Brakes ok; brake lights, regen brakes, auto-stop dead.

[bikeracer]

Very strange situation:

I was driving my freshly-purchased Insight home from Toledo to New Hampshire. Somewhere near Albany, I noticed that my regenerative braking was not working. Some time after that, I noticed that neither was my auto-stop. I figured that both issues were user-related—that I was no longer meeting the criteria for those to function.

When I got home, I wondered if in fact my brake lights were working, since both regenerative braking and auto stop rely on the car knowing when the brakes are active. Lo and behold, I'd spent the last 3 hours of my trip without brake lights.

Today, I tested the brake switch. I pulled it out and verified with a multimeter that the switch was working. Is there some known issue with this happening in Insights? The brakes work fine to slow the car. Nothing changed there.

I don't want to start pulling up carpeting and testing wire continuity if there's something that I can check which commonly goes wrong with that system.

All the fuses are still intact as well. No problems there.

Any ideas?

[azaviator]

Just my 2cents (take with a grain of salt since I am not an electrical engineer). I have had this problem in the past with a different car and it turned out to be a bad brake light bulb. It sounds simple, but with one light burned out, the entire circuit was opened, so no brake lights at all. On the Insight, if no closed circuit, then no regen braking. Also, if the car doesn't think that you are on the brakes (no closed circuit from the brake light switch), then autostop won't function correctly either. Just some info from my own experience.

Or... maybe check the fusebox...

[RobertSmalls]

From page 11-224 of the Factory Service Manual:

1. inspect the brake pedal switch
2. go to step 4
4. Check underhood fuse #6 (10A). If blown, repair the short in the wire between the fuse and ECU connector A32, then replace the fuse. If not blown, repair the open in the wire between the brake pedal switch and the fuse.

But I would double-check the brake pedal switch. Also see if the brake lights come on when you replace the switch with a paper clip.

[bikeracer]

Beautiful. I'd ignored the underhood fuse box for some reason. The fuse was blown. I do wonder about that wire that was referenced.

Until I figure out that situation, I guess I'll just drive around with a pocket full of 10a fuses.

Many thanks!!
Patrick

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by bikeracer

I was driving my freshly-purchased Insight home from Toledo to New Hampshire. Somewhere near Albany, I noticed that my regenerative braking was not working. Some time after that, I noticed that neither was my auto-stop.

Your regen braking was probably related to the fuse.

Auto-stop is another story. Auto-stop won't work below certain temperatures and you were heading north from Toledo to NH in January. To test it, warm up the car thoroughly and then press the "OFF" button on your climate control. It should now auto-stop if the outside temp isn't absolutely frigid.