[savintheworld]

Just got a new IMA installed in my 2000 5sp earlier this week. Have had it for 3 days now and I have not seen the recharge light come on once. The SOC has been at 3 bars below full for the whole time and the assist works fine. Getting great mpg, lean burn is fine. Was recharging prior to the IMA failure. Wondering if there is something amiss? :?

 

[savintheworld]

Just spoke with the dealer who put the new pack in. He said that in his experience (last one was a year ago) the new pack stays charged for quite some time at first and the other person who had theirs replaced also complained of this, but after several days of many miles it started ebbing and flowing correctly. I think this makes sense and will try to drive it a lot this weekend and see if I can get things moving. Sound legit?

 

[james]

Humm... The IMA logic restricts the battery charge to 20-80% of capacity, so if a new pack comes with the batteries fully charged, that would make sense.

 

[bfivelover]

Mine was replaced last year and charged on the 25 mile ride home from the dealer. If it's 3 bars below full and not charging, that doesn't seem right to me, at least in my experience. You will also find that a lot of dealers don't really know a great deal regarding how the Insight is supposed to work.

 

[savintheworld]

Okay, I drove about 40 miles today in the city, and saw it regen once(!). I got all excited, thinking okay finally we're moving along here. But never once since then. I have read in the knowledge base and encyclopedia sections and I don't think I am doing anything wrong. It should regen whenever decelerating, right? And going down hills? The one time I did see it charge, I was cruising with my foot off the throttle but was in gear and it went for a very short time. I did lose 2-3 more bars of charge today and am now almost half empty. When decelerating, I am usually in neutral and stay in neutral during the stop.

The other issue I am having, not sure if this is related, is that it is not entering idle stop. I am in WI, but it's been 70-80 degrees lately, and I haven't seen it do it once. Getting a bit frustrated and feel like something is wrong since the IMA replacement.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated, thanks!

 

[bfivelover]

When decelerating, I am usually in neutral and stay in neutral during the stop.

Decelerate IN GEAR :!: with your foot lightly on the brake. If you are coasting in neutral, it is not going to charge. Then when you stop, press the clutch in all the way and put it in neutral, then let the clutch out. If it doesn't enter auto stop, you may have a problem.

 

[savintheworld]

Okay, I will make a conscious effort to always decel in gear, but I know that I have decelerated in gear and it's not recharging at all except the one time that I was cruising in gear. Thanks for setting me straight on that! Still getting the hang of this sweet little car!

 

[savintheworld]

Charging, no charge light, idle stop not working

Okay, just went out for a 20 min drive to test your recs. When I first left there was a little action on the charge gauge when I was just going (not decel), but then it never came back on after the first minute of driving. It was however charging and I am now back up to 2 bars shy of full.

Did do the recommended decel in gear, then shift in to neutral at the stop, but no idle stop at all. There is a little shudder when it stops as if it's thinking about auto stopping, but it never does it. Thoughts?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure out if there is an issue that was caused when the IMA went and was replaced or if this is something entirely different. Thanks!

 

[james]

On the autostop, do you have A/C or climate control on? That can keep it from autostopping - I forget the details, but they're in older posts here.

Another possibility might be a bad thermostat. Mine won't autostop if the coolant temp is below about 140F. Does your temperature gauge show 4-6 bars lit (about 1/3 of the range)?

 

[savintheworld]

The A/C is off and on econ (just vent) and the temp gauge reads properly (gradually warms up to halfway). I drove it again this morning and there is still no charge light and auto stop is still not functioning. Looks like a call to the dealership as all of this was working before the IMA went out and was replaced. Frustrated!

 

[ikhoudvanu199]

make sure that when you are decelerating you are not only in gear, but that it is actually engaged, as in the clutch is out

also, when you get to about 20mph, put the car in neutral, hold the clutch down, and press the brake to slow you the rest of the way, you should go into auto stop as long as:
-you are not in auto climate mode
-if you are in econ mode, the passenger compartment is not cold
-the engine is fully warmed up
-you have not pumped the brake too much(depleting pressure in the master cylinder)

i believe these are all the legit reasons to not go into idle stop

HTH

 

[bfivelover]

Also when you are decelerating, give the gas pedal a light tap or two. Sometimes mine won't charge until I do that.

 

[savintheworld]

I took my little car to the dealership today; they drove it around a little and confirmed that yes, indeed, it is not functioning properly. He thinks it's likely that the idle was not calibrated correctly when the IMA was done. They'll take a look at it tomorrow and let me know--but so far it sounds like it's all related and this repair will be free! Keeping my fingers crossed

 

[savintheworld]

Dropped the car off at the dealer last night, they took a look at it today. It's also apparently idling low, in addition to the regen not working and the idle stop being nonfunctional. No problems with any of this prior to the IMA repair. They thought it was an idle calibration problem (apparently it's touchy in the Insight and must be exact), but that's not the problem. They took apart the IMA system again and everything is fine. They plugged the old control module back in and it did not fix the problem. They're checking the temp sensor (although I am not sure what that would have to do with the regen since it is using the battery up), and have been back and forth with Honda Tech all day about the car. Seems to be a mystery. Any thoughts from anyone?