[sjwalter]

My 2000 Insight has 86000 miles on it and I've been told I need new batteries and two other items (can't remember what they are off the top of my head.) Since the IMA system is out of warranty by 6000 miles, the bill is expected to be $4,200.00! From what I'm reading on here, that seems to be the average.

Is there anything else I can do that's not so damned expensive? I simply can't affort to spend $4200 on it. It's gotten to the point that the CEL and the IMA lights come on and there is no more assist or charge. I can't drive at night because the lights drain the 12V battery. So, it's looking as though my little car is going to get parked in the driveway until I can sell it to someone who can afford to fix it or until I win the lottery.

 

[Resist]

I can't drive at night because the lights drain the 12V battery.

I thought the headlights are powered by the 12v battery and the charging system, not the battery pack. I thought the battery pack only powered the electric motor.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

Call Honda customer relations. The number is in the owner's manual or warranty manual, or you can get it from any Honda Dealer.

The "other" items would be the MCM & BCM computers. The newer versions are updated and should be replaced with a new IMA battery pack, but I've yet to hear the full story. Maybe you could find out in your quest? And report back here? Please!?!!

The IMA pack alone is reportedly around $2100 installed.

HTH!

 

[b1shmu63]

Most likely you have one bad cell or a pack that has beenreally heavily used. If you lifetime mileage is good then it is probably just one cell. A used pack from a parted out car would be way way cheaper. Even if you bought a defective pack second hand you could swap out individual good cells.

All this presumes that you have a knowledge of mechanical and electrical safety proceedures, rudimentary equipment, and a shop manual.

If it was me I'd get a couple of other opinions regarding price and required parts. I would also want to see if some kind of price break is possible considereing your relatively low mileage. Also check posts on this site thoroughly.

 

[Rick]

Try HAP auto recycling in California. They have two totaled 2000 Insight's listed on their web site. I just got two door panels from them for $65 each. Their prices are very reasonable. You should be able to locate a used pack for around $700 or less. Not sure if your up to installing it yourself, but if you did (be extremely careful, potentially lethal voltage) that would be the way to go.

The other two items are likely the new BCM and MCM, these you don't necessarily need. Also you might try calling Honda's line and see if they'll help you out. They do seem to be giving some good will to Insight owners.

 

[sjwalter]

All of these are helpful. I'll try calling Honda first and see what, if anything, they can do for me. I would have thought that the dealership would have done more for me as 1) I bought the very first Insight delivered to them less than six hours after it came off the truck and 2) I was if not directly responsible, certainly indirectly responsible for the sale of the other three they received in 2000.

Thanks, all. I'll let y'all know what I find out.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

AFAIK dealers are restricted from doing so. Its just "how" the game is played. So try not to be too hard on them in this regard.

HTH!

 

[Rick Reece]

With all the talk of a turbo I wonder if the exhaust could be used to charge the 12V battery? Guess it would take a lot of custom engineering to accomplish and I am not sure the Insight with no IMA would accelerate or climb a hill very well. Have fun, RIck

 

[Yves M.]

I would buy only the battery if I was you. Not the MCM or BCM. Those are only improvements taht are not show stoppers

The IMA should keep the dc/dc converter running when the engine is at 1200 to 300 rpm. According to this, even with the Main control switch to off:
http://www.md92raid.100freemb.com/pub/i ... ge138.html
But I can not say if it work like they wrote.

 

[Foxpaw]

Minor point of contention: the IMA system is not out of warranty by 6000 miles.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

Minor point of contention: the IMA system is not out of warranty by 6000 miles.

HUH?!

86000-80000=6000 _miles_ :!:

 

[Rick]

<---- Also confused.

86,000 - 80,000 = 6,000 :?:

Could be wrong, I'm only in Calculus 2 at the moment. :wink:

 

[Foxpaw]

Okay, I get it.
I was reading that as, "The IMA is out of warranty once your car has reached 6000 miles," not "The IMA has been out of warranty for the past 6000 miles."

 

[socalbuz]

IMA battery warranty

Here's another point...I just purchased the Hondacare 7yr-100K warranty, and it's my understanding that the IMA battery is now good for 100K.

Dunno if you have that warranty, but it's just a thought.

 

[hawkGT647]

When I asked about the Honda extended warranty on my '05 Insight, the dealer explained that the hybrid components would not be covered. 8yr./80,000 mile standard warranty only for the hybrid parts.

I'd like to know what the truth is.

Regards,

 

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Just a thought on how you could keep the 12 volt battery charged up, and allow using the car till your IMA problems are fixed.
Buy a solar panel that fits in the rear window. A small charge controller would keep the battery from overcharging. Replacing the small stock battery with a larger deep cycle battery would give more runtime at night when you are running with the lights on.
Unfortunately you may have problems finding solar panels, due to the large worldwide demand.
A few links to get you started:
http://www.plastecs.com/
http://mrsolar.com/
http://shop.altenergystore.com/items.asp?Cc=SOLPAN
http://www.realgoods.com/
http://www.windsun.com/PV_Stuff/solar_electric.htm
http://www.pvpower.com/pvcos.html
Good luck

 

[sunhunter]

You don't need a charge controller for small pv panels. Also, if the pv panel is inside the car, a lot of the energy will be reflected by the windows anyway. A good inexpensive panel to use are the 3 watt vw panels found on ebay for less than $20. They have suction cups in the corners for easy mounting.

 

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

I aggree that if you use a 3 watt panel that a charge controller would not be needed, but if we want to keep the suggested larger battery fully charged, we must replace the 50-150 watts that headlights and accessorys would use, plus the high current that the 12 volt starting would use. I was thinking a 50 watt panel may do it, but without a charge controller one would need to watch the acid level in the battery to prevent overcharging.

 

[sunhunter]

I bet that even with a 50W panel you would not need a charge controller. A typical 50W panel will have 2 cell strings and 2 bypass diodes. So if one cell of one cell string is shaded you will be left with half power. You can also throw out 50% power due to the window tint and reflection. So you might get at most one hour of 25W at noon if parked in the right orientation. Off the cuff thoughts...

Hunter

 

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Because of all the variables involved, it would have to be tried. The need for a charge controller would depend on how much attention you were willing to give the monitoring of the water level in the battery.