[Ullearn]

After reading through many posts I see now we don't have Alternators but DC-DC Converters that act as alternators to our 12v battery. A few questions to help me figure out if I just have a bad battery or bigger issues.

I left my car sitting for 3 months not started (asked the wife to start it while I was gone, but somehow it slipped her mind). Upon returning the car wouldn't start.

- I attempted to push start, ran like a dog for 3 seconds and died
- I recharged the battery via battery charger (disconnected from car)
- Charged battery car starts up but the battery light is on
- I tested the voltage at the battery while the car was running, expected 13+ volts, but got 11.4v
- Tried the old alternator test by disconnecting the negative lead, car died instantly

So my questions are:
1. What should the DC-DC Converter be charging at?
2. Should a DC-DC Converter be able to keep the car running without a battery?
3. Can your car with a good battery able to keep the car running the negative disconnected?

I am hoping. the 12v battery is just toast when under load and I don't want to learn the hard way by driving around until the car just dies on me, but do I have a bigger issue on my hands?

 

[MN Driver]

1. What should the DC-DC Converter be charging at?
When it drops down to 12v, it will trigger a higher voltage around about 14v.
Without the IMA battery operating though, you need to rev the engine to get the IMA motor to generate the extra power to charge the 12v battery at a higher voltage.

2. Should a DC-DC Converter be able to keep the car running without a battery?
With a working IMA battery, Ron at Hybrid-battery-repair has done it before.

3. Can your car with a good battery able to keep the car running the negative disconnected?
It won't matter if its a good battery or a rabbit, if you don't have both terminals connected to a battery its as if you didn't have a battery there at all. You mneed both terminals connected for it to matter if the battey is good or not.


Try this:
1. Pull the 12v battery negative lead for 30 seconds and reattach it.
2. Start the car and run it at 3500RPM, within 10 seconds or so you should see the charge indicator show 4 bars. --Do not exceed 4000RPM and don't drop below 3300RPM.
3. Hold 3500RPM until the 4 bars go away.

If you get an IMA light on after the engine starts when you've just pulled the negative battery lead right beforehand and the high voltage battery doesn't charge, the problem is a dead IMA battery.

Tell us the result of this. Also, if the red 12v battery light is on, its not charging the 12v battery because the DC-DC converter has faulted to off, which will happen if you go over 4000RPM and the IMA battery isn't ready to take the load, or if the IMA battery is in bad enough shape with an IMA light on.

 

[Ullearn]

Thanks MN Driver, I will try your tips and see the results. To clarify only the red 12v battery light is on no, IMA light.

In a normal ICE car the alternator / negative ground trick use to work as far as I knew, as the alternator could keep the engine running alone once started.

 

[Eli]

Hmm.

So even after resetting the computers(pulling the negative battery terminal), the battery light is still lit? That seems odd.

It seems very unlikely that the DC-DC spontaneously died while the car wasn't driven for 3 months.

Mice?.....

 

[MN Driver]

I thought this was an IMA light issue at the same time, does the battery gauge(high voltage) showing any bars? I can't remember if there is a fuse between the DC-DC and the rest of the car, if there is I'd check that, I'm not sure if the 80A fuse in the underhood fuse block is that or not. Also could be an issue with mice chewing on wires, you'd have the check in the IPU compartment in the back for that, be careful high voltage is present, don't touch any conductors in there if you do check it out, heed the warnings on the box and keep the switch off if you go in there.

 

[Eli]

Yeah, that's what the 80A underhood fuse is technically for. But I think the car won't start at all if it's missing or blown?

 

[Ullearn]

Sorry for taking so long to respond. Even though the 12v battery light (not IMA) was on I went ahead and took the car for an extended drive and after putting a few miles on the car the 12v battery light shut itself off. Hasn't been back on since. I keep meaning to measure what the batter is charging at now just to see if the 11.x is still there. Otherwise no issues and the IMA has gone through several cycles since the car hit the road again.

 

[gilbertguy]

I'm worried that after it sat for so long that your IMA light will be coming on in the next few months? Do you have a grid charger or access to one so you can rebalance your IMA battery? Ron from hybrid battery repair talks about this quite often that it may work for a little while but if you don't recondition the battery a code is in your near future.

 

[Longsnowsm]

I agree with GilbertGuy on this one. We made the mistake of letting our Insight sit for a very long time without driving it. We had a brand new IMA battery and 12 volt battery in the car when it was left parked for a really long time and the 12v went dead. We had to replace the 12v battery when we decided to start driving the car again. The car started behaving a little odd shortly after we started driving it again as we started to see recals. Then a few months later we got the dreaded IMA light. Luckily we just discovered it just before the warranty expired and just had it replaced under warranty. The car seems strong again with the new IMA battery.

I think letting the car sit is what killed the batteries so the note to self is to make sure that the car gets started regularly and taken for a spin every once in a while. I am eagerly awaiting the grid charger from Mike to be ready and hoping that I can find someone to assist me with getting that installed on our car so that we can keep the battery balanced and topped off when parked. I would also like to add a DC plug that is direct wired to the battery so that I can put a solar trickle charger in the car to keep the 12v also topped up during extended periods when the car might not be used. Anything to keep the batteries happy in this car.

Longsnowsm

 

[Ullearn]

Well you both were right, IMA light came on two days ago. Dealer is replacing next week under warranty - http://www.insightcentral.net/forum...-how-many-batteries-has-your-insight-had.html

Lesson is don't let your car sit for any extended period of time, especially if your out of warranty

 

[gilbertguy]

I am the 4th owner and my understanding is that it was replaced twice before I got the car. Since I got it I have gotten codes and had it rebuilt, it ran for 5 months and then threw codes again. Had it worked on again under warranty, I have a grid charger on order with Mike in NY that I'm hoping will keep the cells healthy for several years to come. I have a 2000 with 260,000 so there is no hope of getting any kind of Honda warranty help.