hi all,

I know this issue was discussed on an earlier thread, but I’m really struggling with the 09-058 sofware upgrade and seek advice. I just had the jammed driver's side window replaced on my 2008 HCH (there's a bulletin out on this, btw) and they also installed the 09-058 SW upgrade. This is the first SW upgrade they've installed (they didn't install the 08-014) and I’m really regretting it—wish I’d paid closer attention to previous discussions of this issue.

Since the upgrade, the car's MPG has plummeted. As others described, the car is now both assist-happy and regen-happy in very obnoxious ways. I've been monitoring my Scangauge, and I've noticed that the LOD values are significantly higher for many driving conditions than they used to be. Even at idle, LOD values are ~15-20 points higher, and I'm hitting 80-90 on acceleration. I almost never saw that before (I normally try to keep my accelerations at low RPMs). I’ve also found the new software defeats the strategies that I used to use to get decent mileage in the 27-35 mpg range; I used to be able to ‘fake shift’ into a higher gear and keep 40-60 mpg without draining the SOC. Now the car either wants to hop into EV mode (which I can’t hold for long) or grinds away in lower gears, while pulling 2-3 bars of assist, rapidly draining charge and putting me into forced regen mode.. I've lost at least 10 MPG on my daily commute. GACK! The car cruises nicely above 40 mph when fully warmed up-- so what? Most of the time I don't get to drive that speed, either on the city or freeway.

At the same time, my acceleration on hills (or freeway on ramps) is terrible- It feels like I'm trying to climb out of molasses! I've ended up having to punch the acceleration to avoid getting creamed by traffic, at which point I'm at 3000+RPMs and draining my SOC down to 2-3 bars (I almost never went below 4 before). And of course this sends my MPG into single digits.

My questions for those of you who have been dealing with this upgrade: have you noticed that this problem improves with time? Have you figured out any work-arounds? Can the software upgrade be uninstalled? I’m guessing not (I haven’t tried going back to the dealer), but this is really a drag— literally. Any suggestions would be welcome.


thanks, Philip

 

Welcome to the club and it only gets worse. Reflashes are a one way street. Very dissappointed with my vehicle and at this point and to quote..."You can put lipstick on a pig but you still have a pig"
Regards, Jack

 

This car is the my best car ever. Not a pig !!!!!!

man, greenhybrid is turning to a whiners den. First we spam several threads with the exact same whining post then we go around spreading depression on every 2nd post as if you speak for the owners of 160k + that were made since 2005.
You don't speak for me bro and other GH'rs who love this car.

Phil, how bout that reset thingy? I did that on somethin similar and it solved my prob. Check with the guys at cleanmpg. They seem to know their stuff good.

ks

 

I wish you the best with your car but the odds are something is very wrong and this is coming from the west coast parts and service director from American Honda. This reflash makes the car less of a hybrid and more of a 1.3 liter marshmallow. I went through a very similar experiance in 03 and 04 as a Ford Service Manager with our 6 liter diesels. More reflashes and updates than I can count and trucks were being bought back at a phenomenal rate all over the country.

When a company rushes something to market that is computer controlled it is very easy to do work arounds and patch bad designs. My 2 cents, I have seen and dealt with this from the manufacturer side and now unfortunately I am the customer.....

 

thanks for the feedback, folks, but ARGHH-- seems like Honda tried to fix one set of problems and created another.

Kevin, can you point me in the direction of the 'reset' discussion on cleanmpg? I did some searching on the site but couldn't find it.

As I mentioned, I wish I'd read the earlier thread on this issue more carefully. My amateur advice-- anyone who as a 2008-9 HCHII that is behaving well (no battery crashes or frequent recals), DON'T let Honda service install the 09-058 software upgrade-- postpone it as long as you can. Or at least consider your driving habits; if (like me) most of your driving is at speeds less than 45 mpg and involves a lot of hills, you may find your car's performance is made significantly worse. From the earlier thread, it sounds like the new software does help if you've got more optimal terrain.

Any other input or suggestions would be welcome.

Philip

 

I thought my '09 (January '09 build date) came from the factory with this update. Am I wrong?

 

hi Steve,
I'm not the best person to answer, given my firm rookie status, but I'd think it would depend on when your car was actually built. The release date that I found for the 09-058 bulletin is July 30 2009. My comment is based only on my sorry experience; like many software upgrades to my desktop computers, this one caused at least as many problems as it solved, and I'm really sorry I had it installed. So I'd wait and see how others with '09 HCHII are faring.

Philip

 

I must be an outlier on this issue...I love the way my 2007 drives now with the new software. My mileage has gone up over 10% and I find that it tends to stay in its highest gear ratio a little better - it used to increase the RPMs +200 at the slightest hint of an upgrade or increased throttle pressure. To me, it seems to perform more smoothly and, for lack of a better word, smarter.

James

 

hi James,

from my reading of previous posts on this issue, I think the benefit of the software update really depends on your 'vintage' of HCHII, as well as driving conditions. Others with 07's also reported improved performance. Since my 08 was performing well before hand (no battery recals or crashes), it may be that the upgrade was both unnecessary and deleterious to my performance. Arghh.

Philip