I2 needed jump start

[Prodesigner]

Came home from a business trip (Vegas ) and found my I2 dead as a doornail in the airport garage.

The front dome light had been left on when I ran out and had drained the engine start battery dead. So it was 2AM, I found the airport parking truck that drives around and counts cars every night. He had a portable jumper battery, so I took a chance and used it to jump start the car.

I was afraid of hurting the electical system, but at that point I had few options. The funny thing is the car started up, but would die in 15-20 seconds after the jump battery was disconneted. After the 4th attempt, we let the jump battery stay plugged for 2 minutes, then the car had enough juce to drive again. It ran fine all the way home and is running fine since then.

I am disappointed that a modern car with such a complex electrical system does not have a dome light time out to protect the battery, this is common on many lesser vehicles..

Everything seems back to normal now..

[blueridge]

that suxs.. i too have went out to the car because i forgot something to see the dome light on and was like.. how the hell.. i have been lucky though.. i didnt drive my insight for 3 months.. i did however go and crank it every few weeks and it started no problems.. now that its spring again i drive it daily..

[Cobb]

The center one does automatically cut off after a few minutes. You can also change some of the settings through the mid.

The front map lights are hard wired and live 24/7. I replaced mines with leds to further save energy.

The battery under the hood is just for the electrical stuff like idiot lights, computer, fuel pump.The battery in the trunk does a lot of the work including keeping the 12 volt battery charged.

If there is a next time, Id rev and hold the engine at 3 grand and wait till the regen/assist meter moves back to the nutral part, usually a few minutes as that indicates a full hybrid battery charge and when its charging it also charges the 12 volt side.

[jpleong]

Originally Posted by Cobb

The center one does automatically cut off after a few minutes. You can also change some of the settings through the mid.

The front map lights are hard wired and live 24/7. I replaced mines with leds to further save energy.

The battery under the hood is just for the electrical stuff like idiot lights, computer, fuel pump.The battery in the trunk does a lot of the work including keeping the 12 volt battery charged.

If there is a next time, Id rev and hold the engine at 3 grand and wait till the regen/assist meter moves back to the nutral part, usually a few minutes as that indicates a full hybrid battery charge and when its charging it also charges the 12 volt side.

Waitaminute...! I know for a fact that the map lights turn off when you lock the car (my wife leaves them on all the time and I find out the next time I start the car and the cabin is a tad brighter than it should be).

JP

[JimJohnD]

I didn't get that option either . The Electrical Troubleshooting book shows what Cobb suggested, the map lights are powered by fuse #1 (15A) and hot at all times. However, the dome light is switchable from either 'Off' on one side, 'On' on the other side and 'door/timer controlled' when in the center position. (page 114)

The center dome light has a default timeout of 30 seconds. Page 92 of the Owner's Manual covers changing it from 15, 30 or 60 seconds. As noted above, this would only apply with the switch in the center position. The cargo light is supplied from the same fuse.

[numbness4sound]

Originally Posted by jpleong

Waitaminute...! I know for a fact that the map lights turn off when you lock the car (my wife leaves them on all the time and I find out the next time I start the car and the cabin is a tad brighter than it should be).

JP

Really? I've left mine on all night twice now! But you know what, I don't think I locked the car because it happened when it was in the garage both times.

[jpleong]

Well, I enjoy proving myself wrong

I sat outside the car, turned the map light on, locked it and waited five minutes.

No magical dimming of the lights. But I SWEAR sometimes the maplight comes on when I start the car in the morning.

So, either...
1) There is a delayed timer somewhere (and for some length of time greater than five minutes)
or
2) The battery on my Insight is strong enough to last the whole night without a problem. Which will eventually be a problem as the battery is run down further and further. Well, if the local thieves don't break-in first.

Hmmm...
JP

[numbness4sound]

Originally Posted by jpleong

Well, I enjoy proving myself wrong

I sat outside the car, turned the map light on, locked it and waited five minutes.

No magical dimming of the lights. But I SWEAR sometimes the maplight comes on when I start the car in the morning.

So, either...
1) There is a delayed timer somewhere (and for some length of time greater than five minutes)
or
2) The battery on my Insight is strong enough to last the whole night without a problem. Which will eventually be a problem as the battery is run down further and further. Well, if the local thieves don't break-in first.

Hmmm...
JP

My battery survived both times. I think it's strong enough to last the night.

[Cobb]

Since its a map light Id suggest exchanging it for an led bulb.

I think the lx vs lx nav has a diffferent map thingie next to the rear view mirror. I do not have the nav and its hard wired with no delay or dimmer.

The dome light does dim and I sat mines in the mid to stay on for several minutes.

[Ehetleos]

Once you exit the car and not lock the doors, the car's computer counts down a few minutes and then auto-locks the doors (I already managed to lock myself out once...) If the dome light is in ON position, it will stay on and starve the baterry. Same with the map lights. I once owned o small Renault Clio which would turn all lights off when you locked the car, including lights seto to the ON position.