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Honda Civic Hybrid IMA Problems

164 messages,  Last post on Nov 09, 2009 at 9:29 PM

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#46 of 164 Re: Duplicate IMA Malfunction On Demand? [lectricman52] by freddierap Oct 24, 2008 (9:18 am)
Replying to: lectricman52 (Oct 18, 2008 9:17 am) Thanks for the reply. I know our problem seems to be worse with heat, however the weather is cooler here now and although not as frequent it's still happening with my car. Couple thoughts; as for the gas mileage loss I really believe this is due to reduced battery voltage from it being damaged during the rapid discharges. I have some knowledge with rechargeable batteries and rapid discharges are their death. I have seen them vent or explode when rapidly discharged. Once they have experienced this brutal discharge, and it only takes one time to damage them, their output voltage under load is reduced and for us this means less assist from the IMA therefore more gas engine required to do the same amount of work. The heat caused by the car sitting in a parking lot for example might reduce the the batteries output voltage if plotted on a graph, but is not enough to be felt to the driver and is not gong to be the cause of the batteries suddenly dumping their capacity. Which gives me my greatest concern, our IMA batteries contain a lot of stored energy, when they rapidly discharge.... where is the stored power going?? To see all your bars click off in under 10 seconds requires nothing less than some form of dead short... can anyone say dangerous. I seriously doubt any system in the car is capable of using that much power in that brief period, therefore a short circuit that could cause an explosion concerns me.
#47 of 164 IMA update by sorsha Oct 29, 2008 (11:34 am)
Several of you have been very helpful and are therefore familiar with the IMA assist problem occurring in our vehicles.   After almost 4 months of getting the run around from American Honda, they finally attempted to be rid of me by sending me a letter stating that there is nothing wrong with my car, and that (contrary to actions taken by my dealership) Duval Honda found no evidence to support my claims that the vehicle was malfunctioning.   They have since stopped taking or returning my calls. Going so far as to hang up when I call the service manager direct.   I have gone to a new dealership.   The issue: As of yesterday my car threw a check engine light, while accelerating, the car will buck and jerk and is really quite terrifying to be driving. This behaviour is inconsistent and I had initially thought the problem to be the O2 sensor. It will turn off my cruise control when the irradict behaviour starts up as well.   However, (as I am sitting in the dealership now) I have just recieved information that this dealership thought a rat had damaged a single 2" area of my wiring harness. I of course being moderately familiar with cars, and not at all stupid went to see for myself this "rat damage"   And wouldn't you know, this must be the best rat ever, because the casing around the wires was rather neatly "chewed" and almost no plastic was missing at all. Only a single black wire from within that casing was damaged, and it was almost perfectly cut.   I of course took my stance that there was no way a rat came into my car decided to cut my wire casing and neatly cut a single wire. There is no evidence of any damage anywhere else in the car.   FORTUNATELY, my service advisor understood my concerns, and my conspiracy theory against my last dealership and took it up with the manager.   So now I am getting the wire fixed and new diagnostics done on the car, with the oil changes etc. for $90. They said they did not want to be associated with being at all like Duval Honda and did not want to behave like Duval Honda.   While still not perfect, it is much better than the original cost, but I don't feel like they did the damage, and I am not taking it back to Duval Honda to try and argue that they did it, so I will be moderately content to part with the $90.   I had never thought to check and see if my old dealership had "accidently" damaged any part of my car.   But this is where I am now on the IMA issue, I hope that this fixes it.
#48 of 164 No Longer A Hybrid? by indychest Nov 28, 2008 (11:32 am)
I have recently had some work done to my 05 HCH and ever since then the mpg have dropped by 5-10. My day started out with a flat tire. It was time to get new tires so that's what I did. I took it to a tire store and while they were under there they noticed the front brakes were 90% worn so I had those replaced and the 50,000 mile check-up. Starting that day after I left the tire store I'm averaging 34-36 mpg instead of 42-46 mpg. Does anyone have any insight on why this could be? It is really bothering me. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
#49 of 164 Re: IMA issue on 2006 HCH [highmpg] by sholmes717 Jan 01, 2009 (5:54 pm)
Replying to: highmpg (Aug 27, 2008 8:35 am) I experience 36-41mpg all the time. I was wondering if you are still seeing high 40's after your O2 sensor replacement? Also, which sensor did your replace as there are 2 (one at the front and one further back). Thanks! Replies to this message: highmpg (Jan 02, 2009 12:02 pm)
#50 of 164 Re: IMA issue on 2006 HCH [sholmes717] by highmpg Jan 02, 2009 (12:02 pm)
Replying to: sholmes717 (Jan 01, 2009 5:54 pm) After the O2 Sensor was replaced on my 2006 HCH (front one nearest engine) the erratic situations stopped entirely. Mileage is better also typically 41 to 44 range in town, better on highway but we use another car mostly for highway. Use of cruise control - even when you usually would not - and lowest fan speed position seem most helpful. The car want to control everything itself and to have you use least electrical power so it can allocate power where it wants to. This car is not as good mpg as another #2 HCH 2006 I drive at times - as it will always do 10% better under identical conditions. Car 2 has the orig. factory tires and car #1 with less mpg has newer Sumitomo hi-perf. low rolling resistance tires. Factory tires are slightly lower rolling resist. and have less wet traction.
#51 of 164 Re: Too hot for IMA to work [46jimbo] by sholmes717 Jan 05, 2009 (11:09 am)
Replying to: 46jimbo (Jul 18, 2007 10:19 am) CHECK YOUR TIRE PRESSURE!!!! I increased my pressure some 30 (cold) to 36 (cold) and my MPG increased from 36.5-42 to 39-47.5 (aftermarket Yoko TRZ tires). Thats a massive improvement and I would be willing to bet that most Hybrid owners aren't checking their tires as much as they need too. You can loose up to 2 lbs of tire pressure a month. I also noticed that my IMA system seems to be responding better as before it seemed quirky (not using IMA at random times). The system charges the batteries better as well.
#52 of 164 2003 HCH IMA Problem by baboot Jan 06, 2009 (8:28 am)
Thanks to everyone for sharing their issues about their HCH. I joined this forum to find out about my recent problem with my 2003 HCH IMA.   The IMA light came on during a recent trip over Christmas (250+ miles). It came on while I was running low on gas and the "gas pump" indicator light was showing for about 15-20 miles (I have run with the gas indicator light on before with no issue and my IMA is probably not related to the low gas but I thought I would provide the information).   After checking in the owners manual I made an appointment with our local Honda dealer a few days after the IMA light came on (and never went off by the way). I have just returned from the dealer and I was told their tests indicate "the IMA battery system is bad and it needs to replaced at the cost of $3785".   Not pleased I asked if driving the car in "this condition" was a problem, and they said no but you may have decreased performance issues, I walked out without ordering a new IMA battery system. My gas mileage has been regularly around 45+ mpg, but in the last couple of weeks it has dropped to 41-42 mpgs. I am unsure if the IMA issue is to blame.   Concerned about not knowing enough, I googled the problem and I found this forum and here I am. After reading many issues with HCH IMA, particularly for 2006 HCH, I sense that my need to replace the battery any time soon is not a priority (perhaps I am wrong). I also see I may need to take it to my local corner gas station mechanic who is damn good, and have it put it on his computer so I can get a "second opinion". I should have taken it to him for the first opinion but I guess I was worried about the IMA system problem being too complicated for him.   My plans. I am not going to replace the entire IMA battery system unless there is overwhelming need to do so since I do not want to spend almost $3800.   1. Any thoughts from the forum members about the need (safety is my obvious concern) of having to replace the IMA battery system soon?   2. Can I drive this car, even if the IMA totally fails and use it as a just small gas engine car but with a reduction in mpg performance. There must be reasons this won't work as it seems too easy.   3. Are there "fixes" either I can do, or my mechanic can do such as: charging up the IMA system when parked (running the RPM to 5000 for several minutes as I believe someone suggested); driving the car and making sure I charge up the IMA by "coasting" down hills as much as possible; other ideas???   3 Replies to this message: tonito (Jan 09, 2009 10:06 am) stevedebi (Jan 16, 2009 3:22 pm) sa8 (Apr 07, 2009 7:00 pm) stevedebi (Jan 16, 2009 3:26 pm)
#53 of 164 IMA Problem with 2009 Models by MB_in_MN Jan 06, 2009 (5:33 pm)
We have a 2009 Hybrid, and the IMA light came on. The report from the dealer was that the battery was bad, and needed to be replaced! (Seems a bit premature; have had the car about three months!) The part is backordered, and could be 3 - 4 weeks. We know of one other local owner with the same problem. It was replaced, and then the replacement went bad a few days later. Even the dealer mentioned the word "lemon."   We have been fortunate with our dealer. They gave us a free rental (new Civic, non-hybrid), without any questions.   But this suggests that there is a problem with this component. And from reading the other posts here, it is not a new problem. How do we get Honda's attention? Replies to this message: grandtotal (Jan 06, 2009 7:54 pm)
#54 of 164 Re: IMA Problem with 2009 Models [MB_in_MN] by grandtotal Jan 06, 2009 (7:54 pm)
Replying to: MB_in_MN (Jan 06, 2009 5:33 pm) I'd say you already have Honda's attention. Sounds like you have a dealer who is working with you. If I were you I'd wait as patiently as I could for my car to be repaired then drive it. I expect that there is a good chance you will not have a recurrence. If you do then that is the time to look at what to do next. In the meantime it would be sensible to make sure you document what happens, just in case.
#55 of 164 Re: 2003 HCH IMA Problem [baboot] by tonito Jan 09, 2009 (10:06 am)
Replying to: baboot (Jan 06, 2009 8:28 am) You most probably have not much option, other than replacing the battery. My HCH 2003 started with IMA and Check Engine lights turning on very frequently (like 20 or 30 miles after resetting the computer). Several months ago it was not so frequent. Gas mileage also gradually has dropped from around 45 to 42 or less. I had to take it to the Dealer, because in this condition the car does not pass the State Inspection tests. The computer codes do not have enough time to become ready. They are replacing the IMA battery for $2760 and possibly the control module if needed (for another $1800 or so). My car has 96000 miles on it and I am in Texas, so my IMA battery is out of warranty. However, the new battery will have a 3 year/36000 miles warranty only. I wonder if the warranty period for replaced IMA batteries is like this in other places. Also they said that there is a "core" cost of more than $3,000 if I want to keep the old battery! Replies to this message: stevedebi (Jan 16, 2009 3:22 pm) sa8 (Apr 07, 2009 7:00 pm)

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