I think you may need to sit down at a computer and better describe what's happening here... it sounds like your problems are all over the place.

Sam

 

Yeah, I'm failing to understand what is happening here too.

But it sounds electrical, so check your ground straps.

/thread

 

Oh that isn't good to read. So none of this sounds familiar? What about the breaking going on? Never heard of that? And when is the backup starter supposed to kick in? Sorry, what are "ground straps". Thanks

 

We were both asking you to restate the problem in clearer language if you could.

 

My car used the 12V starter one time after it had done a battery recalibration (emptied the meter). The CHRG light was on while driving, and that made the car feel as if the brake was on

 

It seems like whatever power source it uses to start as it happened after listening to the radio with the engine off or a couple times sitting over night. So i'm not entirely sure on the why. Luckily it hasn't stopped me from driving as I've discovered the backup starter, by just holding the ignition in for a bit longer, where initially I was just jump starting the car which worked. And again, the brake light goes on after starting just the gas engine and the SOME brake is on, not sure which add I don't know how this car works so well. It's not the e-brake and id guess it is the engine or something in the drive train. And again, it all goes away shortly after backup starting it.

So, power drain it seems, and mysterious braking. Oh, and there is an intermittent cel which I have yet to look into, but it doesn't occur congruent to this issue here, so I don't know about that yet. Thanks!

 

the regular starter kicks in when the IMA battery is discharged, or disabled (the computer may disable it for high temperature or as in the above example ( from theaveng) when the ima battery is recalibrating )

the brake light comes on during start up and disappears in a couple of seconds. if it stays on means the 12 v battery is not charging or the sensor for the brake has failed.


you should get a OBDII reader and pull the codes or just go to a place where they will pull them for you (some times it is a free service)

It is not a normal behavior and could be many things, power drain , a weak IMA battery,bad 12v battery, missing or broken ground straps or a cocktail mix from above and /or other factors.

The ground straps are in the engine compartment connecting the engine and gearbox to the car's frame , if damaged , they should be replaceed as charging is disrupted.

 

Thank you. That was helpful. unfortunately doesn't look like the battery is "recalibrating" as it is close to full most of the time and it never "discharged" itself, and then there is that weird braking mechanism going on. But I'll start with the scanner suggestion and go from there. Thanks.

 

From what I read, I think your 12 V needs to be replaced.

The brake warning light in mine illuminated when the 12 V was weak. Weird behavior, that the Brake Light goes on before the Battery light, but yeah.

It also might be the grounding straps, or dirty terminals. Clean them.

 

The brake light always comes on in lockstep with the battery when the 12v system has a problem, no idea why, but you probably have no brake problem.

1) Check the 12v battery
2) Check the 4 ground straps in the engine compartment.
3) ???
4) Profit!

 

What does it normally use to start the engine? The ima system no? isn't it a backward response to use the starter with the weakening 12v or is it doing it to communicate to me there is a problem? And I did put it up on jacks and in neutral and the front wheels felt like they were "in gear" but stationary rather than idling -with the car on of course. Thanks

 

Basically, it all goes to hell if your 12v is weak or dead or poorly connected... there's a big fat relay in the back to turn on the high voltage system that needs a strong 12v source to work, and I think if it fails to close properly, the car basically says "uh oh, no IMA power, have to revert to 12v starter," but of course the 12v is weak, so...

Also: are you saying your brakes are siezing?

 

Hmm.. Well this morning I did something different, and no, no brake seizing at the moment. Let's forget about that. Perhaps I imagined that -maybe. But anyway, this morning the usual one Mississippi two Mississippi count didn't work so I just drove to work with it in gas only mode and about half way there I heard that relay kick in and viola it was back to normal, so I guess you're just supposed to drive normally and it fixes all on its own. But I guess I've got a 12v system issue to diagnose.

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That sounds like a bad ground problem for sure.

 

If your 12 volt battery is too low, it will start off of that one instead of the big hybrid battery (even if the big battery is fully charged!), and will start using the regular slow starter.

I don't know why it does this, but they all do.

With normal starting from the big battery most people don't realize that their 12 volt battery is going bad, until the car doesn't even start off either battery....

 

Hmm.. I guess I assumed the 12v system was backup for the ima. Apparently not uh?

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Well it turned out to be a bad battery. That's all. So I guess when it dies the car let's you know by not starting -or maybe the system users the 12v battery to start the car. Yeah, I think that is how it works

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I think what most people are saying here is that, when there's an IMA problem, the car will start off of the 12 volt battery and 12 volt starter, rather than the IMA battery and electric motor. Yet, one of the problems with the IMA system can be the 12 volt battery itself. So, as you said, kind of backwards, because reverting to the 12 volt battery and starter isn't going to help if the 12 volt battery is bad... Anyway, sounds like you got it fixed. Good deal...