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Honda Insight IMA warning & Spark Plug query

4K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Paddow 
#1 ·
Hi Folks ,

I have purchased a 2009 Honda Insight Hybrid here in Netherlands last month , it has run 125K Kilometers .
Now I went to service the car the at a local garage after the purchase . The mechanic has replaced engine oil , filters and 4 spark plug as a part of the service . Also told me the car battery 12V ( not the IMA ) needs to be replaced as well . However he did not have one, so asked me to come next week . The IMA ( hybrid battery ) he said is working fine and has a good life . .

Now today while driving I got a IMA warning . Can it be due to the 12V car battery ?

Also while browsing the forum I found that Honda insight has 8 spark plus not 4 , is it something the mechanic has missed or here in Europe we have a different model of Honda Insight .

Thanks in advance for your help .
 
#2 ·
All I2's have 8 plugs ... he either misspoke or did the easy front 4 plugs ... the back ones are a pain and require removing the cowl/wiper arms ... as for the ima light ... that could indeed b caused by a bad 12v as they are sometimes responsible for all sorts of gremlins and anomalies ... so long as your car didnt sit for a long time before you owned it the ima battery pack should b fine ... it can get lazy too and regular use usually brings them back in line ... at any rate, if i had to bet its probably the 12v ... best
 
#8 ·
I have driven almost 100KM since the IMA light flashed , no issue or recurring of the IMA light so far . I am going to change the 12V battery tomorrow alongside the 4 remaining spark plugs . Will the garage be able to check the cause of the IMA warning that I got 3 days back ( some sort of error code , when they connect to the motherboard ) .

Also different in the spark plugs ( 4new / 4 used ) can cause any issue ? Though I will change rest of the 4 tomorrow only , just fearing if the difference has caused any damage so far .
 
#9 · (Edited)
Hi, I am also in The Netherlands. I live in Rotterdam. I have done quite some work on my IMA (Honda Civic 2009). I have almost 300k km now and I still keep my original IMA alive and well.

The dealer can hook up the diagnostic computer and read the IMA data.
It can tell you the available capacity and the voltages of the sticks. This will give you a good idea of the health of your IMA.

The dealer refused to give me this information (not allowed from Honda), but the mechanic let me take pictures of the screen with my phone.

If I can help you with any advice I will be happy to.

Btw, I am planning a full reconditioning of my IMA soon. You are welcome to visit and see how things work.

Cheers

EDIT: I got my first IMA light at 160.000 km. Just once and then it went off. At 180.000 km the IMA light went on but then my pack was at the point where the IMA light stayed on. In my case it was caused by 1 sick cell out of the 132. I had 1 cell with high self-discharge. Just for your information.
If you had an IMA light once, maybe a grid charger can be a good solution before your pack gets worse.
 
#11 ·
Hi Paddow ,

Thank you so much , it feels good to have a fellow hybrid user nearby . I will get in touch with you .

If you can elaborate a bit on 'If you had an IMA light once, maybe a grid charger can be a good solution before your pack gets worse.' , it would be great . Since I am new to the hybrid world and have limited knowledge of the terms and jargons .

Thanks in advance .
 
#10 ·
Update :

Got the rest of the 4 spark plugs replaced also the 12V battery . The mechanic connected his laptop to the mother board and checked for any error code and found none .

Total expense for this service :
Spark Plugs : 8 X 25 = 200
Battery : 1 X 100 = 100
All Filters & Engine oil = 150
Mechanics Charge = 50

Subtotal = 500 Euro

Are these prices fine , or I have spent too much . The engine oil , filters and battery I had to replace , but the spark plugs I was not sure . But the mechanic suggested to change it . Till 2017 This car was regularly serviced at a Honda dealer here in Netherlands . However then in 2018 it ran only 1200 KM hence no service was done apart from engine oil change . So I did not take any risk and went for a big service .

Now the car is at 127K . I plan to use it at least next 2 years . I drive around 12-15K a year .
 
#14 ·
Update :

The mechanic connected his laptop to the mother board and checked for any error code and found none .

Now the car is at 127K . I plan to use it at least next 2 years . I drive around 12-15K a year .
egads might be right. After sitting for a long time you can get an IMA light.

If you go to the official Honda dealer, they can read the IMA data. Your independent mechanic does not have the Honda diagnostic tool.

My Honda dealer charged me EUR 25 for that.

When you do, note the battery capacity and the voltages of the battery modules.
 
#12 ·
The IMA battery pack consists of a number of cells (in my civic I have 132 cells), which are connected in series. If 1 or 2 cells start to get weaker, this reduces the performance of the whole pack.
With the years of use, the cells also tend to get unbalanced.

A grid charger uses low current to charge and balance the whole pack. So all the cells are topped up.

If you continue to use a pack that is unbalanced, the weaker cells will have a hard time and will deteriorate faster. An occasional grid charge will help keep the pack healthy for a longer time.

If those 1 or 2 weak cells go really bad, then the trouble will be bigger to fix the issue.

My pack was quite bad when I learned about this stuff. I was driving with an IMA light on for about 2 years. In my thread you can read my whole story.

https://www.insightcentral.net/foru...666-hch-2009-ima-reconditioning-progress.html
 
#13 ·
For those following along at home, 127,000km is about 78,914 miles

Based on that, I doubt you needed spark plugs yet. The multi information display will set a code for that around 169,000km. As we who have been dealing with SECOND generation Insights said, this was probably only a 12v underhood battery issue. This is based on a lot of experiences reported.
However, you now report that the your Insight was not or barely driven for a whole year. That can cause issues with the IMA. Most reports of weak IMA in the second gen from sitting around (usually on dealer lots) do end up being revived by just using them. So I would not worry about grid charging just yet.
Because of hardware and software changes, a lot of what is true for other Honda hybrids does not apply. At least not yet.
 
#19 ·
My special canbus enabled OBDIIC&C can read the tap voltage data for the HCH2. ;)

I have no idea if it would work on the G2 insight as I don't have one to test it on.

I doubt it is very different..
 
#20 ·
Perhaps the easiest way to make a first diagnosis is if you are getting negative recalibration when you empty the IMA.

What do the veterans in here think about this?

You go on the highway, put your foot down until the IMA reaches the lowest point. If you don't get a recalibration, then you have no problem. Right?

If you do, maybe it is a good idea to invest in a grid charger.
 
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