I purchased a new '09 HCH w/ Nav two weeks ago, 4/17, and am loving the car so far. First tank yielded about 40 MPG with most of that being city driving (right on the EPA mark). Been lurking around these forums for some time now and decided it's time to register and get posting..

Twice in the two weeks I've been driving the car, the IMA system has recalibrated itself. Is this somewhat normal, and what is a common recal interval for you?

I found out that my car was manufactured at the end of September '08, and was likely hanging around on the dealer lot for months. I know that having the car sit for more than 30 days can wreak havoc on the NiMH battery pack, so I'm a little concerned. Also noticed some posts around this forum about the IMA battery experiencing an early death and particularly some '09s having defects in the IMA battery. Guess I'll just have to see what happens, as long as problems happen before 8 years/800k miles =)

Edit:

To recap later posts in this thread, there are a number of software updates available that will likely help with this issue:

PGM/FI Update
SAE DTC: U0301
Honda DTC: 195-1

IMA Battery Update
SAE DTC: U0312
Honda DTC: 195-18
Canadian Part# 1K100-RMX-A06 (S/B# 01-084...)

IMA Motor Update
SAE DTC: U0302
Honda DTC: 195-2
Canadian Part# 1K100-RMX-A06 (S/B# 03-002...)

The Service Bulletin attached to this post clearly lists all the new DTCs associated with those updates and would be helpful to bring along to the dealer.

 

Congrats on your new car. What signs do you have that recals are occurring? I have not heard anything of '09 IMA battery defects. I've had my '09 for two months with no recal.

 

Thanks Steve; noticed you're very active in these forums and saw some of your posts over at Insight Central when I was considering that car. Like you, I couldn't justify the (current) higher price for a smaller car and am happy with the choice.

Regarding recals: on both occasions, I've seen about 4-6 bars on the SoC suddenly drop to 1 and then having the car go into "forced regen" mode until about 4-5 bars are back. This is a recal, right? Driving conditions haven't been extreme, with temperature highs in the last two weeks around 80-95 and lows in the 50's and 60's with very little humidity.

Here's a thread that mentions potential issues with certain '09 IMA batteries: https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...-issues-20445/

 

Morgante:
Try running with your climate control on auto and at the highest level that you are comfortablewith. Remember that the pack is cooled from what ever you have the cabin set at! I think in hot climates it helps to have some cooling going to the pack? I have owned my HCH2 since 2006 and this has happen once! We get hot here during the summer months 100 +. I know its not as bad as Tucson, but still hot! I keep my climate control on auto and set at 28 c or about 80 deg. Cheers,Hal

 

It gets up to over 100 F in Grand Forks? Never would have guessed that...

Right now during the day I've been keeping climate control set on auto around 78-80 F. Next week we'll see highs climb over 100 and stay there each day until the monsoon season comes around...I'll be carefully watching the battery to see how it handles the heat.

 

Much has been written about the so called battery recalibration in the HCH II. When it first happened to my 2007 HCH II, on 7/17/2007, I almost freaked out. I thought almost lost all faith in the hybrid technology, and rampant thoughts of chronic battery problems started running through my head! Neatly two years later, and after reading much about this process, both in these forums and even in my Honda Owners manual, my fears about the battery recalibration process and doubts about the durability of the batteries has subsided.

I suggest you take a read through the old thread "IMA Battery Crash?", which was posted from 7/2007 - 10/2007. In fact I wrote about my very first account of the "recal" in that thread on 7/17/2007. After reading through that thread I hope you will feel better about the occurance of the "recal", because it is a fairly routine occurrence that all HCH II owners experience - particularly those of us who drive in hot climates.

sdgarber

 

Thanks, guys, for the heads-up. I can see I should spend less time waxing my new car and more time researching the forums!

 

Twice in two weeks would be considered a fairly frequent recal. Last summer, mine was doing recals every other day, and I've been logging them in a notebook since then. The interval decreased over the winter to roughly once every two weeks, which is still a lot. Lately, with the warmer temps, I'm back to weekly recals. From what I've seen, monthly recals (or even less frequently) is the norm, but SOME recallibration events are normal and expected for the HCH.

There could be a few different problems--I think my problem is related to the hilly commute I have, and others are definitely related to heat. Since your problem is probably heat related, make sure to cool off your car as quickly as possible with the windows open, and then use your AC on auto at the highest comfortable temp you can. MSantos has a great sticky thread on the HCH part of Cleanmpg.com regarding AC use in the HCH that is worth a read.

For my hilly problems, I've stopped using glide on the downhills as much, so I get more regen. This has helped, but not totally fixed my problem. Heat seems to play a role for me, but I've had recals as low as 15 degrees, so it's not just heat related.

I wouldn't worry about 2 recals, but if it keeps doing it frequently, get it to a dealer you trust so you can at least get the problem logged. They probably won't be able to do anything to help you (at least they haven't helped me yet), but that way, if your battery does have a short life, you have all of your ducks in a row. I would also throw a note pad in your car and log your events. I note the date, outside temp, and location of each recal event.

 

Great suggestions.

 

Kristian's post had me remember a link I kept around that talks bout these things:
(my list of links is growing)

ks