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I need to pass my smog test, but my IMA battery is bad and the check engine light is on. What can be done to bypass the battery system to pass the test? Any suggestions on how to do this without replacing the IMA battery preferably.

Honda Civic 2003 Hybrid

 
Rep Power: 209

try this.....

 
Rep Power: 0

I owned two 2003 Honda Civic Hybrids and dealt with this problem for several years.
I found a smog shop here in Stockton, CA that did something, then had me drive about 50-75 miles and return to his shop, where he was then able to pass the smog test.
I sold one of the cars, but still had to deal with the problem on the other in late 2018.

The Honda dealer, Stockton Honda, who charged me $150 to diagnose it, and said I needed both catalytic converters and the two OS sensors (?) replaced and they could do that for $5,000. I thought they were joking, but no.

So I took it back to my local smog shop who charged me $80 to diagnose it and said "Here's how we can save you a lot of money. We will replace the top catalytic converter and just clean out the two OS sensors because the bottom catalytic converter still has 20% life in it. This also necessitated a new exhaust manifold. TOTAL BILL WAS ONLY $648.20!

For the first time in many years, I don't have to contend with the "ENGINE LIGHT ON" as well as the IMA battery light on.
I think a lot of the battery light on problems may be the catalytic converter and sometimes even the 12 volt battery, as one time, after installation of a new 12 volt battery, it went off.

Don't always believe the dealer when they say the IMA battery is bad.
I've learned they don't know everything about these big batteries at the local dealer level but it sure is much easier to sell you a $3,000 battery before they'll admit they don't know the real problems. I'm just lucky I found a very smart young man who works to save me money... this is a great approach to keep happy customers, of course, who are going to be long term customers.

Since then we decided to restore other elements of this car and spent $583.40 to install new front struts and $727.50 for new ball joints and left transmission mount (that solved a clunking noise).
We first had made an offer on a 2016 Honda Civic and the dealer wanted as much as we paid for our 2016 Honda Civic new. We offered $900 less than their price to start negotiations, and expected a counter offer, but nope... not even $50 off, so that gave us time to think.
The CA sales tax was around $2,000, so we just decided to restore the 2003 Honda Civic to be like new since it already has retained a new paint job about 5 years ago. It has 177,000 miles on it. Knowing my first 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid that I bought new went 120,000 miles on its first battery before Honda replaced it (Free on the warranty), I figure this one should be good until I get to about 240,000 miles. If we still have it when the IMA battery goes kaput, I will probably buy one from GreenTech in Rancho Cordova, CA that makes a slightly larger one and gets even more gas mileage.
Right now I'm getting 38-41 miles per gallon so am a very happy camper.

I hope my more than 10 years of experience with two 2003 Honda Civic Hybrids will benefit more people out there because I realize many of you are confronting the same identical problems and not getting the proper help. I may be crazy for spending this kind of money on a car that Kelly BlueBook values at around $450 but I did sell the other one with the engine light on for $2350 to a high school student who is still happy with it.
Good luck to all of you! I might add, though, that we are very happy with our 2016 Honda Civic straight gas engine because it gets about 37 mpg around town and 40 mpg on the freeway so I doubt if I'll every buy another hybrid unless maybe a Hyundai Ioniq that gets 55 mph and guarantees their hybrid battery for your lifetime plus 60,000 miles to the second owner if you sell it!
Am very impressed with that brand after doing a lot of research and they are usually priced less than Hondas.