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Honda Civic Hybrid IMA Problems

180 messages,  Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 6:28 PM

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#31 of 180 Re: IMA issue on 2006 HCH [highmpg] by moffs Aug 29, 2008 (6:04 am)
Replying to: highmpg (Aug 27, 2008 8:35 am) Add me to the list of those experiencing the same problem (discharge, MPG loss, everything) AND the same NON-RESPONSE from dealership and AHC! Mine is a 2006 with 40,000 miles. It happened maybe twice in the first year and now every few weeks. Dealership told me "Heat caused the IMA not to charge". Temperature seemed consistent with first occurrences. But the last time it failed talked to the dealer and it was 85 degrees, hardly a question of overheat. But more importantly, non-charging didn't explain what was happening, discharging from 5-6 bars to 1 bar in 10 seconds while at idle!   I really appreciate your suggestion about the O2 sensor although it is ridiculous that Honda doesn't follow up instead of you having to fund what seems like a design problem. I love the car when it it is operating like it should , but if their service doesn't start responding I will seriously put Honda on my "GMC list"!
#32 of 180 an update on my 2006 hybrid by sorsha Aug 29, 2008 (6:45 am)
I formulated a 60 page letter, it included complaint, concerns and other issues over this website and greenhybrid.com.   I sent it registered mail to my dealership president, president american honda customer service, american honda customer service, president of honda motor co in japan and i made sure to CC. it on the document itself.   I have also been filling out the forms that my dealership gave me and faxing them over to american honda tech daily.   After recieving my letter the president of my dealership contacted me and wants to set up a meeting with honda engineers to look at my car. The parts and service manager has contacted me and has insisted to american honda on being involved in all conversations.   As of right now, the horrid sueprvisor who originally handled my case no longer is with honda, and has switched to acura. I have a new supervisor who is reviewing and collecting all of my information.   Currently they are awaiting information from Japan, so it is good I also send my file to Japan.
#33 of 180 Re: IMA issue on 2006 HCH [highmpg] by lectricman52 Sep 06, 2008 (4:48 am)
Replying to: highmpg (Aug 27, 2008 8:35 am) Well, the O2 sensor was replaced yesterday, 9/5. The dealership had the car for about 3.5 days. One thing they wanted to do was get a "snapshot" of the computer. A "snapshot" is a 3 minute recording of all the inputs and outputs of the engine. Then the "snapshot" is sent to Honda Tech and compared to what is supposed to be normal. Everything indicated normal. One of the technicians reportedly said "this car is messed up". The service manager told me that he cannot fix my car. He wasn't optimistic about the O2 sensor being the fix for my car, still indicating that American Honda is working on a fix for the software and no target date. Until then, the car's performance is considered "normal at this time".   Last weekend, the IMA system failed to assist in 87 degree weather. The car was running on the 3 cylinder gas engine only, hence seriously underpowered. I reported this as a safety issue, since it can be dangerous in city or interstate driving when acceleration is needed. I am considering filing a complaint with the NHTSA,  NHTSA concerning this serious problem when the IMA fails to engage. I know that someone in California has filed a class action lawsuit over the low gas mileage, but I am more concerned about the safety factor. Replies to this message: lectricman52 (Sep 08, 2008 3:55 am)
#34 of 180 Re: IMA issue on 2006 HCH [lectricman52] by lectricman52 Sep 08, 2008 (3:55 am)
Replying to: lectricman52 (Sep 06, 2008 4:48 am) In my last post I made a typo in the description of the engine. I should have said the 1.3 L inline 4 cylinder engine.
#35 of 180 Another hybrid owner with problems by superspoon Sep 09, 2008 (8:12 pm)
Hi all, I have an 07 civic hybrid with 17,500 miles, and it looks like I'm hitting some of the same problems. Last week, I started up the car to find the battery gauge at 0 bars, something that's not happened to me before. It took about 10 minutes of normal city driving to get the battery to show any charge at all. Now, the IMA seems to be acting very erratically. I've been driving at 25-30 mph on some city roads around here with over half battery charge, and while coasting, the IMA will be draining enough energy to bring the car to <15 mph within a block. Not only that, but IMA assist seems to be kicking in a lot earlier and a lot more than it should be.
#36 of 180 IMA & Check eng light by hurley1229 Sep 29, 2008 (12:21 pm)
I have a 2004 HCH 5 speed that I bought used about 6 months ago. I had about 82K miles and now has 93K miles. My average MPG since purchase is 46.1 and I have been as high as 55 MPG on a tank. Recently my IMA & Check eng light has been on. At first, I could clear the codes and the lights would stay off for 4-5 days. Now, they stay off 1-2 miles. The codes are 1433 and 1600. I have noticed that the battery charge indicator will be showing a good charge but will not assist, then a few minutes later the charge indicator will be extremely low. Its like the indicator is not keeping up with the rate of discharge. Also, when the indicator is showing a good charge the Charge/Assist meter shows slightly charging. At times the Auto shutdown does not work, but there is no rhymn or reason as to why. I have also noticed that when accelerating up hills the assist indicator will go to about 3/4 but almost immediately drops to about 1/4 assist. Any ideas? Any help will be appreciated.
#37 of 180 An update by sorsha Sep 30, 2008 (3:11 am)
Despite my sending letters to Honda Motor in Japan, American Honda, and my dealership to the presidents/CEOs, I am still getting no results. American Honda understands that the battery is overheating and a safety feature being initiated but since this is a normal operating procedure, refuse to fix my car until something more serious results. Currently, if I drive on the highway averaging 60 mph, with no AC and the windows barely cracked I can squeeze out 41mpg.   My problem is inconsistent as sometimes on a tank of gas I can average 48mpg and others barely 30mpg. This is a sharp contrast to the 50+ I was getting BEFORE I took it in to the dealership.   My dealership has since claimed to help me to resolve the problem but has not returned my phone calls. I am going to a new dealership for my 30k maintenance as is it $388 at the new dealership and $554 at the one that broke my car with their refusal to go any lower on the price than $499.   I certainly hope that you all are doing what I have been doing, which is complaining, refusing to give in, and demanding that they send you, IN WRITING, their instructions for you to continue to drive these cars malfunctioning.   I fully intend to continue to compile all of this information and send it to every news station I can in the hopes that if nothing else, other people will not be suckered in to buying a car that is sub par from a manufacturer that no longer upholds the standards of the past. Replies to this message: lectricman52 (Sep 30, 2008 3:57 am)
#38 of 180 Re: An update [sorsha] by lectricman52 Sep 30, 2008 (3:57 am)
Replying to: sorsha (Sep 30, 2008 3:11 am) Your problem seems to be the common problem that is being reported. Since I have seen this with my car since October 2007, I have also complained to the dealer and my car has been in the shop about 5 times for this abnormality. The dealer tells me that American Honda says that the characteristics of the car are "normal at this time" and that they are working on a new software update. The last time I was also told "When you run the air conditioning, direct the vents upward toward the roof of the car to send the cold air back toward the battery." That is ridiculous. I have filed a complaint with the NHTSA at safercar.gov. If you're interested in reading it, it is complaint # 10241683.
#39 of 180 Same Problem Here by james222 Oct 09, 2008 (3:56 pm)
I happened upon this thread while searching for information that would guide my decision making process in this latest predicament.   My 06 Civic Hybrid has about 73k miles on it. I have been having IMA problems for quite a while. At least once a day the RPMS will hit 4 or 5 with almost no output when I am at a stop. The gas milage is considerably worse in all driving except highway driving, in which it is only marginally worse. I get about 30-34 in the city now, and get 45 or so on the highway. In the early days of the car, I could achieve 48 city, and 50-60 highway.   I have many times been endangered when the car had no power and I was making a right turn. Often times large trucks and semis are very close to hitting me. I am lucky that I haven't been a statistic yet.   The other day I had a situation in which I was in a part of LA with very steep hills. I parked on the almost 45 degree angle hill, and walked away. When I returned and started the vehicle, I began to hit the accelerator. There was no power at all, which is very similar to the woman from Marin county. I tried other gears, and kept on the gas for awhile. This was a bad part of LA late at night, so I wasn't amused by the car deciding to crap out. I eventually ended up having to reverse all the way down the hill, and good thing I left enough room between me and the car behind.   I have read about issues with the control arms and uneven tire wear. I think I may have had this occur, as I am now on my third set of tires, and every set gets absolutely ravaged. After about 30k miles the thumping cannot be tolerated anymore.   I took the car to a dealer in Southern California, and they had the car for over a week to thoroughly examine the IMA issues. The service manager said that he had a similar problem with his Civic, and that he had not been aware of anyone else with a similar problem. They said that they spoke with Honda Techs over the phone to discuss the issue, and that they cant quite nail it down yet. They advised that I could bring it back once it was showing codes. I explained how unsafe I felt the car was and that I needed the issue to be fixed regardless. They advised to contact Honda customer support, which will be one of my next steps. Unfortunately, based upon what I read here, it seems as though that may not make much of a difference.   I am going to contact the woman in Marin county first and get the full scoop of what happened with her and how they did it. After that, I will start with NHTSA, Honda's basic customer service, and work up to carpet bomb email campaigns against the CEO, letters to the Attorney General, negative media publicity, and then a full scale lawsuit against Honda if necessary. Hell, it could be a class action with it affecting so many.   I see that many people are having this issue, but not may are reporting to NHTSA. I think we all need to do this as much as possible. If theres enough complaints we could wake the sleeping dragon and they the gov will get on them about it. Put the fire under their asses.   I am open to cooperate as a group against Honda, or to collaborate on a solution.   I will keep everyone informed about developments.
#40 of 180 by twuelfing Oct 14, 2008 (8:12 am)
I was referred to this thread from greenhybrid.com   I am having the same issues as many people here are complaining about. I have also been stonewalled by Honda in their attempts to claim that this is normal behavior for the car and therefore doesn't need fixed.   I have filed a complaint with the NHTSA and would urge everyone with the issues to do the same as eventually, like me, you will be caught off guard in a dangerous situation. Eventually someone is going to get hurt, lets hope it never happens, but it boggles my mind that Honda is willing to wait until it does.   Every time I call them i get blown off. They just dismiss the issues as if they dont exist. I have contacted local news stations and started working on a video to put on the internet (youtube etc) to show people what to expect if they buy this car.   If anyone has any suggestions about dealing with this please let me know. Unfortunately we aren't collectively making enough noise for Honda to care yet.

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