We're taking it on friday, i just hope it's something that can be easily repaired. I think the guy put the wrong cables on the wrong polarity **** so it must have fried something. just want to fix it and sell it, I'm sick of all the problems with this car. That ima light never goes away and my MPG has gone from 45 to 29.

 

Yah, the car is not meant for cold (let alone snowy) weather.

 

That dramatic a drop in mileage is mostly due to the IMA system malfunctions. Cold weather probably accounts for a 3-4 mpg drop typically.

The IMA system is still under the original warranty. You should have taken it in at the first IMA light months ago.

Good luck,

Steve

 

Following all this...and my question is: What do I do next?

My 2008 HCH has only 50K miles on it, and will be 9 years old on 10/30/16. I can start up the car with full charge indicated, drive 3/4 mile and have it on empty. Lots of recals. But no trouble light coming on.
I do have an OBD reader, and plan to plug it in tomorrow. But unlike Mic123, my dealer charges $133 for a diagnostic, but said they'd waive that if the IMA battery needs replacement--but they're also very cagey, said even if it's bad, it may not be covered under warranty [WTF?].
If I don't get any suggestive OBD codes, it sounds like my best course might be to just drive across town (glad I live in Portland, OR) to Bumblebee to see about either a replacement or having them install a grid charger/reconditioner rather than spending the $133. Or maybe find another dealer in the area that doesn't charge for a diagnostic.
Advice will be gratefully accepted!

 

Use the OBD-II and reply here with the diagnoistic code you have.

I have a 2008 HCH with 130k+ miles. The battery was "bad" years ago, but I charge it time to time with grid charger/drain, etc.

I don't do it much since my MPG is ~40MPG still with or without the re-calc.

 

Thank you, nstarz. I'll plan to post here with OBD-II codes soon...

 

Because it depends on what the definition of "bad" is. Very unfortunate for HCH1 HCH2 owners, they get to change the definition of "bad".

For years, Honda was hard nosed about not changing the IMA battery. Then, a couple of lawsuits, one class action, and bad press in the Los Angeles Times. After that, they cut some slack and were more reasonable in changing the batteries. I don't remember if they still require the IMA lamp lit first though.

I have two Civic Hybrids. Both bad IMA batteries, and both have been seen by dealers. One of them got the IMA battery replaced, after years of lousy performance. That's 0.500 - pretty good for baseball. No so good for cars

I love Honda gas cars. I regret IMA though, purely because of warranty issues. These are complex cars, stuff happens, that's what warranty is for. Well, supposed to be for. I would have been happy with splitting the cost. Nothing but robotic "No fault found, car performing as designed", and an invoice of $100 to $200 for checking.



Summary of firmware:
The first "fix" the dealer will try is a firmware crap load that changes the definition of what a defective traction battery is. You probably already have this loaded onto your Civic if the car was at the dealer for any other reason. Even if you didn't ask for it.

So the original FW would light the IMA lamp when the battery drops to reasonable thresholds. The updated crap FW makes the car use the IMA much less and lean on the tiny Atkinson cycle 1.3L gas engine more. Performance and MPG drops. The FW won't light the IMA lamp until it hits much lower thresholds. Basically, you can recal ten times a day and the FW thinks that is normal. Don't ask me how I know. smh

 

Thanks, mpk. Not real hopeful...I will state that in our mostly city driving, we're getting 32 mpg, which isn't too bad, and about 45 mpg on a mountainous longer trip, vs. perhaps 36 and 50 in the battery's younger days. It would be nice if Honda would do the right thing...

 

They might, as they have loosened things up.

Those that got an IMA battery replaced under warranty recently- do they still require that the IMA lamp be lit?

 

Tell them the gauge behavior.

Tell them the mpg you're currently getting.

For $133, tell them you want the hybrid battery capacity as reported by HDS (Honda Diagnostic System).

For the HCH2, HDS can read the 11 tap voltages, and the car reports a "capacity" in terms of percentages. A fresh battery will read 75%. A severely deteriorated one recalibrating out its *** will read < 20%.

Basically, you need to risk $133 to save >$3000. Even if they refuse to replace it, you can take it to Honda Corporate and hopefully get some concessions.

mpk is at least partially incorrect. The firmware update is goodness. It changes the SoC target and the depth of discharge - making it operate much more like the Prius battery management, which has vastly superior battery life. A SECONDARY effect of this is that the more narrow operating window makes it more sensitive to imbalance thus forcing more recalibrations. You can argue this point if you like, mpk, but I have personally witnessed the SoC behavior under actual driving conditions with HDS attached. Maybe the moved the threshold down. I can't say that for sure one way or another, but the firmware absolutely, positively improves battery life without compromising IMA function.