New 2000 MT Insight owner IMA questions

[crxbart]

So I think I got lucky acquiring my Insight. It is a 2000, with 117K on it, and the IMA batteries were replaced two years ago by Honda. I am now the third owner. The guy I bought it from bought it from his friend who was the original owner. Anyway I found it on craigslist 2hrs away for $6K. I called him, and he informed me the IMA light was on and the hybrid system wasn't working since he posted the ad. I went down, and I looked at it anyway. The car was pretty filthy, but under all the dirt it was a solid car, and ran well.

So since the IMA issue had occurred I was able to negotiate down to $4,750. The guy I bought it from owns like thirty some cars, and I was pretty sure what had happened was the batteries went dead from sitting after doing some research on this forum. I gave the guy a $500 deposit to hold it for a month while I came up with the rest of the cash. A month later I drove down, and picked it up. I planned to disconnect the 12v battery, and reset the ecu to see if the IMA system would work. My dad who drove me down forgot to bring the 10mm wrench I told him to bring. Not to worry, I drove a half mile down the street to a gas station, and the 12v battery went dead, and I had to jump start it. It was so dead, that the ECU reset. Guess what the IMA system started working.

So on the way home the batteries hit full charge, and I was able to use the assist. Everything was working great. It hiccuped one time, and the IMA light came back on, and I stopped at a friend's house, and reset the ECU again. Since then it has not thrown the IMA light, and everything has been working great. Every once in awhile the battery gauge will go down to as low as 3 bars, and then it will charge back up throughout the day. It has not thrown a code, and continues to run great after 2,000miles. I am thinking it would be a good idea to go ahead, and purchase a grid charger to maintain the batteries. Any insight by you veteran hybrid owners would be much appreciated.

This is my first hybrid car ever. I absolutely love it btw. The freedom of driving great distances for very little money for gas is amazing. I buffed the paint, and the one headlight that was oxidized. I thoroughly cleaned the interior, and I must say I feel like I got a great deal on this car. It cleaned up really nice, and it runs great. I plan to use it mostly for work, but I also race road bicycles and I think I may use it to drive to some farther away races to save money over driving my F150 in the summertime. I also have a K20A swapped Honda CRX, so I am no stranger to Hondas. Anyway here she is, and please any advice you can send my way feel free. So far my best tank was 62mpg. It's gotten worse since it got colder, which seems to be the norm.

[freezin4]

Looks awesome! Great deal too. Congrats.

Do a search on here for how many seconds/minutes of full assist you should be getting with a full SOC reading. (It's a ballpark, but gives you an idea.)

Looks like you have a "limp" antenna. Consider buying a new one. We have an image to maintain (less than $9): Corolla Am FM Antenna Mast 2003 2008 Fuba Toyota 16" | eBay

Welcome to the forum!

[Jivko57]

I have similar problem , the IMA battery has deteriorated and the light is coming and going in several weeks intervals. The car does frequent recals. A grid charger is helping a lot in the past couple of years (stopped the recals and restored the battery capacity to some extent). However the deterioration continues (at a slower pace). Probably there will be a new battery within the next santa season.... (if I can spare the funds by that time ). This car is saving me so much on gas I guess I will need to give it the present....

[jessemac]

I love that story! Great buy and a grid charger is a must. i buy these cars from insurance auctions all around the country, usually written off for some minor body damage (insurance co.'s don't know what to make of these cars) I've bought and refurbished 8 so far. Mine, the one I kept is a 2000 MT with 78,000 miles runs like a top. You'll be suprised by how much the grid charger improves the performance of your battery. All the best, Jesse

[jeff652]

Welcome to the forum. A grid charger is a wise investment that will significantly improve the life of your battery.

There are three main options on where/how to get a grid charger.
(1) You can build a 'simple' one yourself. Here is a good thread with info.
(2) You can have a simple charger built for you - I build them and offer them for sale. Here is more info.
(3) The third option is Mike's 'complex' Genesis One charger. It has many features that the 'simple' units do not have, but is understandably more expensive. Here is more info.

All three are great options. Making the decision is a personal choice that really boils down to how much you want to spend, whether you want to build it yourself, and which features you feel are necessary.

[eq1]

Looks great, good deal. I was surprised how cheap I could get these for when I started looking -- not really thinking I'd be able to afford one. Just a little research will get most potential buyers/owners past the IMA/battery issues. In general I think they tend to be under-priced, considering all that went into producing them and what they put out. But lucky for us who want to buy them...

[crxbart]

Good eye on the antenna. Unfortunately it's the base that is bent, not the mast. The previous owner said the garage door fell and hit it, and that was all the damage it sustained so I'll roll with it. It also seems a bit more aero. lol

I think I am going to save my pennies, and buy a Genesis one. It may cost a bit more, but it seems to do quite a bit more. Thanks for all the info, and links!

I have a Sony DSX-S210X car stereo on back order for it. I am getting tired of the same 6cds already, and I miss my ipod. It's funny I remember when changers used to be the big thing. They are so inconvenient. I also want to tint the windows, and have the wheels powder coated. I'm thinking something dark, black, black chrome, or gunmetal. I don't want to change the wheels because I understand they are aero, and light, but I don't like the looks of them being silver.

I also have this idea about removing the side mirrors, and fabricating rear vision camera mounts in place of them, and installing two small LCD screens to display the cameras. I read on here where someone removed his mirrors, wipers, and some other stuff, and gained a lot of mpgs. Seems like something to try out. I love this little car sooo much.

[crxbart]

Okay so my clutch master cylinder started leaking on me the other day. I have a replacement on order. I guess nobody stocks these parts for an Insight, which sucks so I am back to my F150 for a week.

I also planned to remove my radio, and install a small 2ch amp in it's place with a rca to 3.5mm cable so I could listen to my iPod instead of the CD changer. Upon removing the glovebox I found a Peripheral adapter for the Clarion changer in the boot. I noticed it had a pair of rca cables on it too, and a couple of extra wires. I googled the part number, and I found out if you put the gray wire on a switch, and ground it, you can use those rcas as an aux input. Score, so now I can listen to my vast library of music. I am still looking forward to the new radio coming in however. Which that brings me to my next question.

It appears that all US spec first gen Insights have a single din radio. However I came across this UK spec version in the classifieds.

So it clearly is a RHD car so the panels, and brackets would not work in our cars. I was wondering if possibly any LHD countries had a double din radio? I figured I could figure out the part numbers needed, and purchase them from overseas. I would much rather do something like that so I could do a double din touch screen navigation radio. I never really liked the flip out single din touch screens too much. Or I guess I could just stick with that radio I already have on order, and just use my iPhone for navi, like I have been.

[freezin4]

Unfortunately the radio bezels are assymetric. So the RHD version is not a snap-in mod. However, there is at least one owner who modified one and posted pics of his efforts. Took a little artwork with the Dremel tool.

[crxbart]

Yeah I figured the RHD one wouldn't work. I was wondering if a LHD country like maybe Germany perhaps would have a double din radio option as well. After some research it appears that is not the case. If anyone can prove that to be wrong I am all ears. As it is now, I think I'll just fabricate a mount for my iPhone under the radio so I can use it more conveniently for navi, than setting it in the cup holder.