Hey I was wondering if this is an issue that's common or whether something is strange.

Usually if turn on my AC right from the get-go (as opposed to driving for a few minutes and then turning it on) my battery will drain very quickly (almost suddenly..within a few minutes). Any input?

 

Have not had that problem, but the A/C runs one electric as well as belt when power is low. I have been in auto park for up to three min. or so and never notice a fast drop with the SOC. Are you having the problem with your pack recalibrating every day?If so that may be the issue? H

 

Haha, I'm sorry I'm not hip to some of this lingo. But I should clarify: what I meant from the get-go was from when I first start the car up, not coming from auto-stop. And no, I haven't really had an issues recharging the battery.

 

It's called a battery recalibration (or battery crash) when the battery goes from 5+ bars to 1 in a matter of seconds, and I'm willing to bet that it would happen for you with or without the A/C on. It's a pretty common concern for the HCH II, and so far Honda has been unwilling to acknowledge this as a problem. You can search around here and find dozens of threads relating to this issue.

Search around, read up on the problem, and post up on one of the other threads to make your problem known. If there are hundreds of drivers posting on ONE thread with the problem, it will show the scope better than HUNDREDS of single posts like this one.

I've been having the problem in my '06 for the last three years and nothing has helped it, but at the same time, the battery pack hasn't died either.

 

I have a 2006 Civic. For the first 3.5 years, everything worked great. It recalibrated about 3 times per year. Last summer, during an especially hot week (100+ every day) it started recalibrating up to three times each day. The A/C clearly causes it to occur more often, but even during the winter, when I don't use the A/C, it did it about once every two weeks.

At first I was told it was normal. That continued until about six months ago. Then they admitted a problem existed, but didn't know what it was. The latest I got from the dealer is "a software problem: When the batteries are below 77 degrees or above 105 degrees, a false signal is sent to the computer telling it to recalibrate the batteries."

I have learned to adjust my driving, while the batteries are recharging, to minimize some of the gas mileage, low acceleration, problem.

I have posted a similar message on at least two other hybrid owner discussion lists. Most of the posts are from people living in the Southwest...Texas, Arizona, Nevada, etc.

 

One thing to keep in mind: the display of the battery's state of charge (SOC) does not necessarily reflect it's actual SOC. The car's computer perception of the SOC is vicarious, ie: it doesn't directly read the SOC, at least not all the time.

At some point it did read the SOC directly (at the last recalibration). Since then it's been relying on data regarding how much in, how much out. Kind of like a bank account balance.

But there might be unknowns: some parasitic drain, a borderline cell in the battery, etcetera. At some point the computer might make a request for help from the battery. Based on it's input/output calculations, there should be sufficient SOC, but it's finding the battery is barely able to comply. It then comes to the the conclusion something is wrong with it's estimates, and commences a recalibration.

One symptom of the recal is the SOC display dropping to zero bars, or very low. This does not mean the SOC precipitously dropped, just that the recal has started.

Still, frequent recals mean the computer is frequently not getting what it expected...

 

My Honda dealer's claim that this is a software error is questionable. My car worked fine for 3 and a half years and suddenly started showing this problem. I personally think something broke.

My main concern is that when the charge bars suddenly drop to below three, the engine jumps into high idle, double the speed of regular idle. While this is not as dangerous as stuck accelerator pedals, it can cause the car to lurch forward if I am stopped at a light, with the gas engine off. In addition, the electrical motor won't assist the gas engine. Trying to merge into 60 mph traffic using just the 1.3 liter engine can be a bit scary.

 

mines been doing the same thing as well this summer...its an 07 with almost 63000 miles and I live in the midwest where we've had 95 degree days all summer. I can get home and work up 7 bars of charge, and by the time I get back to the highway 2 miles away, i'm down to 3 bars. Takes a year off my life everytime I have to merge like that because of the hill I have to climb to merge on. (i miss my V6 accord!)

Just supposedly got a software update today and we will see how it behaves in the morning.

I understand the SOC is an estimation, but come on, these cars are supposedly the third iteration of Honda's hybrid system, i would think they would have it somewhat right by now. I'd hate to own a new insight with the cheapened IMA system in it 3 or 4 years from now.

 

Like many Civic Hybrid owners I received a notice this summer asking me to get my computer software updated. I did that earlier this month. While the batteries seem to recharge/recalibrate a bit faster, the instances of going from an almost full charge to one bar have NOT changed. I am still experiencing two to three every day.