Alright, hubby just talked to the service advisor at the Honda dealer (different from where we bought) and he is 99% sure the IMA battery is dead. He said they ordered one and it should be here in a few days I'm glad they seem confident in finally diagnosing the string of problems, but I have to say I'm very disappointed with the quality of this car so far and with Honda in general.....After all the stress and lost sleep, this better not cost me a cent Honda!!!

 

What's your milage? I also have a 06 with 92000KM which is about 57000 miles. My warranty is to 130000km here in Toronto, Canada. I have no weird stuff going on with the car but....never could tell. This IMA battery maybe the weak link in this car as I know Honda in general is very reliable.

 

I just thought I should share my experience with almost this same exact situation that literally occured about 2 hours ago

ironically enough I get a call from a friend that was stranded on the side of a dark freeway after her car had unexpectedly stopped working mid-commute. I get there an I shut my engine off and leave my headlights and hazard lights blinking. I check on my friend then we both return to my car since hers will no longer start and it's about 40degrees out. We return to my car, I call AAA to come and get he car. After the phone call is ended I then go to start the car to let the heater run...now from arrival to this point in the story had taken place in the window of MAYBE 20 minutes max...I insert the key and turn.......nothing.......I take the key out and try again...this time I was greeted by multiple flashing warning lights, a wildly flying tachometer needel, a rapidly blinking background display and navigation screen all literally flashing like a grand finale at a 4th of July parade.

I decided not to try THAT again so I waited for the tow truck to come for my friend an explained the situation to them. He brought the jump box to my car and after a few second there was some hesitation but car started with multiple flashing warning lights and an idle around 1700 RPM...I justrelated that to the car jus reving high to charge the battery...aside from the 7 or so warning and failure light, the car seemed to be ideling ok...until I shifted from P to D....the RPMs droppe to about 500, the car jerked mildly and then promptly died...the tow truck guy returned and hooked up the jump box to the car again...this time after about 2 minutes I stated it again with less drama...te car ideled smoothly and the only warning light left on was the Break System amber light...while initally driving I noticed the car was not regenerating with the brakes were pushed, only when coasting, I also noticed the navigation was asking for the anti-theft PIN to unlock the navigation.

After the tow truck guy told me I needed a new 12-volt battery, he showe me a small indicator on the battery itself under the hood. It's a small plastic circle on the surface of the battery. The indicator is about the size of a nickel with a slash through it as if to be able to unscrew it with a large flat-head screwdriver. From what the label on the battery said, if the little circle showed blue, then te battery is fine. If it showed red you needed to add water to the battery. If it was just clear with no color it needed to be recharged or replaced...my indicator was clear as daylight

my HCH is a 2006 an with only three and a half years of life on a battery, I honestly wasn't expecting to have to changed for at least 5 years. What even worse is that The Hybrid model is considered a specality to most auto parts stores so no one carries the battery necessary...this gives Honda the monopoly to charge whatever they want for a battery.... Honestly why would a battery be $125 for this Tiny car when it aparantly only has a 3 year shelf life when my mom was able to get a heavy duty battery installed on her 2003 Yukon XL Denali for $75 with an 8 year warranty. She's owned the car since it was brand new and from 2003 to 6 months ago, there was no problem...

 

My 2003 Civic Hybrid (bought in 2002) went 6 years before I decided to replace it. It probably could have gone longer but I figure why push it. I think the battery life has a lot to do where you live. If you live in a very cold area and don't have a garage well, the battery is going to take a beating. Same goes with very hot areas. Keep that in mind.

 

it definitely has to do with colder climates the more pressure put on your 12v battery, have you noticed most of these ppl reporting battery problems are reporting them in winter time?

Here in Australia we are told to replace your battery 12v after 3 years

plus remember your newer cars have alot of electronic gadgets etc which needs power so to complain my battery died after 3 years is a farce!

p.s and here in Australia it doesnt get no where as cold as the states or some places in Canada.

 

Hi. Sounds like we're having similar problems with our 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. I think we DO have to replace the 12V but now we can't jump it at all. We did the thing with using two keys when the anti-theft went off trying to jump it last night. Then it was fine and we drove it home. This morning completely dead and jumping produces no results, no sounds, no anti-theft alarm. Just silence.

Besides towing, is there any other way to reprogram key recognition?

Thanks!

 

The 12v needs to be strong to supply power to the ECU and battery control module, then in turn the hybrid battery needs to be healthy in order to output 14v back to the 12v battery so it can be charged as this car does not have an alternator. The electric motor serves as the "alternator" and the dc-dc converter kicks down the voltage from 158v to 14v as to charge the 12v under hood battery.