[CherryBomb]

Hey guys! 💁🏻‍♀️
I’m new to this forum, but man, I sure wish I found it sooner. I’m in need of some insight for my... insight. Lol.
My dad bought good ol’ Cherry Bomb (2001 model) 5 years ago, replaced the transmission and the battery with a rebuilt Bubble Bee battery not long after. Well, she’s mine now and the IMA light just came on. My heart sank, but then I found this video and was hoping for some advice as I’d actually never heard of doing any of this before.

As the light has just come on, is it necessary to do the deep discharge or should I start with a grid charge first? Neither my dad or I have ever done anything for the battery, so I suppose she’s a little neglected and am thinking a deep discharge would probably be helpful, but I’m also nervous since I’m new to this. She definitely has been acting up, she can hardly run with the a/c on and getting up these Missouri hills is a nightmare, tho auto stop still works consistently. I think I’ll cry if I have to lose her tho 💔😭

I’m also having some issues with my hatch. It’s completely stuck closed, just making a mechanical whirring noise as I’ve heard so many people mention. The problems is, the keyhole by the tail light has been missing since we got her, so manually unlocking is not an option. I saw a video on how to fix the problem once the hatch is open, which I’m confident I can do, but I can’t get it open to begin with 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Any advice for either of these issues?
Thanks guys!!
Hagen 🚗✌🏼

 

[insighter_trading]

you'll have to crawl through from inside and pull back the carpet to access the latch. there is a rod that comes over from the side where the keyhole lock is that can actuate and release the latch. good luck.

 

[tmessenger]

I'd recommend you give Bumble Bee a call and ask for their recommendation on the battery, most likely you'll have to go down the grid charge path. I'm in the same boat with an Insight I just bought but I knew upfront the issue. If you are handy there's a youtube vid on building a basic grid charger on the cheap.

Tim

 

[CherryBomb]

you'll have to crawl through from inside and pull back the carpet to access the latch. there is a rod that comes over from the side where the keyhole lock is that can actuate and release the latch. good luck.

Thank you for replying! I see you’re new here too. Us newbies gotta stick together haha. I was about to make another post, so I appreciate it.
I was hoping I’d be able to open it from inside but just not sure how. I did crawl back there yesterday to give a look but I’m not sure what I’m looking at lol.

This is what I see. Is there smth under that little black foam piece? Do I need to be looking lower? Over to the left more?
Thank you for any advice!

 

[CherryBomb]

I'd recommend you give Bumble Bee a call and ask for their recommendation on the battery, most likely you'll have to go down the grid charge path. I'm in the same boat with an Insight I just bought but I knew upfront the issue. If you are handy there's a youtube vid on building a basic grid charger on the cheap.

Tim

Thanks Tim! I’ll give them a call. I was thinking I’ll just start with grid charging before I dive into deep discharges. There are so many different opinions on that, I’m confused at this point haha. I’m pretty DIY, if you have the video link, I’d really appreciate that!

 

[CherryBomb]

Took a second look where the keyhole should be. This is what I see. Any thoughts anyone?

 

[tmessenger]

Thanks Tim! I’ll give them a call. I was thinking I’ll just start with grid charging before I dive into deep discharges. There are so many different opinions on that, I’m confused at this point haha. I’m pretty DIY, if you have the video link, I’d really appreciate that!

This is on building the charger:

Here's a link on reconditioning the battery from a company that sells grid chargers for our cars: https://hybridautomotive.com/recon/

No clue on the hatch but you can download a free PDF service manual here, it might have a drawing: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bLUyuFXWywH0PIzTXYtT6UprBNkOtjnWh5PFKjDFylA/pubhtml

Tim

 

[eq1]

You should find out exactly what battery pack you have before you do anything. In general, aftermarket packs have been known not to respond well to deep discharging, definitely, and also to grid charging. Older aftermarket cells are usually the miscreants, not sure about newer ones, they're different and grid charging might be OK, I doubt deep discharging would be OK regardless. Get the serial number, call Bumblebee and ask them about it.

Oh yeah, also, if you want to build your own grid charger you can skip the multiple LED power supplies like in that video pictured above and just buy a single appropriately sized LED power supply (plus a 12V supply to power the fan).

 

[1036Project]

This brings back memories, I had the same problem when I got my car but it was back in 2016. Luckily my car is pretty much apart right now so I can easily get some pics.

When you turn the key it moves a lever that moves a push rod.

The other end of the push rod connects to lever on the truck latch. It is held on by the blue clip.

If you push the lever on the trunk latch it should open. I hope that helps

 

[CherryBomb]

Thanks so much everyone! Cool to have a community like this.
I’m working on getting the 3D printed piece I need for the hatch from Jesse, so will start with fixing that and then figure out what battery I have before I try anything for it.
Appreciate all the help!

 

[insighter_trading]

This is what I see. Is there smth under that little black foam piece? Do I need to be looking lower? Over to the left more?
Thank you for any advice!

I got you. I've marked this photo. There is a small rod that comes from the left. It can be seen through the round hole marked in purple. It connects to the latch on the gold lever that I marked in green. That rod/lever needs to be pulled laterally to release the latch. Hope that helps. Let me know how it goes.

 

[insighter_trading]

Oh and all you need is a zip tie to fix the latch. Don't waste your money on a 3d printed part. I plan on posting a "how to" about this in a couple weeks. I'm out of town for business right now so I can't take the pictures I need.

 

[CherryBomb]

I got you. I've marked this photo. There is a small rod that comes from the left. It can be seen through the round hole marked in purple. It connects to the latch on the gold lever that I marked in green. That rod/lever needs to be pulled laterally to release the latch. Hope that helps. Let me know how it goes. View attachment 92319

Thank you!! I actually just got it opened and fixed this weekend. Was a little difficult bc my hydraulics are out too lol (also on my to-do list to fix), so had to have my bro lift it open while I pushed the rod over.
I did get the 3D printed piece, but would love to hear how you fix it if this happens again. Zip ties and duck tape are my kinda fixin’ 😂