs replacing.

While in an extended FAS in the middle of the night my headlights dim down to almost useless after a few minutes.
Restarting the engine blasts them back to full.
At the end of a long FAS if I turn the steering wheel hard power steering is jerky and the radio cuts out and my air horn blows only one horn.

Last Spring I was parked on a store curb waiting for my wife to come back. I had the engine off, headlights on, blower set to high and the radio on.
I had to wait probably 35-40 minutes and when I tried to restart-
All I heard was a clicking sound like an old starter relay on a dead battery.

A couple more key turns and she started right up. IMA battery was normal full.

I'm sure I just need to go pick up a new lead-acid cell.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

No tranny problems, Hot Georgia?

I heard some HCH needed an IMA upgrade since it sounds like your battery is not charging at all. that it helps to check your 12 volt. You have an awesome car, don't give in yet.

i got around 20 km a liter when i drove a civic 5 spd using advanced hypermiler techniques
and now I drive a salvage nwh20 prius that gets almost to 25 km/l with 192,000 km to date.

I'll let you guys know on Wednesday, thanks for the help.

Yikes - not fun at all... I had to have my conventional battery replaced at about 65,000 miles... however, it was noticed at service that this needed to be done. I had no issues whatsoever with lights, starting, etc.

So, either yours is a different problem, mine was caught earlier, or the dealer sold me a new battery when I didn't need one!

Interested to hear the outcome.

My conventional battery is fine, I had it checked this past weekend. There is something else going on and I'm not excited to hear about it. I take it in Wednesday, I'll post the outcome and my bill then.