Fix required for Honda Civic hybrids
In need of a battery fix
Save your battery
Around 90,000 Honda Civic hybrids from 2006 – 2008 will require a software update to resolve a problem that could cause the Civic hybrid’s battery pack to fail prematurely.
Owners of affected vehicles are being notified, but a recall is not warranted, according to Honda, because safety is not at issue.
Unfortunately, whether this issue has already caused battery packs in some Civic hybrids to fail is not being released by the company. If you’ve experienced such a problem, please let us know in our Honda Civic hybrid testimonials.
I have an ‘03 HCH. Got it used from a buddy a year ago and had to rebalance the subpacks to get the car working good again. Honda Inc was of no help, they only wanted to sell me (and my buddy) a refurbed pack with a 1 year warranty for $3200. Rebalancing the pack myself was done for $315! Honda gets a BIG blackmark for all their crapola concerning the IMA pack problems.
Read more about rebalancing a IMA pack yourself at http://homepower.com/article/?file=HP137_pg84_Lamb
[...] Since Honda began implementing a software upgrade on Civic hybrids to help fix an issue that could cause batteries to fail prematurely, many have complained about declines in both fuel economy and performance in their Civic hybrids. [...]
I’d be an unhappy camper as well.
After the IMA upgrade, I noticed a marked decrease in pick-up when pulling into traffic. I would not have bought the car if the pick-up had been this bad from the beginning. Local dealership just told me that there were actually 6 upgrades installed when I took the car in for the battery recall — affected transmission, timing, everything. I am not a happy camper.
I had the new battery algorithm updated recently and noticed my fuel economy drop about 10 MPG. Anyone else notice anything similar? I talked to a Honda dealer service advisor and they said they have complaints that are similar.
Was my battery a dud? Only time will tell.
The fact that I started seeing battery degaradation after only a few months leads me to think it my be a dud.
I think that poor software and the extremely hot weather in Phoenix are also contributors.
I read numerous posts on http://greenhybrid.com from other HCH II owners complaining about symptoms similar to mine. Most of those did not have their vehicle as short of a time as I did though.
My step son has a 2007 HCHII. He is now starting to see some degradation at about the 3 year/50,000 mile mark. He got his letter last week…
That makes it sound a lot more like a recall issue. The reason for not recalling is that “it’s not a safety issue”.
And, is Honda even addressing the full issue, particularly considering that your Honda isn’t even the so-called ‘affected models’?
Fortunately, at least they replaced the battery. So, do you think the battery was a dud, or that bad software made it a dud through inefficient cycling?
“Hello! Hello? Officer! Help, help! I was driving down the California freeway when my battery pack suddenly failed!”
This problem is more real than you think….
In reality it was more an issue of “re-calibrations”. When the HCH II computer is unsure that it has an accurate reading of the state of charge it does a “recalibration”, which sets the state of charge back to zero. When my battery went bad, this began to happen very frequently. At one moment I would have 5 bars of battery, then suddenly the state of charge would go back to zero and I would have no battery power for acceleration.
This was a real safety problem if a “re-cal” occured just as I pulled out into traffic. I almost got hit a few times when this happened.
I pushed the safety angle to Honda and I think that helped in convincing them to change the battery.
After the battery was replaced the re-cals stop happening….
Sadly, that has become a mind-set common to many American.
Nevertheless, it does seem that Honda possibly missed out on a some due diligence.
Hello! Hello? Officer! Help, help! I was driving down the California freeway when my battery pack suddenly failed!
Quick! Who can I sue???
this sounds a little like how the American companies would respond… too bad… this won’t help Honda…
I’m starting to get a feeling that the only company that is truly committed to hybrid technology is Toyota and everyone else is a “me too” …
am I wrong?
Interesting and disappointing. Thanks for the info, Smurf.
That may spread into the 2009 model as well.
I’ve already had a battery replaced on 2009 HCH II.
They did all the software updates after the IMA failure light came on. The IMA failure went away, but the battery was toast. They replaced the battery a few months later.
Just an FYI… Honda has been real reluctant to replace batteries even when it is obvious that they have deteriorated significantly. Many of us had had to ecalate, open customer service cases with Honda, and even bring in lawyers to get Honda to replace bad batteries. It seems like the new software updates only serve to “suppress the IMA failure light”. Honda uses the lack of an IMA failure light as justification for not replacing the battery.