Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

114K on my recently purchased in Canada HCH 2003 CVT - one previous owner with full local Honda dealer service history. It's got a new 12v battery from previous owner. Fresh 0W20 Synthetic oil and Honda CVT fluid.

Driving home the other night, noticed the wipers becoming sluggish, quickly followed with a IMA light and check engine light. Charge/Assist lights stopped working, every time I came to a stop light, 12v battery warning light came on and car nearly stalled. Noticed no electric motor assist at all, car sluggish.

Got home, pulled the codes P1600 and P1440, then cleared the codes.

All systems are go again.

Fingers crossed. :confused:

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

That's strange. I've never heard anyone say their wipers became sluggish in conjunction with an IMA problem. I wonder if there's a loose terminal on the 12V battery, since the 12V indicator came on too.

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

I'll have time tomorrow night to get it into my garage and check all the connections.....will report back. It does seem kinda strange....

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

I think these cars have a serpentine belt. Maybe check to make sure that isn't loose or cracked.

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

Checked under the hood, all electrical connections clean and tight. 12v battery is quite new.

Problem went away for a while, this morning on my way to work, coming to a stop light, autostop kicked in, IMA light came on with the check engine light. Car died, put it into park, and would not restart. Turned the key all the way off, and tried restarting again. Fired up, all lights normal and the IMA light was out, check engine light is on. I'll pull the code tonight again........not looking good.

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

So the codes I pulled are 1600 (again) and 1589. Hmmm...

Looks like 1589 is a Motor Power Inverter module current signal circuit problem, googling it says to replace the PDU Power Drive Unit MPI current sensor if it returns page 12-132 of the service manual.

Maybe the cause of earlier DTC's? Or the result of something related?

Hopefully it's something simple as a capacitor pack or sensor replacement! Deleted the codes and off I go again.

Yikes. Time to hunt down a service manual.

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

Cool! More codes!

Sitting at a stop light, autostop engaged.

Lifted my foot off the brake, nothing. Had to put it into park, shut it down, and restart the car, engine light on again.

Codes P1600 and P1586

P1586 Motor Power Inverter (MPI) Module Current Signal/Battery Current Signal Circuit Problem

Saga continues !

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

I have been very happy with my 2003 HCH--am at 210,000+ miles with the only major issues being the replacement of the catalytic converters a couple of years ago (around 100k & 140k respectively). In the past 9 months I have seen my IMA & CE lights come on, but go off after just a few hours or a few days. This started last June (2010) at about 190,000. From October through about January, I had no lights come on, but the problem has since returned. In the past month, the indicator lights have come on and stayed on... but, the car is charging just fine. I drove it about 350 miles yesterday, and all was well.

I've taken the car to two different honda dealers and my local (non-honda) mechanic and all say the same thing... the codes (can't remember the numbers) say the IMA battery is weakening.

Not a big surprise really, I'm quite happy to be at 210k and still going. My question/comment at this point... I'm wondering how to reset the warning lights to see how long they stay off (or if they would immediately return on), and also if I need to replace this battery (quoted $2800 at a NE PA dealership for a new replacement), would it be worth my time to get a used one?

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

Depending on the codes you are getting, these guys can repair your battery pack for a lot less money. Quote from their website :

"Please note: We can only repair batteries that are showing P1447 (battery degradation), P1433 (battery degraded) or P1449 (battery overheat) errors. Anything else is a circuitry problem and not the actual battery and should be fixed by a mechanic or dealer. Please contact us if you are not sure. We'll be more than happy to help you by providing the information that you need to get your car back on the road."

http://www.hybrid-battery-repair.com/

You can read and clear the codes with a OBD2 scanner. Even when the IMA lights come on and then off, they are still stored for you to recall, unless the ECU has been reset or battery disconnected for a while.

Re: Failed IMA Battery Owners!
 

My 2003 Civic battery failed at about 160,000 miles. I bought a used one from a junkyard and had a place in NY rebuilt with used batt sticks. I would like to hear from the group about other options.