Checking Voltage on IMA Battery

[jnachbar]

OK, I know this simple question maybe give me away as a bit of know nothing newbie, but...

2000 Insight MT, 205,000 - I'm currently getting a P1444 (high voltage short) error code with IMA light on, but the system is working fine and has for the past 1,000 miles. Ron Hansen re-did my battery, Ron actually met me in Black River Falls and we went through replacing all the other components on the IMA battery and in his excellent customer service, he just sent me a DC/DC Inverter which I'm going put in tonight to see if that fixes it.



This possible short has me a bit nervous so I want to make sure I'm checking the voltage in the right spot before touching and disconnecting the two orange painted bolts. With my volt meter, when I go from ground to either of the two orange bolts I'm getting a reading of just under 90 volts (even 24+ hours after swiching the battery off and disconnecting the 12V under hood)

Or am I supposet to be checking the voltage between the 2 orange bolts. You know one lead on each of the two bolts, or as I've done, one probe on ground the other on either of the two...

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by jnachbar

OK, I know this simple question maybe give me away as a bit of know nothing newbie, but...

2000 Insight MT, 205,000 - I'm currently getting a P1444 (high voltage short) error code with IMA light on, but the system is working fine and has for the past 1,000 miles. Ron Hansen re-did my battery, Ron actually met me in Black River Falls and we went through replacing all the other components on the IMA battery and in his excellent customer service, he just sent me a DC/DC Inverter which I'm going put in tonight to see if that fixes it.

Yeah, that was only 4 hours of driving. Thanks for meeting me halfway.

Actually Jeff, check between the two and make sure your voltmeter isn't autoranging a 0.09V into 90mv.

[jnachbar]

Thanks Ron, At some point today the lightbulb eventually went off in my head...Of course there is voltage between ground and either of two orange bolts, that would be completing the circuit. The switch breaks the connection between the two and what needs to be checked is to be sure there is no voltage going in between them. I imagine if I grabbed the frame (ground) with one hand and touched one of the bolts with the other, or touched both bolts, one with each hand at the same time...I'd be in for a bit of a shock.

Your seemingly limitless supply of patience with me as I'm learning how to deal with all this is greatly appreciated!

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by jnachbar

Thanks Ron, At some point today the lightbulb eventually went off in my head...Of course there is voltage between ground and either of two orange bolts, that would be completing the circuit. The switch breaks the connection between the two and what needs to be checked is to be sure there is no voltage going in between them. I imagine if I grabbed the frame (ground) with one hand and touched one of the bolts with the other, or touched both bolts, one with each hand at the same time...I'd be in for a bit of a shock.

Your seemingly limitless supply of patience with me as I'm learning how to deal with all this is greatly appreciated!

There should be no voltage from the battery with the switch off. It disconnects the battery into a 48V and a 96V (nominal) and the negative of one and the positive of the other are not connected to anything at all, so there should be NO voltage at all. I know that switch works because I tested it when I put it in your car.

[jnachbar]

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair

It disconnects the battery into a 48V and a 96V (nominal)

Since I don't really know what that means. I guess I can only say maybe the lightbulb in my head is not getting very many volts. When I put one of the probes on the orange ground (3rd orange bolt by itself on the DC/DC Inverter) and the other probe on either of the two on the battery, I get a reading of just under 90 volts or -90 volts depending on whether I put red or black on the ground. I'm pretty sure it's 90 not .09 because when I set the meter to read 20 volts it tells me the voltage is too high (out of range). When I do it right, between the two I get like .02 volts.

I didn't get zapped when I put a wrench to any of these three orange bolts, but of course all that could prove is that Darwin was wrong about natural selection.

Hope you like the picture of you working on my car by the giant orange moose...kinda appropriate, wouldn't you say?

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by jnachbar

Wow, my car was running low. I had the sticks from 8 packs in the trunk.

[rycera]

Howdy fellas. I'm the new owner of this car, and am hoping to learn a bit more about this issue. The car is now approaching 207k. I've driven it about 500 miles and it's performing great. The IMA light on the dash is _not_ on, but it's still throwing the P1444 code. Does this code indicate that I need to do immediate maintenance on the IMA system? Or can I keep driving until symptoms occur?

-Ryan

[jnachbar]

Originally Posted by rycera

Howdy fellas. I'm the new owner of this car, and am hoping to learn a bit more about this issue. The car is now approaching 207k. I've driven it about 500 miles and it's performing great. The IMA light on the dash is _not_ on, but it's still throwing the P1444 code. Does this code indicate that I need to do immediate maintenance on the IMA system? Or can I keep driving until symptoms occur?

-Ryan

Congratulations! I'm the original owner... pm me if you want to know anything about my experience with the car, also if you want a set of snow tires for the car let me know (I was just wondering what to do with them). I'd say just drive it, Ron took great care of me and the actual IMA battery is rock solid. He, I or my mechanic replaced just about everything under there in the back, so my last thoughts were that it is probably the IMA Motor itself, but that's only a guess. Glad to hear she's back on the road, I was feeling guilty giving up on her! Lot's of great folks on this website

[rycera]

Originally Posted by jnachbar

Congratulations! I'm the original owner... pm me if you want to know anything about my experience with the car, also if you want a set of snow tires for the car let me know (I was just wondering what to do with them). I'd say just drive it, Ron took great care of me and the actual IMA battery is rock solid. He, I or my mechanic replaced just about everything under there in the back, so my last thoughts were that it is probably the IMA Motor itself, but that's only a guess. Glad to hear she's back on the road, I was feeling guilty giving up on her! Lot's of great folks on this website

I will PM you shortly about the snow tires; I will take them! Perfect timing too. I was just getting ready to buy a new winter tire/wheel combo.

I'm glad to hear the battery and related systems have been looked at. That said, it's performing rock-solid. I'm at 58.7mpg on my first tank and the battery rarely drops more than a few bars from full.

Glad I found this website. Another first-gen Insight owner at my office pointed me to it. I'm looking forward to driving & working on this car.

-Ryan

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Good to see another Insight in MN!

I'm also in the area. No snow tires for me -- I just drive slow.