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Hybrid Engine/IMA battery systemThe hybrid have a very different engine and Battery system (IMA), so this forum is for items related to the Hybrid cars alone.
If they are same as the regular cars, please post there instead.
For $500 this evening I purchased a 2003 HCH in non-running condition. I have attached the craigslist post. I revived the vehicle by jumpering the clutch position switch under the dashboard with a paperclip. Since then only the vehicle maintenance light remains lit, and the vehicle has been great getting me and from work tonight, however there seems to be some knocking. Also I believe the battery was completely dead and has not quite fully charge yet, so I haven't really seen the boost function.
I have several questions.
-Is there a negative aspect to leaving the clutch position switch jumpered? -My hope is that the knocking sound is due to being filled with 87o e10 as confirmed by conversation with the previous owner. Does this sound reasonable? Is it worth seeking out fuel without ethanol or paying for higher octane? -Are there other common causes of knocking in these engines, that I should investigate? -Are there other good resources on the net that you fine experts may recommend? -What attributes should I be monitoring while driving to assess the condition of the battery? I am planning on replacing it soon however the longer I can wait the better.
This is my first unkillable japanese crap-box car and I'm very excited to be going down this path . Thanks in advance for your help.
What attributes should I be monitoring while driving to assess the condition of the battery?
The symptoms the seller listed are what you see with a worn out hybrid battery. Is the mileage around 100k miles? Happens around then.
The car will continue to run to about 250k miles with a worn out battery (with the IMA and check engine lights on, and the hybrid system much reduced in effectiveness). At that point you'll start to see the red battery light coming on too at idle, indicating the 12v battery isn't getting charged (it is charged from the big battery). However while keeping revs above 2000 rpm, everything will be fine still. Just be careful not to idle for long, and it's fine. You'll probably want to pick a bigger 12v battery too - the battery box is big enough to ~double the size.
If you're keen, you can recondition the hybrid battery. That involves taking it apart, testing each cell individually, and replacing the most worn out sticks with new ones. That typically extends the life by 15,000 miles or so only.
Or you can replace the whole pack, giving you another 100k miles, but that costs ~$3000, so probably isn't worth it.
The symptoms the seller listed are what you see with a worn out hybrid battery. Is the mileage around 100k miles? Happens around then.
Mileage is currently at 158. I do believe the battery is very dead. I am planning to replace it since I have found one that is 1500 with core refund, which would bring the total value to 2k, which feels like a good deal if I can get another 100k miles out of it.
Originally Posted by CivicGuy04
The car will continue to run to about 250k miles with a worn out battery (with the IMA and check engine lights on, and the hybrid system much reduced in effectiveness). At that point you'll start to see the red battery light coming on too at idle, indicating the 12v battery isn't getting charged (it is charged from the big battery). However while keeping revs above 2000 rpm, everything will be fine still. Just be careful not to idle for long, and it's fine. You'll probably want to pick a bigger 12v battery too - the battery box is big enough to ~double the size.
How do you mean a bigger battery? There is currently a 12v 51r type battery that seems to be taking up the whole available space.
Originally Posted by CivicGuy04
If you're keen, you can recondition the hybrid battery. That involves taking it apart, testing each cell individually, and replacing the most worn out sticks with new ones. That typically extends the life by 15,000 miles or so only.
Or you can replace the whole pack, giving you another 100k miles, but that costs ~$3000, so probably isn't worth it.
Reconditioning does not sound great to me, I do not like the wire stuff.
Thank you for your help, that's a great response.
Minor update on the knocking sound: It only occurs when the vehicle is in gear, tempo scales with RPM, and it seems to now be intermittent as it did not happen today until I as almost at work and not at all on the drive home last night. Conversation with the prior owner reveals that the AC compressor also functions intermittently. The noise is coming from the front driver side of the engine bay. Looking around at diagrams it seems like the AC compressor clutch may be the source of the sound.
Great. It's pretty easy to replace. Just remove the back seat (bolts down by the seatbelt deep in the cushions), and the rest should be obvious. When reassembling, the bolts are stainless steel, and stainless bolts should always have a small amount of vaseline applied to the thread before doing them up or weird things happen to them (discovered this the hard way!).
> 12v 51r type battery that seems to be taking up the whole available space.
The stock battery is 12v 30ah, and takes about half of the available space. Sounds like yours is already upgraded.
> knocking sound
Worth checking the catalytic converter heat shield. They can come lose and rattle. Climb under the car to find it in the middle just behind the underbody cover. I wouldn't really describe the noise as knocking though - more of a clatter or rattle.
> AC compressor unreliable
You should be able to see it start and stop if you put a phone camera down near the pulley. If the noise happens with it both running and not running, I don't think that'll be the issue. While you're there, check the belt for lose cords poking out that could be making noises.
If you don't have a service history, I'd also check the valve spacings. It's a bigger job, but still doable at home. The engine should be almost silent (compared to other engines) when running, so if it makes a ticking noise while running, some valve is misadjusted. Odd noises might also be someone has put the wrong oil in - it takes 0w20, and doesn't like 10w-30 that most cars are happy with.
This is an airbag failure. There is a recall for this model of car, so honda will probably diagnose and fix this one for free, even on a 20 year old car!
There was a loose cord under the air intake that I believe was banging against the air intake housing and causing some noise. Now that it's gone, the only potentially abnormal noise is some sort of rattling/tapping sound that happens when the clutch is engaged, but the noise is relatively quiet. I think the clutch plate might want to be replaced but will probably work for now. This is the original transmission on 160k so hopefully it was just driven rough and now makes a little noise.
SRS light code hack via shorting ODB plug pins 4 and 9 revealed code 9-3, front right side seat belt buckle switch failure. Removed buckle cover, discovered microswitch does not reliably convey actual buckle status to controller. I will service the switch are restart the controller and see how that handles things.
So far we have gone from multiple problems to a single minor issue. Thanks for your help, I appreciate your responsiveness.
