[go81816]

I have a 2002 and driving to work the other day, I had the check engine light and the IMA light come on. No change in performance, and it seemed the IMA was still assisting (i.e. the charge/assist indicator still worked as expected). I immediately pulled over, turned off the car, and restarted. The IMA light did its normal power-on sequence and turned off, as normal. Of course the check engine was still lit.

After being told by Honda that even with the still in effect I would have to consent to a potential $75 diagnose fee, I decided to go to my local Autozone to see if they could give me any information about the code stored. Now, forgive my verbosity here, but I was suspecting at least SOME indication of an IMA system failure. I have the Insight service manual and the DTC troubleshooting index for the IMA system lists no "normal" engine codes, that is they are all two digit codes as opposed to the letter followed by a four digit code I'm familiar with. Anyway, Autozone told me the code was P1565, Idle speed control failure. This does not seem to relate to any IMA problem and I guess I'm skeptical at this point.

Has anyone heard of anything like this or had any problems with idle speed control on their insight?

 

[darren539]

I've had problems with my check engine light every month or so on my 2000 Insight. The problems only began after I took it in for an ECM recall. When I took it back to the dealer, they said that the check engine light and the recall were "coincidence". Still since it was under warranty, they replaced the catalytic convertor. This didn't remedy the situation, but since the check engine light would turn off after a day or two, I wasn't too concerned. That was about six months ago.

I was scheduled to bring my car in for service this past Monday when the check engine light came on in the morning. I alerted the service manager about the problem and they said that they would check it out for me. It turns out that the sensor needed to be replaced and are getting the part via FedEx today.

I'm not sure why your dealer is asking for a $75 diagnostic fee if it is still under warranty (Ripoff!). I've never heard of such a fee for warranty items. I would suggest that you look for a different dealer to service your car, or file a complaint with Honda.

 

[go81816]

Further info...

Thanks for the reply.

After much hassle, I finally was left with no alternative but to consent to the potential $75 charge. I've been through two Honda dealers already for previous dissatisifactions, and it's getting difficult to find others in my area. Up until this point, I had been overly impressed with this dealership. I know I'm probably just ranting here, but it feels good to vent.

So, I wanted to go on a road trip, wanted to make sure there were no major problems with the car, and thus consented to the allegedly *potential* $75 charge. Now I was assured over and over that the $75 was only charged in the event that the problem indicated by the CEL was NOT covered under my extended warranty. Turns out the codes were the P1565 mentioned previously and a P1600, a general IMA failure. The dealership performed some tests on the IMA system and found no problems. They said they contacted Honda and surmised that the IMA code was some sort of weird fluke/chance occurrence. They STILL charged me the $75!! Believe me I'm going to be contacting someone abot this.

 

[darren539]

Hopefully you put it on a credit card so you can dispute the transaction. I would definitely let Honda know about the problems you had with the dealership. Honda also sends out comment cards at random to people who get service from authorized dealers, definitely let them know about the problems you experienced.

If they do not send you a survey, I would write a letter and cc: the owner of the dealership. Hopefully they will do something about it - I complained about the poor service that I had (on more than one occasion) and they offered me a free oil change and a free detailing for my hassles. I can't gurarantee that you will receive something for your troubles, but it definitely puts them on notice. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

I brought my red Insight in to the local dealer today here in No. California, and they tried to charge me $100 for diagnosing even on warranty, but after very little fight they did it for free. You should write a nice but firm letter and see if you can get a credit for your $75.

 

[cakley]

Honda service.. :roll: I wrote up a long letter and mailed to the SouthEast region Honda over a month ago. I have yet to get any response. Do a search with my user name on thius site and you can read my letter.

I fully understand that the Insight is a complex car. If Honda can't/won't train or service our cars at every dealership they should at least have a 1800 number for an Insight expert to give proper advice to owners and/or service techs. Its sad when I get more help on this web site than at a dealership. :shock: The last time I took the car in for troubleshooting the car was driven 2 miles round trip and then I was told "nothing could be felt".

Keep us posted on who and what you say to Honda. I need to send another letter.

 

[Pod]

I am in the middle of this with my 2000 right now. The Check Engine Light has been going on and off for some time. For a while I was able to 'reset' it by loosening and retightening the gas cap and going through a few start and stop cycles. I finally took it into the local dealer and was told that it would cost around $90 for 'diagnosis'. The car is still under HondaCare, so they said that if the problem was with a covered part, the 'diagnosis' fee would also be covered, otherwise I would have to pay it. It turned out to be an Ox sensor, which was covered. They had to order the part so I will have to go back in again on this. We will see then what other fees they try to tack on.