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Disabling the Hybrid battery and drive normal

5 messages,  Last post on Sep 09, 2009 at 4:34 AM

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#1 of 5 Disabling the Hybrid battery and drive normal by ramirojm Sep 07, 2009 (5:17 pm)
I am about to "get" a '05 hybrid from a friend at a rock bottom reasonable price (he is wealthy). Since then, i learned that batteries could cost almost as much as what i would be paying for this car!!!   My question to the technical folks is this, Can i disable the battery or configure it in such a way that if it goes dead the car does not go dead also? i read somewhere on this site that if the IMA battery goes dead the computer will try to charge and will eventually give up and then after a while it will not try charging....not even the smaller/regular battery   also that the car could lose power, and this can occur while driving? WTF???   So, mi concern and question is can i drive the car without a battery installed   p.s if the answer is no, i might buy a regular engine+transmission and do a conversion maybe Replies to this message: targettuning (Sep 08, 2009 5:10 am) targettuning (Sep 08, 2009 5:40 am)
#2 of 5 Re: Disabling the Hybrid battery and drive normal [ramirojm] by targettuning Sep 08, 2009 (5:10 am)
Replying to: ramirojm (Sep 07, 2009 5:17 pm) While I do not own a hybrid, Honda or otherwise, common sense would tell me that since you are getting this car for a little bit of nothing, AND you do not know if the battery is in need of replacement why worry about it?? If it turns out the battery needs replaced, replace it, since you got the car cheap otherwise why buy a hybrid in the first place? As to your other choices i.e. disable the battery/configure the car to run without it, I'd say nope...same as your other option of replacing the engine/transmission to make it a "normal" Civic. Again...nope, if you are worried about the cost of replacing the battery why are you so willing to spend at least as much to try to make the car something it isn't? And you don't even know if the battery IS bad...don't bother buying it if you want a normal car. Replies to this message: targettuning (Sep 08, 2009 5:40 am)
#3 of 5 Re: Disabling the Hybrid battery and drive normal [targettuning] by targettuning Sep 08, 2009 (5:40 am)
Replying to: targettuning (Sep 08, 2009 5:10 am) After posting a short answer to your proposals I thought further and figured I would try to expand why I said "nope" to both your ideas. a. regarding your idea about disabling the battery, I said no because a hybrid is designed around the entire package and that design includes the battery as the central part of the overall system. There may be a wild eyed blogger somewhere on the web who has the complete set of instruction on how to do this but I wouldn't even consider it...it won't work, and I'll go out on a limb here, AT ALL!! b. regarding your other idea of replacing the engine/drivetrain...again, the car is a hybrid from engine to transmission to various computer modules designed to make the hybrid system operate seamlessly to the instrument cluster to wiring harnesses to...well you name it. Make no mistake, it may look something like a Civic of the same year but it is a HYBRID and the costs of changing it over (if possible) would make the battery replacement cost look like an oil change in comparison. I'll finish up the same way I finished the previous post...If you are concerned about replacing a battery that may well still be OK do not buy a hybrid, especially if you intend to follow through on one of the two options you outlined.
#4 of 5 hb by ramirojm Sep 08, 2009 (8:48 pm)
OK. Thanks for the help. I think i will sell the car after a year or so then. I'm just scared that this car will stop working in the middle of a trip and i will have no mechanic able to fix it.... Replies to this message: targettuning (Sep 09, 2009 4:34 am)
#5 of 5 Re: hb [ramirojm] by targettuning Sep 09, 2009 (4:34 am)
Replying to: ramirojm (Sep 08, 2009 8:48 pm) First, I don't think you should be so afraid of hybrids since they have generally proved themselves to be reliable. Second, like all well maintained cars, it probably will not just stop in the middle of a trip. Like all cars you would probably get ample warning that some mechanical part is on its way out...again ALL cars can have mechanical problems but you will have minimal suprises if you keep up the maintainance per Honda's recommendations. The battery would not just die without warning. While I don't know the cost of a replacement Honda battery (but I don't think it is outrageous) hybrids have been around long enough to prove that their batteries are not usually trouble prone.You never mentioned the mileage on this car but some hybrids in taxi service have over 200,000 miles on their original battery. As to a mechanic, well, the engine is pretty much like any engine in that it has filters, spark plugs, etc. that any mechanic should be able to handle but the hybrid system is best left to a Honda dealer of which there are plenty in almost any city in the USA. If it were me I would buy the car taking advantage of getting a cheap hybrid and drive...drive...drive!!!

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