We purchased a 2000 Insight the other day. It obviously has lots of issues, but we are trying to figure it out. When we picked it up, every light was on even the 12v battery light. The battery wasn't registering charging, it showed dead flat. It was showing that it was getting 62mpg as I was driving. After driving it for 20 minutes or so, all the lights started flickering, the car got really hot and it died. Pushed it off to the side of the road and brought back another battery from my other Insight that was known good.
When I put it all in, everything worked. No lights on and the battery was charging. Full charge came quickly and assist was nice also. The battery seemed better than my other two Insights.
I decided to drive it for awhile to see what happened. After 15 minutes, the lights started flickering on the dash and the warning lights popped on. I imagine if I were to drive it further it would have died like before.
Does anyone have any idea what this is?
Thank you for your help!
Sarah
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Insight #1 - Silver '01 5MT @ 158,388 as of 7/11 - Best Tank: 84.5MPG over 807mi
Insight #2 - Silver '01 5MT @ 450,000 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 86.0MPG over 800mi
Insight #3 - Silver '00 5MT, MIMA #163P, BCM Gauge, OBDIIC&C Gauge, BetterBattery @ 228,869 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 78.4mpg over 687mi
Pft! That was so easy. Sure enough, all three ground straps were toast. Replaced those and it does better, but now sounds terrible and drives shuddering. I suppose that might be a motor mount, but I didn't have a chance to peek.
Has anyone wrapped the ground straps exposed wires all the way up to the crimping to protect the wires from fraying at the week crimpings? It seems odd to only have the center portion wrapped.
Thank you again! You guys rock. :O
Pft! That was so easy. Sure enough, all three ground straps were toast. Replaced those and it does better, but now sounds terrible and drives shuddering. I suppose that might be a motor mount, but I didn't have a chance to peek.
Has anyone wrapped the ground straps exposed wires all the way up to the crimping to protect the wires from fraying at the week crimpings? It seems odd to only have the center portion wrapped.
Thank you again! You guys rock. :O
Sounds like you used Honda parts.
Advanced auto makes nicer, and cheaper. Mine are 7~8 years old.
Something to remember next time.
You can always just make your own too, which is what I did.
Used some 8 gauge wire and ring terminals.. total cost.. dunno, just stuff I had laying around.
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Insight #1 - Silver '01 5MT @ 158,388 as of 7/11 - Best Tank: 84.5MPG over 807mi
Insight #2 - Silver '01 5MT @ 450,000 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 86.0MPG over 800mi
Insight #3 - Silver '00 5MT, MIMA #163P, BCM Gauge, OBDIIC&C Gauge, BetterBattery @ 228,869 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 78.4mpg over 687mi
So I replaced the two ground straps on the car now. The car had sat for awhile so we flipped the IMA switch off in the back until we get the grid charger here We did nothing else to the car. Mike started it up and it worked ok (still idles like crud). He started to drive it to test it and the 12v battery light came on and the IMA light of course was on. When he idled or just went easy on the pedal, the 12v light would go out. If he put a high demand on the gas or just stuck his foot in the gas while stopped, the 12v light would come on. I'm not sure how many rpms... maybe 4 or 5? Is this the DC converter or have I missed something again?
Thanks for your help!
Sarah
With the battery switch off or a major IMA fault(HV Contactor disengaged), the DC-DC converter gets its power from the IMA motor, and the IMA motor's output isn't buffered by the battery since it is not in the circuit.
The DC-DC converter's maximum voltage input is ~220V. At approximately 4,000RPM, the IMA motor's output voltage exceeds 220V, causing the DC-DC converter to shut down.
As long as you're not driving around in 2nd gear and 4,000RPM all the time, this should not affect normal driving.
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Insight #1 - Silver '01 5MT @ 158,388 as of 7/11 - Best Tank: 84.5MPG over 807mi
Insight #2 - Silver '01 5MT @ 450,000 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 86.0MPG over 800mi
Insight #3 - Silver '00 5MT, MIMA #163P, BCM Gauge, OBDIIC&C Gauge, BetterBattery @ 228,869 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 78.4mpg over 687mi
The DC-DC converter's maximum voltage input is ~220V. At approximately 4,000RPM, the IMA motor's output voltage exceeds 220V, causing the DC-DC converter to shut down.
We measure 3800 rpm as the overload speed on Civics. Is it the same for Insights? I've never checked.
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2000 MT #4227 175K miles - Citrus Yellow, BetterBattery
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Lots of lights on! Battery? DC/DC?
(summer driver)
Sure enough, all three ground straps were toast. Replaced those and it does better, but now sounds terrible and drives shuddering. I suppose that might be a motor mount, but I didn't have a chance to peek. 
We did nothing else to the car. Mike started it up and it worked ok (still idles like crud). He started to drive it to test it and the 12v battery light came on and the IMA light of course was on. When he idled or just went easy on the pedal, the 12v light would go out. If he put a high demand on the gas or just stuck his foot in the gas while stopped, the 12v light would come on. I'm not sure how many rpms... maybe 4 or 5? Is this the DC converter or have I missed something again? 
