Please forgive my obvious ignorance. I am working my way trough threads to get up to some semblance of speed but it will take a bit.

I just purchased a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid with 145k miles on it. While driving home from the dealership I noticed that the battery indicator went from 2 bars to full about 4 times over the course of 60 miles. The gas milage was a bit worse than I expected at 36.5 MPG and I suspect that I have at least a weak cell in the IMA battery which I will need to correct and that that is causing the battery to operate on a much narrower window than it should.

As I approach 150k miles what kinds of things should I expect to see and what kinds of maintenance should I be looking forward to. I expect that I will need to recondition the battery, I also assume that the CVT fluid will need to be changed shortly at 150k miles.

Are there particular threads that I should start with reading, or anything else a nubblet needs to learn and quick?

Any suggestions, links or otherwise general information is much appreciated.

Two threads I have already found to be quite helpful are:
1) https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...ry-pack-28610/
2) https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...aintain-30246/

 

The behavior you're describing is recalibrations. It's the initial signs of pack failure. The latest honda patch will force a ridiculous number of recalibrations before it will throw an IMA light.

The only thing relevant in any of what you posted is the last article in the second link (Mine ).

Stick level refurbishment is a massive effort that needs to be done correctly and generally gives short-lived results. That's why the principal pack refurbisher, Hybrid Battery Repair, went out of business. It's jut not reliable.

You need to pursue grid charging and DEEP discharging. It takes FAR less time in terms of man hours, and it can be accomplished in a weekend vs. weeks for the traditional stick cycling techniques that are mostly ineffective.

You can build a grid charger and discharger for about $75. You'll need to remove the pack from the car to provide cooling as the car's fan requires a PWM signal. If you want to spend more, you can find PWM controllers for $50-65 if you want to keep it in the car.

 

I would look at the maintenance records and see how many times the CVT fluid was done. I do the 3 quart drain / Fill every 30 to 40K miles. You will want to inspect the fluid and make sure it looks light like the new ones. If its too dark, you may want to drain / fill, and then do it again after 5K miles, until all the old stuff is gone.

Changing the CVT fluid is actually easier than changing the oil. You just drain it, and then fill with 3 quarts of Honda CVT fluid. You will need a thin funnel to fill in the dip-stick hole.

 

Doh... I focused purely on the IMA pack. I replace CVT fluid every other oil change... about 12-15K miles. It's overkill, but it's the only thing you can do to maximize the life of the CVT.

 

My personal thought on the CVT changes is that it should reflect driving style (and city vs. hwy miles).

For example, I drive mostly easy highway miles and I am very light on the accelerator. My CVT fluid looks very clear even after 30K miles between changes. but it never hurts to be safe! its much cheaper to pay for fluids than transmission repair

 

At 135K miles and 215K miles on the HCH2 fleet, I'm living by paranoia.

 

I tried the drain 3 quarts bit on my CVT that had 228.000 on register when I bought the car. Transmission went to shuttering almost immediately and I made a post and got the 3 quart reply. I tried this and then drove about 500 miles, did it again and shuttering continued. Carried it to dealer, had all 8 quarts drained and new oil put in and problem ceased immediately. Had already bought a parts car for the transmission and computer, so now I will probably keep parts car for future use.

 

I am guessing it is not normal to in the space of 10 miles at highway speeds have the battery meter go from full to 2 bars to full again.

I definitely need to buy a charger and cycle it a couple of times.

 

You're describing a recalibration. The car monitors voltages of pairs of sticks and counts current in and out of the battery. When one of the parameters goes out of range, it triggers a recalibration.

It is "normal" based on the program design, but it is very far from optimal or "like new" behavior.

 

Thanks for this Bob. I appreciate the follow-up. It's good to know that's an option.