Suddenly yesterday when I started the car, the IMA light came on and the assist stop working completely (I had driven it to the mechanic's to get tires changed and had had no problems at all). It is not charging or assisting, but the charge bar at the bottom indicates there is charging going on (sorry, I don't know what that's called or if it is even tied to the IMA). It is a 2001 Insight with 106,000 miles on it. Could this be a fuse problem? The battery indicator seemed to show draining the battery down to slightly below half, but would immediately recharge it to nearly full. Now the battery indicator is saying the batteries are almost completely charged. And boy, is it eating gas! Probably used about 2 gallons to drive 17 miles...
Take it to an Autozone and ask them to pull your CEL (Check Engine Light) codes, I'm going to guess that you have a 1449 code but let's see what they find. You talked about battery level dropping to half and then back to full, you might be talking about negative and positive recalibrations. Has your battery level been jumping up or down large amounts of bars at a time, this indicates a weak out of balance battery. Also does your battery level drop fast if you use assist much?
Just looked for the nearest Autozone, so will try to get it by there today and will post the codes. The batteries were doing some quick drops and recharges about a couple months ago, but that seemed to correct itself. Had to let it sit for a couple of weeks until I could get a new tire to replace the relatively new one that was cut by a pothole. I was hoping it was a fuse issue, but seeing how expensive that replacement can be, I'm not sure what to hope for... Winning the lottery maybe?
Unfortunately, the IMA light is rarely due to something simple like a fuse. I am also betting on P1449.
Letting the car sit for a couple of weeks is what did your battery in. It is related to the quick drops and recharges.
You should still be able to get decent mileage, though reduced. 8.5MPG is a little extreme.
If you elect to have a new battery put in, don't go to the dealership - look into the BetterBattery.
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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
For a short term fix once you know what the codes are try disconnecting the negative terminal on the 12V battery under the hood, wait about 10 seconds and then put it back on and tighten it up. This will reset the codes and it will force charge into the battery while the system calibrates. Make sure the enviromental controls are turned off and hold the RPM at about 2500, it will take a few minutes but once the battery gets to 4 bars it should jump up and charging stop. Do this 2 or 3 times, code will eventually come back but this will buy you some time for now.
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IMA light on suddenly; no assist or charging
I am also betting on P1449.
