Does someone out there know exactly why and how this happens? It has been happening on what seems to be a daily basis in the morning about a mile or so after getting going. Temps have been cool (20-30's) and I am giving the car no warm up time and no block heater. the mpg readout just slowly trickles down to 0, then comes up, teeters around for a while, may go back to 0 again, and then finally goes back to normal. I'm not sure if my actions change the process or not? Does anyone out there have some experience with this?

jco

 

When you say the mpg readout do you mean the gauge at the top left (showing 0 -- 50 -- 100)? If so, I have been experiencing the same thing on these colder mornings (about 48 degrees here in So Cal). I have also noticed that the average mpg (on the lower gauge) seems to increase despite the other gauge hovering around 0 (the first 2-3 miles of my trip are fairly flat/a little downhill and the upper gauge used to read well over 50 for that part of the trip as did the lower gauge). If I quickly tap-tap-tap the gas peddle the upper gauge goes back to "normal" operation for a very little bit before going back down to 0. By the time I hit the freeway at about 2.5 miles, it seems to be fine again. I see you have a 2007 as well..... Weird.

 

JCO & Lynne,

No worries ....

Some typical computer jazz that most, if not all see who run with the "HCH II" see occasionally. No doubt the definied, "Huh" ????, when it first grabbs @ you, espcially with-in the first few hundred miles of the new thrill. Everything reads out fine otherwise, so however it does it's deal isn't no more the bother than just not paying no attention to it.

.... motor on.

John

 

that is right, kpalmal. Sorry for the confusion; I don't know the technical jargon for the readouts. I can tap the accelerator as well and it will come back up (from 0) only to go back down again. Very frustrating, although it is clear to me that it does not affect the actual mileage on the lower readout. Just a strange occurance...

jco

 

The 0---50---100 efficiency gauge is the Impg (instantaneous mpg) gauge. A battery recal is when your battery charge gauge (the eight blocks next to your assist/regen display) drops to nothing (or maybe two, I forget), then you go into forced regen until it charges back up.

 

This condition is quite normal. Happens to me almost every day. I've confirmed that it's not actually harming your total MPG (if you reset your trip meter just before or as this happens, it will still record MPG above the level shown on the IMPG meter). If this bothers you, you can shift the transmission into "S". This will also allow regen to work on deceleration (this often won't function during the first few minutes of operation on my HCHII). Just don't forget to shift back to "D" or AutoStop won't work!

 

You guys are great, thanks for the solid info.

 

ok, but the impg gauge going to zero (and hovering there) is not associated at all with my battery doing a forced charge is it? In my case at least, my battery is usually not at the point that it needs any regen at all. There is no reason for the impg going down to zero, right? It's just one of those crazy anomalies I presume.

Sorry for the confusion...i thought that situation was called a "recal"

thanks for everyone's input!

jco

 

Yes, the IMPG going to zero and the lack of green regen bars on decel are two separate issues. They just seem to occur at about the same time on my car... usually within the first five minutes of operation in the morning, and on decel.

 

right! Those 2 things seem to happen at the same time in the morning until the car gets good and warmed up. Thanks for the info on shifting into s. I didn't know it would slip into a regen if you did that...

An earler post made it sound like this situation was related to a forced regen, which i don't think is true. Maybe I misunderstood the post...

thanks again!

jco