New IMA battery pack won't charge beyond 4 bars.

InsightGirl · 03-20-2011, 12:58 AM

Your advice is needed!

I'm a new Insight owner.

Last week I bought a 2001 Honda Insight from a private party. It has a new IMA battery pack replacement done at Ron Tonkin Honda in Gresham on 3-11-11, just days before I purchased the car. It seemed like a good gamble.

--The battery pack won't charge beyond 4 bars.
--The Honda Dealer in Albany tried to put it on a charger and it wouldn't charge beyond 4 bars.
--I unplugged the battery terminal to reset the computers based on advice from another forum here. It recharged up to a max of 4 bars and then the background charging stopped.

What is going on here? Did the car get a defective battery pack? Does it need a BCM? MCM? ECM? Will I be stuck with a very expensive repair as the repair was performed 2 weeks ago by the person I bought it from? Doesn't the warranty go with the car?

Your best guesses and advice are very welcomed.

Thanks.

3-Wheeler · 03-20-2011, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsightGirl

--The Honda Dealer in Albany tried to put it on a charger and it wouldn't charge beyond 4 bars....

I'm not so sure that the Honda dealer actually charged the HV battery in this step. Getting to the HV terminals requires taking a large sheetmetal panel off the rear compartment and getting to the HV terminals.

The trickle charge itself would take many hours to complete if done properly.

It's almost as if you are referring to the 12 volt battery and trickle charging that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsightGirl

--I unplugged the battery terminal to reset the computers based on advice from another forum here. It recharged up to a max of 4 bars and then the background charging stopped....

I think you are referring to the 12 volt battery terminal, and yes unplugging that should reset the BCM so that it should again try to top off the HV battery pack.

Why the State of Charge (SOC) indicator on the dash is stuck at 4 bars does sound odd to me, since I have never heard of that before. Resetting the BCM should take care of this.

When you disconnected the 12 volt battery ground and reconnected it, can you point out step-by-step what you saw on the dash?

For example:

1) I unplugged the 12 volt battery cable for 10 seconds
2) Put it back on
3) Turned on the key and the SOC showed nothing, i.e. no charge
4) Turned on the engine
5) Saw that there was a 4 bar background charge occuring
6) Waited approx. two minutes
7) The SOC started to rise

The SOC topped off at 4 bars (never heard of this before) is it even possible?
9) After the SOC stopped rising it settled at blank bars

Can you run the above steps exactly and report back what you find?

Jim.

Right Lane Cruiser · 03-20-2011, 10:42 AM

It would be worth trying the forced regen regime detailed in the manual for when you have left the car sitting for a while.

The short version is:

Turn on the car
Put it in neutral
Press the accelerator to raise the RPM to around 3500
Hold at that level until the battery is topped off at 19 or 20 bars on the gauge

When you rev the engine up like that in neutral you should see charge bars and the gauge should show increasing state of charge.

**MN Driver** · 03-20-2011, 10:45 AM

Check to see if the car starts in neutral with the foot off the clutch pedal. If the car thinks the clutch is engaged, it will force charge until 4 bars and doesn't go any farther.

Are you getting any assist or regen on demand beyond just a little bit after you start the car?

Kevin Dougherty · 03-20-2011, 02:02 PM

First I've ever heard of that...good to know

retepsnikrep · 03-20-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MN Driver

Check to see if the car starts in neutral with the foot off the clutch pedal. If the car thinks the clutch is engaged, it will force charge until 4 bars and doesn't go any farther.

Ditto never heard of that I'll have to test it somehow. Wonder why?

gilbertguy · 03-20-2011, 03:56 PM

Hi,

Some where amongst all the threads on this site I remember reading someones post about taking their car in for work, after they got it back they noticed a very similar issue that you are seeing with the 4 bar maxium. They took it back and the dealer had to reload the BCM software, somehow it had become corrupted during the ealier maintenance. I'd take it to the dealer near your house and have them look up the records or call the other dealer and verify the work that was performed, they should cover it under warranty. As far as I know it is a time/miles warranty, who owned it at the time shouldn't matter.

Let us know what you find.

InsightGirl · 03-20-2011, 06:24 PM

This sounds like a very realistic cause. Another problem I fear is that they didn't fully charge that new battery pack initially and forever more the maximum charge is 4 bars. Does anyone remember the rechargeable batteries that needed to be fully charged for 20 hours -- the first time before use? The warnings on those products claimed that if you do not charge fully before use, the maximum charge potential would be shortened.

Is this possibly what happened?

I'm getting a maximum of 4 bars no matter what I try.

The dealer tried to charge the IMC batteries--in the back.

Thanks for all your input. I just may take off work on Monday to go to the original dealer.

InsightGirl · 03-20-2011, 06:25 PM

I took it to the local dealer a week ago. They initiated a request, but I haven't heard back from them.

InsightGirl · 03-20-2011, 06:30 PM

Thanks... the car doesn't start without engaging the clutch. It does idle in neutral. The regen doesn't try to regen when the SOC is at 4 bars.