IMA light/ P1447 warranty and costs

redracer · 09-29-2011, 09:16 PM

1.Does anyone know if the warranty for a 2000 MT Insight has been extended beyond 150,000 since Service Bulletin TSB 06-057 came out?

2. Where can you find service bulletins?? I called Honda customer service and they will not release it to owners, only dealers.

3. Anybody have an idea what this will cost if not covered, and anybody have luck getting a deal when it was out of warranty?

I am in Georgia, had my first IMA battery replacement when the car only had 70,000 (under warranty) The car now has 153,000 and the IMA light just came on today. I got the code checkec at Autozone for free (P1447) so I'm assuming same thing. Honda dealer says he may be able to talk to Honda and work out a deal, but insists the warranty is 8 yr/80,000 which I found was replaced by 10 yr / 100,000. I found a copy of SB 06-057 with ALOT of work proving differently but still out of warranty unless Honda wants to be nice and give it to me. They want the paperwork on the last battery replacement but am not sure that would help my case since it was free.

Any help or comments appreciated.
WOW I loved my Insight until today.

met-head · 09-29-2011, 11:12 PM

Welcome to the out of luck club. However, all is not lost. I too have a 2000 with over 150,00 miles and not to long ago pulled a p1447 code and a lit IMA light. I thought I'd be shopping for a new battery. But I did 3 consecutive forced relearns and installed the Calpod clutch switch, which lets me disable charge / assist at will. Now I keep full bars on my SOC and rarely use assist and just enough regen to keep the pack full. Now I still get over 70 mpg without much effort and feel like I can drive like this indefinitely.

gilbertguy · 09-30-2011, 12:59 AM

Here is a thread that talks about the warranty:
US IMA warranty 10 year extension UPDATED to all 50 states!

Sounds like your 2000 is out of luck at 157,000.

Eli · 09-30-2011, 01:49 AM

It's also out of luck if it was sold after September 30th, 2001.

Being a 2000, this is likely the case.

You can certainly try for the goodwill repair, it could go either way. Don't have much to lose. If they do accept it, you'll still probably be on the hook for half the costs.

In that case, it would probably be better to buy a BetterBattery.

And a grid charger.

redracer · 09-30-2011, 10:15 AM

Its at 153,000 not 157,000. Some of the Insights are warranteed up to 157,000 from what I read. Even so, I am time barred unless you consider that this battery was installed in 2008 and less than 80,000 miles.

Eli · 09-30-2011, 10:38 AM

He was saying that it would be out of warranty at 157,000. But the 10 years expired first.

When a battery is replaced under warranty, the warranty period doesn't start over.

redracer · 09-30-2011, 11:12 AM

Is it safe to drive as is??
If so do I just watch to make sure the bars don't get too low before

Dealer confirmed it is the battery. They are going to try to get the regional manager to ask Honda to honor the warranty but may take into next week to get a final answer. Meanwhile service adviser thinks it is safe to drive. He thinks it is running off the 12V only, although auto stop did kick in. Another dealer told me to have it towed.

Eli · 09-30-2011, 11:37 AM

LOL.. Dealerships. Worthless.

It's safe to drive as long as the red 12V battery light on the dash does not come on.

**Hybrid-Battery-Repair** · 09-30-2011, 02:38 PM

As long as the battery light is not on, you can drive the car safely. If it comes on, contact us for instructions on how to bypass the system and put it back out.

Consider our repair service or our BetterBattery. It's a lot less money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by redracer

Is it safe to drive as is??
If so do I just watch to make sure the bars don't get too low before

Dealer confirmed it is the battery. They are going to try to get the regional manager to ask Honda to honor the warranty but may take into next week to get a final answer. Meanwhile service adviser thinks it is safe to drive. He thinks it is running off the 12V only, although auto stop did kick in. Another dealer told me to have it towed.

gsfent · 09-30-2011, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redracer

Its at 153,000 not 157,000. Some of the Insights are warranteed up to 157,000 from what I read. Even so, I am time barred unless you consider that this battery was installed in 2008 and less than 80,000 miles.

00-01 have 150,000 warranty. 02-04 had 157,500 (150,000 plus 5% for odo inaccuracy).

I would price out HBR standard or Better Battery replacement ahead of time and measure that against what the dealer offers.

Regards,
Jerry