Put my new Bumblebee battery pack in this weekend. Surprisingly easy to install. It didn't come with any directions, but I found a YouTube video that walked me through it. There was a black ground that needed to be disconnected/reconnected which wasn't shown on the video, but it was easily spotted once I pulled the old pack. The hardest thing about it is getting the seat back off and on. I'd done it myself before and knew it was a bear, but this time after struggling with it for awhile I got some help. With two people it's a breeze.

The pack weighs roughly 75 pounds, but it has some lifting handles on the front, so it's not that hard to get out and in. They want you to keep the packaging and return the core in the exact same packaging. They provided a self adhesive FedEx return sticker, so that part was a piece of cake.

The only thing that was a little disconcerting was I wasn't sure if the pack had a charge on it from Bumblebee. When I started the car with the new pack, it started from the pack (not the 12V starter), but I had zero bars. After about a minute of idling the bars started appearing and a few minutes later it was at 8 bars.

I would say it runs like new now, but when it was new the infamous software update for "extending" battery life had not come out yet, so it acted quite differently back then. Wish we could go back, but....

Anyway, I'm very happy with the performance and it's good to know I've got a solid pack with a 3 year warranty behind the seat.

 

NiMH SoC can't be evaluated in a resting state.

When you disconnected the 12V, you wiped the battery status from memory. At next start, the car evaulates the 11 tap voltages to ensure they meet minimums and if so, it starts the engine with the IMA battery/motor. It then initiates an evaluation routine where it charges the battery at idle to see how those 11 voltages respond to 5-6A charging. Once it sees how they respond, it can estimate the SoC and report a value on the gauge. If you don't allow it to idle until the SoC gauge responds, the car conducts the evaluation based on charge/discharge response while driving.

What you describe sounds 100% normal.

The software update *should* enhance the life of the battery. Honda previously permitted discharging down to 20% SoC. Now it is more restrictive - closer to 40% - like the Prius. The patch was problematic because SO MANY OF THE BATTERIES WERE ALREADY SUBSTANTIALLY DETERIORATED, the loss of the additional 20% of operating range at the bottom meant one or more of the 11 tap voltages was triggering recalibrations at 40% SoC where they weren't before. For a fresh or healthy battery, the patch is goodness. For an old and tired battery, the patch could be very problematic.

 

Bumblebee does not list Ford Escape Hybrid replacement battery packs. How did you obtain one?

 

You're in the civic forum. Why are you asking this question?

 

I think it's the "Related Thread" feature on this forum which shows up if you keep scrolling down to the bottom of the page, the related thread for this one is "Replacement costs for 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid battery pack". People get confused and think they're still reading the same thread.