[sputnik]

Why might the SOC guage show full when you pull into the driveway and park the car for the evening and then show a level at half that when the car is just started up the next morning? What in the world went on overnight? :shock:

My husband has had his Insight 3 weeks (2000, 38K, manual transmission, silver) and this happened to him today. SOC has been full until now. It did increase gradually w/ driving but never completely and at one point he said the guage dropped about 6 bars all at once (but not below the halfway point).

I told him about the headlights on trick. We checked the 12V battery and it looked like a fairly new 2004 replacement which measured 12.6 volts. He said he filled up w/ "Everyday Gas" four days ago. "What's that???", I asked and suggested Chevron or BP. The only other ideas are heat (Alabama) or the CD player (he turned the engine off but not the CD power button that evening).

We happened to have scheduled both Insights for regular service work on Saturday so can ask about this too. Any suggestions on the cause? Would leaving the CD power button in the ON position even w/ the engine off somehow drain charge?

Thank-you for advice or suggestions.

 

[Resist]

Would leaving the CD power button in the ON position even w/ the engine off somehow drain charge?

No. With the ignition off there is no way for the CD player to work. The only thing I can think of is if the car was not purchased new and a previous owner installedl some aftermarket electrical device that is taking power, like an alarm. Or you just have a short somewhere that is draining power. Maybe the replacement battery pack wasn't installed correctly.

 

[Dgate]

Is the CD player routed through the ignition switch or in the case of a "home hook up"direct to power source?
Dgate

 

[sputnik]

Is the CD player routed through the ignition switch or in the case of a "home hook up"direct to power source?
Dgate

The CD player is the factory installed Honda 6 disc player so I think that would be routed through the ignition rather than some homespun connection, right? It is impossible to play the CD player unless the ignition is on (just scampered outside and checked) which seems to verify that it is directly tied to the ignition.

BTW the 12V is a "SuperCrank" battery and has a September 04 date sticker on it. Is this a reputable battery?

That's all I know for now. Thanks for the ideas and I will try to post anything new that might come from our service visit tomorrow.

 

[sputnik]

Honda checked husband's IMA and regular battery condition as part of the 30K maintenance work and reported "Good condition at this time."

We asked about the quirky overnight drop in the SOC and the dealership said that can happen because the IMA continues to take readings briefly after the car is turned off.

So it looks like this behavior is not big a deal. At this point, it has only been a one-time occurance, hopefully to remain so. Sometimes even the "normal" stuff our Insights do seems astounding. :shock:

 

[originalbadbob]

Kathleen,
I have had a similar situation one time. It was after more town driving than normal and the SOC was about 3 bars from the top. The next morning, when I started the car the SOC dropped to about half in just a few seconds. It looked to me like a recal, but it didn't drop all the way. It happened pretty fast, so if your husband wasn't watching the gauges for the first few seconds, he would have missed it. My car went into a forced charge on the way to work, but was up to the top in about 15 minutes. I think it is just a case of the BCM not being sure of the battery condition.
I now watch it as soon as I start and use the headlights on almost all the time now.
I'd definitely keep an eye on it.
robert

 

[IamIan]

Over Night

If the car is starting to do a recalibration .. we all know the horid time when the force chargeing comes on even with a fully charged battery and whatever power is in the battery you can watch as it is slowly drained away... while the forced regeneration / charging slows the car.... I have noticed that if this starts even a few seconds before I shut off the engine... OK so maybe I shut off the Engine hoping to stop it from happening... but anyway , when I came back several hours latter the IMA Battery was showing dead and the forced charging started as soon as the ICE started.... So If the car computer was just starting a battery Cycling you could have turned off the key seeing a full IMA Battery and come back to an Empty IMA Battery... or more specificly as empty as the computer will let it go anyway...

 

[Wayne M]

12v overnight drain?

Haven't experienced anything like that on mine, but would a 12v driven accesory like CD, radio, etc. pull voltage from the battery module or the 12v battery? I kind of think they're isolated from each other when the keyswitch is off, or in the accessory position. So I'd expect a low or dead 12v battery after leaving something on by accident overnight.

 

[sputnik]

I have had a similar situation one time. It was after more town driving than normal and the SOC was about 3 bars from the top. The next morning, when I started the car the SOC dropped to about half in just a few seconds. It looked to me like a recal, but it didn't drop all the way....My car went into a forced charge on the way to work, but was up to the top in about 15 minutes. I think it is just a case of the BCM not being sure of the battery condition.

Robert,
Good to hear from you. Your description sounds identical to what happened to the Silver. Honda said that sometimes the SOC will drop to zero/recal the next morning (although SOC only dipped to half guage in our instance). I understand that occasional recals are not considered a problem, and yet even hearing about them makes me nervous. Still skittish I guess since it was a series of recals which heralded the stalling and IMA collapse that put my Insight in the hybrid hospital this January. You are right, we should keep an eye on it.

I'm guessing we can rule out a short or 12V accessory anomaly. Would not such causes drain the SOC more or less "constantly", or could they cause an isolated event ?

Thanks to all for the helpful information. It's much appreciated.

 

[originalbadbob]

Hey Kathleen,
Rick Reece mentioned that he thought it was the BCM not keeping track of the SOC very well and not a battery problem. I tend to agree. The headlights on trick keeps my recals down to 1 every 2-3 weeks instead of 1 or 2 a week, and I do almost all highway driving, but it is all rolling hills, and a couple of 2 mile inclines each way. Whenever my SOC gets to 4 bars down anymore, it'll go into a recal no matter what. It used to bother me, but it really doesn't too much anymore because it's just the way things are and I will have saved an awful lot of gas money by the time I will need to replace the batteries. I'm hoping that the Prius style batteries will be a viable alternative by then.
Good luck with it.
robert