[Oregon Green]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and wanted to get some feedback on a recent MAJOR repair to my 2000 Insight. The IMA light came on and my local dealer had to replace the main battery at only 45K. One of the 144 cells went out but the car was working perfectly. Fortunately, I purchased the extended warranty ($3,000+ repair cost).

How many of you have had the same thing happen? I love my Inisight but my faith in this modle is really shaken now. 45K seems really premature for a main battery failure.

Thanx,
Ryan

 

[Holicow]

Welcome.

From what little I know, this would be a relatively rare event. Glad it was taken care of. Perhaps you could give some details on the repair experience?

Also, the IMA battery warranty is 8y/80K mi, so an extended warranty should not come into play in this case.

 

[Corey872]

They replaced the whole battery pack for one bad cell? IIRC, edmunds.com did a long term test of the Insight back in 2000, they also reported a bad cell, but (again, if memory serves) the shop only replaced the one bad cell in their pack.

Maybe the repair procedure has changed since then, or someone at Honda was trying to do you a favor and get you a totally new battery?

 

[Guest]

Hi Corey782:

___I may be wrong on this but IIRC, each of the pack’s cells are specifically voltage matched to one another so replacing the pack was Honda’s way of ensuring cell voltage matches and thus the performance of the entire pack (power capacity and longevity) was kept intact.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:33y5l3hs][email protected][/email:33y5l3hs]

 

[windmill]

($3,000+ repair cost).

:shock: WOW.
If you didn't have that extended warrenty, should they have replaced it also ? I tought that there is a 8 year standard warranty on the IMA system.

 

[Corey872]

xcel,

I went back through some of my old links and found the article. It was during the Edmunds long term test in the March, 2001 report...

While in Memmer's possession, our long-term Insight went in for its 15,000-mile checkup to Honda of Santa Monica. This included a whole litany of services -- changing filters, lubing the chassis, checking tires and brakes. Overall, the car was pronounced in good health, with 4 millimeters of brake pad depth front and rear, the best tires already on the front (and thus no rotating necessary), and no major illnesses found. Interesting to note: The dealership found a single bad battery cell in the rechargeable battery pack and replaced it. Other than that, the hybrid charging system required no service. Total cost: $163.91.

http://edmunds.com/new/2004/honda/i...le.html?articleId=44027&editorialpage=page012

I guess it really depends on what the "it" is referring to...the cell or the entire pack. :lol: They could very well be matching cells...or decided they need to start since that repair was made in '01.

 

[Tim Maddux]

http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclope ... ttery.html

Note that the batteries are in sealed packs of 2, so it's likely that the minimum number to be replaced is a pair of batteries. Since the batteries in the module are all in series, I don't see why it would be necessary to "match" their voltages so long as the whole module can produce the 144v (120cells * 1.2v) required for the IMA.

 

[Armin]

to match or not to match

Since the batteries in the module are all in series, I don't see why it would be necessary to "match" their voltages so long as the whole module can produce the 144v (120cells * 1.2v) required for the IMA.

Matching cells is not done to make them produce equal voltage output. What is really matched is the cell capacity. This is to allow them to charge and discharge equally.

For a series connected battery pack, all cells receive the same current. So it's important that they all get full at the same time, or you risk overcharging the one with the lowest capacity. Then, at the next discharge, that same "weakest link" would get deep-discharged and potentially reversed before the other cells are empty. Repeat a few dozen times and you have a new dead cell...

On a used battery pack, all cells have aged. So it'd be hard to find a replacement cell that matches them. I seriously doubt Honda would ever replace individual cells or sub-modules.

 

[Tim Maddux]

Makes sense. Thanks Armin!

 

[Oregon Green]

thanks all!

Hey guys,

Thanks for responding to my post. It was cool to learn more about how the battery works and WHY they replaced the whole pack. Next time I will have to pay for it outta pocket and will probably attempt to replace the bad cell only. It all depends on the life of the car (200K hopefully) and when the next battery failure occurs.

Warm regards,
Ryan Smyhte