Ask the Car People.SM


Honda Civic Hybrid Battery Pack Questions

109 messages,  Last post on Apr 17, 2013 at 2:58 AM

You are in the Honda Civic Hybrid Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Civic, Hybrid Cars, Coupe, Sedan

Messages Page 11 of 12

#98 of 109 Re: IMA,Check Engine lights on [richie78] by lcruise

Jul 10, 2012 (2:59 am)

Replying to: richie78 (Jul 09, 2012 7:13 pm)
Wow. I can't help but wonder how much your wife paid for the car; perhaps it was a really, really good deal. I too drive a Civic Hybrid, 2003. I love it most of the time.
 
I just replaced the IMA battery in June, with 164K miles on the engine and with all the same symptoms you have (except the AC thing). At the Honda dealership it was $2870. before taxes! Honda's batteries are not new, but refurbished and mine came with a 2 year warranty. (I am told Honda no longer makes these batteries new, but they are refurbished by Panasonic who made the original batteries.)
 
I asked to keep my old battery. After all it did belong to me, however Honda was going to charge me $1200 more for the repair if I insisted on keeping the battery! That's called Honda robbery!! By the way, the life of the IMA battery is the focus of a current class action lawsuit against Honda. By default, you may be included in this.
 
Note that one year ago, after reading many positive comments on this and another online forum, I had my failing battery refurbished by Ron Hansen of Hybrid Battery Repair out of NY, with a one year warranty. Four months later (Sept. 2011) I was having problems.. lights coming on, "coughing" with acceleration, etc. Weeks turned into months trying to get an upfront response from Mr. Hanson, all couched in kind promises and no action. Finally, in May 2012 after tens of phone calls, most of which were never even acknowledged, I discovered he had closed his doors. Consumer beware!
 
I hate to be the bearer of this news, but my guess is that your IMA battery (if it isn't already) is on it's way to being, like the wicked witch, "not just merely dead, but really most sincerely dead".

#99 of 109 Re: Civic Hybrid 2003 IMA Battery Replacement [jrhefner] by conceptor

Aug 01, 2012 (12:54 pm)

Replying to: jrhefner (Apr 06, 2010 5:39 pm)
JRhefner: Can you give me some pointers on how to replace the IMA battery cells myself?

#100 of 109 Re: IMA,Check Engine lights on [lcruise] by richie78

Aug 02, 2012 (8:16 am)

Replying to: lcruise (Jul 10, 2012 2:59 am)
After 2weeK Honda dealer came out with a report of MCM motor control module(NO COMMUNCATiON)...Cat. converter failure and EGR Control circuit range. The car battery was certified to be good!To Honda..the MCM cost $2600 which is same price my wife bought the car! But im seaching for used one presently bc i cant afford such huge $$$$ for MCM!
Can i replace the MCM with the used MCM?

#102 of 109 ima help please by tgabbi

Aug 27, 2012 (5:03 pm)

I have purchased a 2004 civic hybrid for my son. He was starting college and the car was needed. 1 week after both the check engine and ima light have come on. After taking it to the dealership the diagnosis is the batteries with a 3000 dollar price tag. This a nightmare. We spent his savings and mine just to buy this car and thought we were gettinga quality product in honda. Is there any way to get Honda to off set the price of replacement. Or is there any other option. Why would they make a product with such an expensive part.

#103 of 109 Re: Hybrid-Battery-Repair in NY [adam801] by marchambault4

Oct 26, 2012 (12:09 am)

Replying to: adam801 (Feb 21, 2011 12:25 pm)
I have a 2004 civic hybrid which I bought 10 months ago with 83500 miles on it. I love it. I have had one major repair, a voltage sensor that cost me $790 to fix. I change the oil and transmission fluid myself. It sounds like a good plan to get the battery rebuilt. I would think you can have a mechanic you trust or an automotive shop that specializes in automotive electrical problems do the job. I think it is absolutely worth it. It's a Honda, it should run for a long time as long as you stay up on the preventive maintenance. Hopefully you can find a trustworthy mechanic.

#105 of 109 Re: Hybrid-Battery-Repair in NY [marchambault4] by bigredone

Oct 26, 2012 (5:30 am)

Replying to: marchambault4 (Oct 26, 2012 12:09 am)
The next thing I would worry about is repairing or replacing the transmission (if you have a CVT). According to the Carfax report my 03’ that I purchased used had the CVT replaced under warranty at around 30XXX miles. Then at 112XXX miles it went out again. It seems the early CVT’s had startup clutch problems. I went the route of having my battery refurbished only to have the transmission go out at an estimated $3500 repair bill. Needless to say I decided to just get rid of my hybrid as the repairs that I already had done on the battery plus the transmission where more than the car was worth. This was the costliest experiment I have ever done and my experience with a hybrid came to an abrupt end in less than a year and I will never again own a hybrid or a car with a CVT.

#107 of 109 Where can IMA battery cells be purchased by pvandehey

Jan 24, 2013 (11:23 am)

I have an 05 HCH CVT with a failing IMA battery. Where can I get the individual cells for the battery to repair it myself?

Messages Page 11 of 12

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement