Thanks all for the replies. As I was driving around today, the car performed another recal. I was coming to a stop at a light, looked to the left for traffic, then happened to look at the battery gauge and saw the SoC happily empty itself from 6 bars in a few seconds. Sluggishness ahoy!

Nearly all the ~450 miles I've placed on the car so far have been on flat terrain in and around the city, with the days getting pretty warm now. I do have the windows tinted and recently bought a sunshade for the gargantuan windshield...that combined with the cooling tips mentioned should help, though I can't imagine what's going to happen with some of the upcoming 100-110 degree highs that are looming in the future. A little question to the side: what sunshade do you all recommend? I could only find one large enough and it's not that fantastic.

The suggestion to keep a log is a good one; I've already started to do so. If it gets worse, I do have a business card from a service manager at the dealer I bought the car from and will be giving him a call. Like you said kristian, they probably won't do anything unless the IMA light comes on but it won't hurt.

 

Update:

I've counted about 15 recals now over the past 1,100 miles and about 7 weeks of ownership. I contacted the assistant service manager at the local Honda dealer and he told me to ask for a BCM firmware update when I have my first oil change and see how it goes. He said that he recently had a couple IMA owners with 60-70k miles complaining of the exact same problem; he tried to troubleshoot the issue with Honda USA and had not come up with a real solution. I imagine those people are hoping for in-warranty battery replacement before expiration at 80k =)

 

That really seems high... I wouldn't hold a lot of hope out for the firmware upgrade (unless it specifically addresses the recal issue) since your '09 probably has about as high a version as there is already. Thanks for the update and keep us posted about the firmware.

I bought a new house three weeks ago, and have only had one recalibration since my commute changed. My commute is now 5 miles (vs. 10), and it's all downhill to work/uphill home (vs. rolling hills with the high point half way there). I hardly get any regen going in, and since it likes to use assist going home, my SoC is generally at 4 bars or below. Since my pack never experiences the highs it used to, it doesn't seem to crash anymore...

Edit: Although my mpg has gone from 50s to low 40s with the new commute--time to start biking to work!

 

The battery packs are cooled by the vents in the rear seat middle - if they get blocked - the packs can overheat and force a regen.

I keep the climate control at 69 and on auto. I have not had regens once I started keeping the car cooler, I have window ventshades and window tinting and crack the windows about a half an inch whenever I park the car and put a shade in the front window.

My 2007 would regen every other day until I did that. I tool it on a long drive ( 20 hours ) and never had a regen after that. My 2009 now has 8400 miles and has not regened once. The autostop cuts on at redlights when the battery gets down to 2 bars. I usually force the charge by putting the transmission to S until I get 5 bars ( about a mile or less ).

What bothers me is the Instantaneous Mileage Display goes to 0 for no reason. I suspect that it has problems when the MPG exceeds 150 for more than a few seconds. Every 8% downhill I encountered on I77 in West Virginia it went to 0. the MPG average was off by over 5 mpg ( too low ). I suspect that the computer thought we were getting 0 mpg instead of 0 gas usage when that happens.

 

I doubt a firmware update (if available) will help either. I will ask them to perform a load test on the battery to see how that turns out.

The vents in the back seat have never been blocked, the windows are tinted, and I use a sunshade for the windshield when the car is parked. I'll try cracking the windows as well. Don't think I'll be setting the climate control to 69...it may not even get that cold on 100-110 degree days here. I usually keep it on auto, 78-80.

 

Brrrrrrr.

 

75 inside the car when it is 80 outside is too warm for the batteries - 80 is way too warm. when the insides of your car is 80 the batteries will be 110. they will recal often at that temperature. It is sort of like your laptop computer - it will be lots warmer than the relative temperature. Anything over 95 degrees is too warm and will cause the SOC to guess wrong on how much power you have stored in the batteries. When it is over 25% wrong it will recal.
They automatically shut down around 125 degrees. No IMA assist or autostop when they are too hot. It may look like a recal but it is just the battery protecting itself.

They also do not like being colder than 48 degrees. That is why the don't do so good when cold.

You AC runs off the SOC battery about 50% of the time and off the engine when it is not on the performance cam or autostopped, so the colder AC will not make you accelerate any slower.

 

Does your situation sound similar to this active thread on 8thcivic.com?

 

I'll try lowering the climate control temp, along with cracking the windows when parked. I'm just accustomed to an 80-82 degree house in the summer here so 78-80 to me is very comfortable...almost chilly sometimes =D

Yeah that other thread sounds similar, but I've never had a recal more than once per day and it has happened at night within reasonable temperature periods. It does tend to occur more often shortly after starting a commute.

 

I just had my car flashed with a bunch of new programs by the dealer and my recals went away. I gave the dealer this information I got at this place. so far so good.

ks