Honda Insight Mk1

[OliverGT]

Congratulations.

Looking forward to any updates.

Don't get me started on Car Insurance! Here in Ireland, if you have two cars, your no claims discount starts at 0 on the second car. Not quite sure how they can be allowed to switch the NCD from the Driver to the Car, when it suits them, as I'm sure if I had a claim on one car it would impact the Insurance on the other one...

Sorry I'm ranting...

Congratulations again on getting the Insight, they are rare enough in England, like hens teeth here, although I did see one a couple of weeks ago, in the lime green colour they do, I nearly crashed !

Oliver.

[Draigflag]

Thanks Oliver, yea insurance companies are some of the biggest crooks out there. I understand about the 0 no claims, I had to start again when I insured my old Fiat 126 as a second car. I sure hope they've changed that now...

It's a very rare car, there are just 208 left in the UK according to registration data. I'm a little apprehensive, it's a gamble buying one with a dodgy battery, but I'm hoping the grid charger will put some life back into it, really don't want to fork out another £2000 straight away on a new battery pack. Anyway, I couldn't get any time off work, so it's coming Saturday now

[OliverGT]

Draigflag,

You know that they are still a fine eco car even without the Battery fully working, but would be nice to to have a fully working one.

I know when I was investigating there are a couple of Insight geniuses in the UK, I'm sure there will be lots of help out there for you.

Oliver.

[benlovesgoddess]

Car insurance - when you have to phone up and pay a few quid to update your address or car and they say "thanks for your payment we'llkeepyourcarddetailsandautomaticallyrenewyourp olicynextyear mate..."
I don't think so chump - and for pulling that stunt I'm going to automatically choose another insurer next year!

[Draigflag]

Yea I remember last year, I had been up early and driving cross country for a car show, wanted my brother to drive so phoned my insurance to add him. It was "free" to add him, but they wanted a £26 administration fee, for the last 100 miles or so. I would rather risk falling asleep at the wheel!!!

[trollbait]

Originally Posted by OliverGT

Draigflag,

You know that they are still a fine eco car even without the Battery fully working, but would be nice to to have a fully working one.

I know when I was investigating there are a couple of Insight geniuses in the UK, I'm sure there will be lots of help out there for you.

Oliver.

Yeah, a bad battery doesn't strand you like some other hybrid types.
Does the insight still have a 12v starter? Normally it uses the hybrid motor to start the ICE. Without a back up 12v starter, you'll have to leave the bad battery in place; it'll likely have enough juice to start the car. Which just means no simple weight cutting by removing it.

The six cell sticks for refurbishing the pack are readily available on the internet. Once you get those, all you need to fix a bad pack are some basic tools to remove the pack and disassemble it, and a good multi-meter to test the modules and sticks. It's more a question of taking the time to do it right the first time.

There was a story recently of a guy getting a deal on a Camry hybrid with a dying pack. He decided to refurbish it himself. When he pulled the pack, there was corrosion on the pack terminals; excess moisture/humidity must have gotten into the battery compartment. After testing the battery itself was fine. Clean up the terminals, and about $20 for new metal jump bars and battery anti-corrosion spray, the Camry was running fine.

Unfortunately, an early Honda hybrid likely won't have such an easy fix. The issue is that Honda's battery management software was allowing the packs to discharge too low. This is exacerbated with the manual because the driver can 'lug' the battery with it.

Draigflag, you should look into if the ECU got the flash fix, and getting it if not. It will result in lower fuel economy than before, but it will extend the battery's life.

[LDB]

Wow, and I thought our insurance was bad. We don't have to add anyone. We can allow any legally licensed driver to drive our car and they are covered so long as it's with our knowledge and approval. They don't charge us any update fees either... yet.

[Draigflag]

Originally Posted by trollbait

Yeah, a bad battery doesn't strand you like some other hybrid types.
Does the insight still have a 12v starter? Normally it uses the hybrid motor to start the ICE. Without a back up 12v starter, you'll have to leave the bad battery in place; it'll likely have enough juice to start the car. Which just means no simple weight cutting by removing it.

The six cell sticks for refurbishing the pack are readily available on the internet. Once you get those, all you need to fix a bad pack are some basic tools to remove the pack and disassemble it, and a good multi-meter to test the modules and sticks. It's more a question of taking the time to do it right the first time.

There was a story recently of a guy getting a deal on a Camry hybrid with a dying pack. He decided to refurbish it himself. When he pulled the pack, there was corrosion on the pack terminals; excess moisture/humidity must have gotten into the battery compartment. After testing the battery itself was fine. Clean up the terminals, and about $20 for new metal jump bars and battery anti-corrosion spray, the Camry was running fine.

Unfortunately, an early Honda hybrid likely won't have such an easy fix. The issue is that Honda's battery management software was allowing the packs to discharge too low. This is exacerbated with the manual because the driver can 'lug' the battery with it.

Draigflag, you should look into if the ECU got the flash fix, and getting it if not. It will result in lower fuel economy than before, but it will extend the battery's life.

From what I can gather so far, yes the car uses the motor to start the car, which sounds weird because the engine just fires into life with no crank sound! But if the main battery is on its way out, you can break down and won't be able to start the car. I'm still learning. There are a few options with the battery, like you say, a grid charger can rejuvenate a dying pack (one guy has 200,000 on the original pack) so that's likely to be my first port of call. Failing that, I'll think about a refurb with fresh sticks, and if that doesn't work, then I'll bite the bullet and get a new pack. I'll try and get the ecu update, or at least find out about it. I think first I'll get the fault codes read, because they can determine whether the battery capacity is stuffed, or still salvageable.

[benlovesgoddess]

Exciting times!

[Draigflag]

Exciting, should be, Im just really apprehensive about this one, not sure why. My house is in desperate need of extensive repairs so everyone has been telling me not to buy the car and fix the house etc, which I should, but cars are my weakness