My extended test drive

[DimensionDude]

Hi all,

I posted last week about the Insight that I was looking at, thanks to everyone for the information and suggestions.

The car in question is at my house now, going to give it a good "going-over" tomorrow.

Here's the story so far:

When I looked at it last Tuesday, the 12v battery was dead. Required a "jumper pack" to get it started. Since it was late in the day I only took a short test drive, less than 4 miles. Within that time, the IMA battery came up to full charge (less one bar) and I was seeing assist when accelerating.

Once the engine had warmed up, I checked braking and full throttle acceleration. Very peppy and no odd noises from either the engine or transmission.

Picked it up today for my extended test. Once again the 12v battery was dead, but after connecting the jumper pack the engine started with the IMA (guage showed full minus one bar).

Drove it approximately 10 miles home. Went up and down through the gearbox, no problems at all.

Merged onto the freeway without fuss, instantaneous MPG was showing about 50 at a steady 70 MPH. It climbed higher, and then started coming down slowly, I assume that was the lean burn kicking in.

Cruise control could not hold a steady speed. I set it at 65 MPH, it varied between 61 and 68 MPH, so I probably wouldn't use the cruise until that was fixed.

Climate control worked fine, A/C blows cold, heater blows hot. Auto mode works.

With the climate control in "econ" the Auto-Stop function works normally. It's a bit disconcerting, but I could get used to it.

As mentioned earlier, I believe that the lean burn function is working. If I tried to accelerate while holding a steady speed, it would stumble briefly.

All other accessories work, e.g. power windows, door locks, lights, etc.

With the engine idling in neutral, didn't hear anything that could be associated with a bad input shaft bearing.

At about 2000rpm under load in any gear or when taking off from a standing start, there is a metallic rattling that I have yet to locate. Could be a heat shield or exhaust system. The sound seems to come from the engine compartment. It doesn't happen when out of gear and running the engine up to 2000rpm.

I'm leaning very heavily towards buying it as I have yet to find a dealbreaker problem.

Well, I was going to put a couple of pictures here, but I don't have them on any sharing service.

Kent

[Eli]

Sounds good overall. Probably should have tested the IMA battery more, but I say it's probably a good deal if there aren't any glaring problems.

[DimensionDude]

Originally Posted by Eli

Sounds good overall. Probably should have tested the IMA battery more, but I say it's probably a good deal if there aren't any glaring problems.

Eli,

What can I do to better test the IMA battery? Perhaps a long uphill run?

After the drive home and the car had sat for an hour or so, I checked the voltage of the 12v battery, 13.08 volts. I'll check again in the morning before I start the car. A bad 12v battery won't be a dealbreaker, just a minor annoyance.

The tires are the correct Bridgestone RE92 with a fair amount of tread.

Tomorrow I will check the spare tire and jack.

The fairings under the engine are missing, not a dealbreaker.

The body and paint are in very good condition considering the high mileage and age, just a few scratches and dings.

The windshield has a semi-circular crack about 3 inches in diameter. I've seen similar damage from hail, but there is no other sign of hail damage.

Kent

[Eli]

Yeah, discharge and then charge it heavily. Watch for positive and negative recalibrations, and note when they happen.

A negative recalibration is when you suddenly lose assist, and the battery gauge starts ticking down about 1 bar/second until it's at 0-1 bars. At this point the automatic background charge will begin.

A positive recalibration is the opposite - you suddenly lose the ability to regen, and the bars tick up to the top.

The more empty you can get the pack before the negative recal, and the more full you can get the pack before the positive recal, the healthier the pack is. Try and note the approximate bars this happens at.

[racer26]

Originally Posted by DimensionDude

Eli,
<snip>
The body and paint are in very good condition considering the high mileage and age, just a few scratches and dings.
<snip>
Kent

Remember, our cars are aluminum bodied, and therefore don't have the same rust/corrosion issues that steel bodied cars (ie. 99% of cars on the road) have. Also, because aluminum is weaker than steel, it is slightly more susceptible to acquiring dings than a steel bodied car would be.

Also, cruise control was not a factory option on these cars, so whatever cruise control system is there was added by a previous owner. It may simply be out of calibration, or it may just be a low-quality unit. You really shouldn't be using cruise control anyway, its much more efficient to use your right foot to modulate speed for maximum MPG.

[DimensionDude]

Went for a drive on US 71 north of Alma, Arkansas. Very hilly terrain...technically not mountains since they are less than 1000 feet.

I got long periods of regen on the downhills and long periods of assist on the uphills. Did not see any recals, didn't suddenly lose either regen or assist. The SOC indicator varied only 2 or 3 bars from full.

I'm now going to do a close inspection of the engine compartment and exhaust system, maybe I can locate the source of the metallic rattle.

Stay tuned for further developments...

Kent

[Eli]

Try and get the battery down lower. Clutch in on the downhills if you must, to avoid regen. Then downshift to avoid assist during the charge cycle.

Even a quite weak battery can give 2-3 bars. If you can get it down to around the middle without any problems, the battery likely still has some decent life left in it.

When I first bought Insight #1 in 2007, I would get a negative recalibration about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom. Slowly, over the next 3 years, it got worse and worse - 1/2, 3/4, until finally I only had 2-4 bars of useage before a negative recal and subsequent IMA light during the charge phase.