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IMA warning light on HCH 2003

Created October 26, 2008, at 7:19 am by Oleg

Hello to everybody!
First of all a few facts about the history of the car. It had been bought 6 months ago (45 thousand miles, CVT). I had changed 12 V. battery at once, so now it’s not original (Novell). I hadn’t had any problems with car.
Five weeks ago I noticed, that sometimes in the morning during first fifteen minutes of driving 144 V. battery discharge fully and then charging begins. This happens almost every time when I don’t use the car for several days.
A few days ago while I was driving IMA warning light appeared. In the evening I took off 12 V. battery and charged it at home. Yesterday I put it back and as it has been recommended here I drove slowly not using the assist. 144 V. battery was fully charged in 15 min. and everything worked properly, but then in 6 miles IMA light appeared again. I got back home and put the old original (3,5 years old) 12 V. battery back having charged it. Then 144 V. battery was fully charged in 5 min. I drove for about 40 miles and IMA light didn’t appear and today in the morning 144 V. battery was fully discharged again but IMA light isn’t yet on, everything is OK.
What do you think is the cause of the problem if it is a problem: 12 V. or 144 V. battery? As far as I noticed the problem coincided with the fall of the temperature to 5-7 degrees C. My style of driving is not aggressive at all.

BR
Oleg

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MSantos
Senior Member

3 years ago

Hi Oleg;

I think it is time to take your HCH in for an HDS diagnostic. Those symptoms are very similar to the episodes where the battery and BCM gets changed for a new one. Honda will chip in for this one if diagnostics deem the battery at fault.

Cheers;

MSantos

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Oleg
Junior Member

3 years ago

Hi, MSantos!
Thank you for a prompt reply!
Unfortunately there is a huge problem here to find a dealer for a professional diagnostic of HCH, as there are no authorized HCH dealers in the region.
Can you give some advice concerning my situation? Can this problem be caused by unevenness of charging of IMA battery cells (there are 20 cells×7,2V in IMA battery)? If the answer is affirmative can I solve the problem by charge equalization in the cells with the help of battery charger and analyzer Cadex 7000? The cost of a new battery and BCM in our country is about 7000 $.

Regards,
Oleg

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MSantos
Senior Member

3 years ago

Hi Oleg;

You are on the right track concerning the discrepancy between the cells. Indeed, most pack malfunctions are often attributed to a very few defective/malfunctioning and even voltage reversed cells... and usually the job of tearing apart can be quite a challenge.
It is also another challenge to put it all back together again without making it worse since most NiMH cells are typically soldered together in their modules. I am not even mentioning the safety challenge aspect since I assume you have the heavy duty insulated gloves and the good reasoning that goes with it. :)

There are many people who have ventured into this type of work with mixed results and unless you have a good supply of used/salvaged packs around it may be a hit and miss at least at first.

Wow... 7000 $ (what currency would that be in?)

Honda keeps lowering the prices on the pack and BCM combo and it is now much lower than $4000 US ... and if you are within warranty you should get a good chunk covered if not completely. In a worst case scenario they will send a tech over to the nearest dealership. Give the head office in your region a call even if the dealerships are lacking. It may be worth your while

Cheers;

MSantos

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Oleg
Junior Member

3 years ago

Hi, MSantos

Thank you very much for your reply.

As the cost of the battery and BCM is about 7000 US $  (it’s the price in Russia), so I’ll try to voodoo a bit . According to Mike Dabrowski’s recommendation http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6958&highlight=civic+IMA...
I’ll drive hard to give the battery a chance to recharge completely (by the way the first time IMA light went off after a long hard drive uphill and then downhill – the battery was fully discharged). To tell the truth during the last two months I’ve been using the car only on Saturdays (about 30 miles a week). Probably it’s the cause of frequent recals(as far as I know that’s the term of recalibration process) in the beginning of driving.
I’ll tell you about the results…

Best regards,
Oleg

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