HELP! IMA and brake light on ... and other craziness.

[highdesertdreams]

My "new" 2000 Insight (156k miles, 10k old IMA battery)has been behaving so crazy I hardly know where to start. I'm wondering if the fact that the IMA AND brake light come on simultaneously points to anything specific ?

I've also had the check engine light on with and without the above lights. The check engine light has often gone off without anything done on my part.

Also ... the 12v battery light comes on with or without or in combination with the other lights. The 12v light has also gone off without me doing anything. When checked with a multimeter, the 12v battery is always at 12+ volts.

Often, everything is working fine, charging, getting bars, assisting, no warning lights and then 10 minutes or one hour into a drive warning lights come on, the IMA battery indicator shows the battery discharging (all bars down to 1-2 bars) in less than a minute without me using any assist.

It also seems like my fuel gauge isn't going down from full, even after driving 150 miles.

I KNOW THAT MICE/PACRATS HAVE BEEN VISITING. I've already repaired chewed wires on the drivers side ft. driving light (yellow) and some other two wired item coming out of the main fuse box on the drivers side, up front under the hood. I haven't yet located any other obviously chewed wires under the hood.

Anyways ... Can anyone give me any hints as to where I might START trying to diagnose/fix all this craziness ?

Thanks for ANY assistance,
Frank in AZ

p.s. I did install a big mean rat trap under the hood this morning.
p.p.s. The car usually is only driven 100+/- miles once a week.

[samwichse]

Bad ground straps.

Unbalanced or worn out IMA battery (quick negative recal).

I usually get 130-140 miles before my first bar on the fuel gauge drops.

[Willie Williford]

Do a "load test" on your 12V battery. Sounds like you have an interm. connection or a weak cell in the 12V. Check your ground straps (3). All normally done when trying to fix or guess at any electrical problems. A bad battery can show 12V volts at rest.
The gas tank is not shaped for a consistent lowering of the gauge. Most drivers get at least 145 miles on the Insight before the gauge starts to move.
My solution for mice in the engine bay is to leave the hood open overnight just a little. The mice don't like light so a short piece of 2X4 has worked for me over the last 11 years on all my cars. Don't leave your windows down over 1/2 inch when parked or the mice will get inside the vehicle.
HTH
Willie

[Willie Williford]

Do a "load test" on your 12V battery. Sounds like you have an interm. connection or a weak cell in the 12V. Check your ground straps (3). All normally done when trying to fix or guess at any electrical problems. A bad battery can show 12V volts at rest.
The gas tank is not shaped for a consistent lowering of the gauge. Most drivers get at least 145 miles on the Insight before the gauge starts to move.
My solution for mice in the engine bay is to leave the hood open overnight just a little. The mice don't like light so a short piece of 2X4 has worked for me over the last 11 years on all my cars. Don't leave your windows down over 1/2 inch when parked or the mice will get inside the vehicle.
HTH
Willie

[gilbertguy]

Also we need to know what codes are logged in your computer? Also depending on what code you have and how degraded your battery is if you rev the engine over about 4000 rpm it will stop charging the 12v battery and cause the red light to come on. It should reset after a short period of time and the red light go off. To be honest from your crazy description it sounds like a bad ground wire or corroded up battery terminal.

[highdesertdreams]

OK, I'll check/repair ground straps and research how to do a "load test" on the 12volt battery.

Thanks.



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Originally Posted by Willie Williford

Do a "load test" on your 12V battery. Sounds like you have an interm. connection or a weak cell in the 12V. Check your ground straps (3). All normally done when trying to fix or guess at any electrical problems. A bad battery can show 12V volts at rest.
The gas tank is not shaped for a consistent lowering of the gauge. Most drivers get at least 145 miles on the Insight before the gauge starts to move.
My solution for mice in the engine bay is to leave the hood open overnight just a little. The mice don't like light so a short piece of 2X4 has worked for me over the last 11 years on all my cars. Don't leave your windows down over 1/2 inch when parked or the mice will get inside the vehicle.
HTH
Willie

[highdesertdreams]

Originally Posted by gilbertguy

Also we need to know what codes are logged in your computer?

=== How would I go about getting the codes logged into my computer ?
AutoZone ? Or ?


"Also depending on what code you have and how degraded your battery is if you rev the engine over about 4000 rpm it will stop charging the 12v battery and cause the red light to come on."

=== By degraded battery, do you mean the 12v battery or IMA ?
By red light, do you mean the 12v battery symbol under the CEL ?

I'm remain curious about the (parking)brake light and IMA light coming on together. I wonder if those lights have something in common ? Common ground ? Common fuse or connector ? Hmmm.



"It should reset after a short period of time and the red light go off. To be honest from your crazy description it sounds like a bad ground wire or corroded up battery terminal.

"

=== About the only thing I can say for certain is that the 12v battery terminals are clean and in good condition. I'll check grounds and report back.

Thanks.

[gilbertguy]

Yep, Autozone will pull your codes for you but you can also do the blink test using the lights on your dash. Depending on the code you get you might have to perform the blink test to narrow down the correct code number.
Reading Vehicle Error blink codes

[highdesertdreams]

Originally Posted by gilbertguy

Yep, Autozone will pull your codes for you but you can also do the blink test using the lights on your dash. Depending on the code you get you might have to perform the blink test to narrow down the correct code number.
Reading Vehicle Error blink codes

=== AUTOZONE is 40 miles away so I'll try the blink test. Right now I'm following yesterdays advice and renewing ground straps, which were not in good shape ... and ... (externally) charging the 12v battery, which maybe has some weak cells according to my el-cheapo hygrometer.

I appreciate the avice I'm getting from forum members.
Thanks.

[gilbertguy]

Hey Frank,
Where are you located at in AZ? Add your location to your signiture block if you get a chance. Also send me a private message at my email and I'll let you know when all the AZ G1 Insight owners are planning a get together.

My email is: markb101@cox.net
Mark