Andiamo- at 53 K, you should still be under warranty. it was 8 years or 80K. now it's 85K and i don't know how many years (wasn't relevant for me) because of the class action suit. even if you're a bit over 8 years, they may give you a goodwill consideration. give the dealer a call about this and the warranty extension, or try another dealer. or write Honda directly. just got my new IMA and am hoping it will last. also, one mechanic said it was dangerous to work on such a powerful battery, that you could get shocked, and turned down my business. good luck!

 

must be a newbie or a $$ mechanic ,ask him then why 3 salesman's said that the differences between a pruis and a honda is the honda you can still drive it if the battery goes dead ,not the pruis, are your sale people lying to sell hondas?

I heard of a post of someone who stiil driving without their ima battery for 2 years ,said its possible , low on power and uses more gas, and that low 700 rpm after warm up is too low to charge the 12 volt battery said he edge it to 1000 or bit over
if only your in traffic a lot,as its charging while going ,
http://www.solarvan.co.uk/insight/GridCharger.pdf

here another article, but from what i gather recalibrating your cell will just buy you a few months to start throwing code again, you need to take out that bad roll of cells for a fix , unless all battery cell wasn't that damaged too far off, a gamble, with no way of replacing a roll cell.but maybe used ebay?

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/.../message/23237
another option you could get a recalibrate ima battery and replaced cells pack at that site for 1.500,00 ,that site someone mention.

and or you could do my mods, my car can easily do without a ima battery now their power to spare ,even going up hills, its strong as a normal honda now, with asst feel like a tiny turbo its can get to 40 +not even half throttle leaving the pack of car behind. and their 12 volt battery to spare,

 

• this is for anyone that are having ima battery codes , first , get a new 12 volt battery if you want the best, get sears platinum my other post gives the model number,even if your battery tested out ok,its knowed that a under size battery here hch that on its way out will mismanage the ima system throwing any possible codes,seen it posted twice by mechanics and it aligned with logic,
• that cause eliminated we start new,

we try to do the same thing as taking out your ima battery out of the car and trickle charge the battery pack ,well almost.
only thing we cant do is completely drain each cell roll,but we trickle charge in only useing 4 bars in charging your ima battery pack over and over till the ima battery pack can get rebalanced as best as it can,not counting heat damage of growing of nickel crystal as a resulting of heat build up of charging too fast or the results of relying on too many bars on braking and decelerating ,
a few other site have taught that having the computer recharge is bad they called it force recharge,and should be avoided for best mpg,but their never a free lunch,

but really not having the computer slow charge 4 bars its a way to have your ima battery
died early. of over heating and unbalance sticks cell.
how to drive without too many bar of recharging takes practice but its also the road to better mpg,
it here in
gliding.https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...ndex2.htmsurml

the word distributing ......... it can only be done in everyone gets something, with a steady stream of supplies, having a whole bunch to hand out here and their not going to work equally ,

the ima pack has 20 sticks x 6 cells,it likely connected in parallel but even then if you would cut a roll Im sure you would find the low cells are in the middle the end are getting more,

look at it this way, as the ima pack ,
say we have 20 lines different of 6 people you distribute by giving each first inline, some times 4 some times 2 saying take one and past the rest behind,

over and over the first in line is guarantee to get more than the person in back,

now on the other side we let the computer distribute its authorize to hand out a steady stream and will not stop till all person have one,
on top of this its done with 4 bars a trickle charge that will not heat up the sticks,

so if your software still working try let the computer trickle charge the battery,it might give it time to get balance as best as it can,

a slow Constance 40 to 60 % charge is a non aggressively usage , and logically your ima pack could go possible twice the distance ,who knows its could have been design as usage that way. http://www.ziddu.com/albumview.php?k...=282016&page=1

 

...............

 

'04 HCH, 122,000 miles MT, A/C all year round (except for about a week and half in late Dec.) 5 days a week, 100 miles+ a day

I have been recovering from surgery, car sat for about 2 weeks. First day back in and IMA light came on about 20 miles down the road, check engine light was already on from P0420 code (you guys in Cal. are so lucky to have M/M), that code comes and goes, will be on for about 2 days then go off for 3 or 4 weeks sometimes less. More about this later, checked for new codes, got a bunch, P1433, P1575, and P1600. Looked online and found you guys.

Hey All!

Dealer told me $2800. A lot of money. So, I took mine apart and found one of my wire harnesses had been damaged. Oh yeah, I did get this used, 24K on it then. I am replacing the harness first ($150), no broken wires but 3 wires were chaffed more than half way through and close enough to be touching. Going to have my 12v checked, now that I have read this board (thanks).

I just wanted to let ya'll know that there is a switch on the battery (under the small plastic cover right behind your back seat, in the middle)(2 bolts for the seats, 2 bolts for the cover), when I turned it off, I believe I actually got better MPG, it felt like the IMA was no longer engaging for the charge state. So there was no drag on the engine, like I usually felt when I let off the gas. IMA light stays on though. My MPG has been about 38 for the last 5-6 months, went to 41 after about 100 miles. Not too scientific, but I will let you know if I see any change long term.

I did have a software update about 16 months ago when my P0420, engine check light first came on. Dealer had my car for about 4 hours before they told me they fixed it with software update. Oh by the way, no charge for that! Yeah thanks!

Man, I wish I had know you guys back then!!!!!!

I have only been on this for a few days now. I have a few days till the harness comes from CA.

Does anyone know why they are not warranting the replacement battery for 8/80K, I was told my new one (if I get it) would only have 3/36K. That is kind of messed up.

If any of you have done/or are planning to do anything "legally" to remedy this IMA situation please let me know and count me in.

 

Hey all: 9/5/10
I have a 2004 honda civic hybrid, currently w/155,000+ mi and the ima light is just beginning to come on (i bought in 2003, so nearly 7 yrs). Hard miles-i'm a home health nurse(!) & couple of longer trips. Its been a great car, but now needs some work. It is a stick and I use the a/c from may/june to october-ish
been reading about re-furbishing, is this a good idea? Have you done it? Does anyone sell used ima batts from wrecks? Ideas?
Thanks, Jen

 

2003 Civic Hybrid CVT with 133k. Second owner bought it at 78k from Honda dealer. At 86k IMA/check engine light came on...replaced both catalytic converters. Lights have been coming off and on for 2 years. Our mileage has always been in the 36-44 range from the day we bought it. Found out last month that starter clutch kit and cats were replaced at 78k (the mileage we bought the car at). So, we spent $2000 to replace cats that had been replaced just 8k ago...am convinced that Honda mechanics over rely on the codes without really looking at the issue. And just replaced starter clutch kit ($1,000) two weeks ago.

Corporate Honda was unwilling to do anything for us because we bought it used and because we waited until 130k to ask about IMA light. Well, we didn't know that at 86k they might have helped out because dealer didn't offer that insight. It's been a money pit and one we can't sell because the lights won't stay off. As soon as I can get them to go off, I'll trade it in or sell it.

 

just more choices info on this thread, you could put a full size 12 v.sears platinum battery on the hhc1
p-5
35/50035
740 cca
100 rc
more exposure plates faster recharging ,I have pictures and direction on tip and mods.also a list of what draining your undersized battery while your car sit with the engine off at stops (3 brake lights/radiator fan etc.)as the dc to dc converter is off too,its 3 minutes x how many stops lite vs amount of engine on charge time,the balance get carried over to the next day.

ever tried recharging a battery pack while you are using a inverter to charge a bunch of cameras battery its takes twice as long to charge that battery same here. bars are estimate charge,that can disappear after driven a while.as in parked and has caught up fully recharging that over work 12 volt battery.

or can try to slow charging the ima battery on the car ,that should help balance the stick best as possible, describe their too.

and last if all else failed and you could try to turned off the switch in the back seat,someone mentions he did that and the car engine feels better lighter, logic would be their be no senseless charging which is a magnetic field or opposing force charging does ,

but that ima battery site says you cant take out the ima battery or the car will not run,

my car run strong every morning as I let my computer slowly recharge my ima battery I use only 40 to 60 % of ima battery (put in in natural to avoid many bars )
that only once a day,(rebalanced the stick)
and still with charging 4 bars you can still glide(charge on or off) I till get up to 50 mpg at the start of the day,remember its still a 1.3 cc engine
all the motor need is more torque,
info here
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...41/index3.html

 

another tip here is if you plan tp leave the hhc sitting and unstarted ,make sure both battery are fully charge(long cruze) and when you get back I would take off the 12 volt battery and have it charge fully , if its were to be very low it raises the odd of having a sensor light coming on and trouble down the road ,as both battery need to be recharge (rightly should take hours) and if you did your recharging through braking and decelerating less that 5 minutes vs letting the computer recharge (4 bars),its more likely to add overheating code to the mix.or fry the healthy cells if its pattern unbalance. it will stress and heat the ima battery and dc converter if recharge too fast ,it all about your management control on your trottle and neutral stoping keeping it a low 4 to 5 bar of charging for a longer length of time.

 

The 12v talk in the past two pages has been mind boggling. It's amazing what people do not understand about the separate systems.

IF YOUR CAR IS NOT STARTING, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE IMA BATTERY, REPLACE THE 12V UNDER THE HOOD.

Also, battery brands make no real difference with exception to type. Optima makes a gel acid battery, most others are liquid acid. Gel has a tendency to last longer, which is why they cost more. The differences in most liquid acid batteries are minute, mostly acid solution percentages, plate thicknesses and compositions, but they are principally all the same. A Wal-Mart battery can last 5 years, just like an Autozone battery can as well, or one from Sears. A battery is a battery is a battery, and spending more money on one because of a name brand only guarantees that you'll spend that much more, and maybe have a longer warranty. A battery preference is just a preference, and should be noted as anecdotal at best. Replacing a battery every two years is a bit excessive. Most 12v automotive batteries will last at least 4 years without fail or fault. The only reason to replace a battery so often is failure, pure and simple.

Now onto another pet peeve. The 12v battery has nothing to do with the IMA charging bar on the dash. There is no charging indicator for the 12v. There is only an indicator light, which comes on during the light check at startup, when the key is in run but the engine is not on, or when the battery is too weak to power anything else (i.e. starter, lights, etc).

As far as getting rid of that IMA and engine light. This happens when you remove the constant source of power (the 12v) from the ECM. Disconnecting the ground at the 12v will remove the code from active status, but you will still have the code stored as inactive, so it can still be read with a scanner. If the fault is not consistent at each start up, the light will not come on after a 12v disconnect, but it will when the fault happens again. As far as the IMA, it'd be whenever the computer decides to tell you about it, another cell dies, or the degradation becomes worse.

/rant

Now that all of that is off my chest...

I have a 2004 HCH1, CVT, IMA light flicked on tonight for the first time at 147,312 miles. I never use my A/C, the compressor bricked 35k miles ago and I don't care about replacing it. Windows down everywhere I go. Not to say it's pleasant weather here, we had a month of 100+F heat this summer, just used to it. P2000 code has been throwing itself for the past near 2 two years, haven't replaced the cat (no inspections to worry about). I spent about 6 years as a diesel mechanic, hence the rant. I'll never drag this car to the dealer to replace the battery. I'll just shed the drivetrain in favor of a gas only setup when it's no longer drivable due to the IMA, engine or CVT failure. Surely there's a junkyard around with a 2003-5 engine and 5 speed for less than the cost of a new battery.