I would love to talk to a civic hybrid mechanic to discuss various ways in which the ima work and what is considered normal or abnormal ,especially in hot weather , Has anyone , when taking the car to the dealer gotten to talk to the actual hybrid guru of any dealership. Where I go in PA the bureacracy prevent you from ever talking to a mechanic, anyone talked to theirs?

 

One of the mechanics at the honda dealership I normally go to, has HCH 1 as well but his is 5-spd. I talk to him a lot about our cars (he claims to be much better than the CVT).

Try to take their shuttle just before they close. Most likely the shuttle driver has gone home, sales people don't want to leave the sales floor while the mechanic would like to earn some overtime just for driving around, you get the idea.

 

I've talked to the one at the dealer near me. He's very interested in what I say about my car. I've gone through the recall ECU updates with him, and he's also let me photocopy some pages from the service manual - very cool! I do most of my own maintenance, which hasn't been much - filters, oil, tires, gearbox oil change, valve adjust, spark plugs, etc. 140k + miles, no problems.
'04 HCH MT (Love the 5-speed!)

 

There are a few people online that have torn the system apart, and probably have more hands on knowledge than any dealer tech. Some of them are even on this site.

 

I too have the 2004 5 speed manual, have any of the mechanics stated how to drive the manual so that battery life isnt deteriorated? The latest recall did it have anything to do with battery sensors or engine sensors, or was it the result of a trend of failures? Im curious at 72k my 5 speed is so far so good witth both software updates done
thanks for replying everyone
who are the people who have expertise throuigh honda civid hybrid teardown? that is a education

 

I have spoken with my local dealers hybrid specialist Dan is his name. After the most recent software recall, the dealership sent a email evaluating their service, they also had a space for comments. I stated i never get to speak to the Hybrid Guru. Lo and behold I get a phone call from the service manager who offers to answer my question, or if it is of a technical nature , he will talk to his mechanic. Of course its of a technical nature. I left the manager a voice mail and ultimatley Dan calls, with a energetic enthused voice Im the hybrid man, I state Im fran the pipefittingman. I ask him if the recent software recall affect the ima he states yes, I talk to him about during the hot weather i get less performance from the battery he states that the softeware upgrade should take care of that. I am for this day impressed. Piazzo Honda of Eastern Pa , specfically Reading Pa division. Dan stated his enthusiasim for hybrid and fuel cell cars great!

 

Check out what I found today

 

i have a 2005 and have taken it in several times and actually spoken to the mechanic about what he's doing. the service manager admits to no knowledge about the hybrid and gladly calls the mechanic in to eliminate the middle man.

 

I haven't talked to the hybrid mechanic, nor had much work done on my car yet, just a reset of the computer when the airbag light was staying on. I hope my dealer has a good hybrid tech. I know one of the local colleges has a course for hybrid mechanics, so maybe I'll be lucky when my car needs work.

I did find a website that has a listing (and lots of other info) regarding hybrid mechanics:

http://www.auto-careers.org/local_hybrid_shops.html

 

I just bought my HCHII a month ago, so (knock on wood) I shouldn't have need of my dealership's services for a long time yet. BUT, I'm already paranoid about whether the mechanics there will know what they're doing. Will they use 0W-20? When it's transmission fluid change time, will they know to use CVT fluid? I probably just have trust issues.

There are 2 Honda dealerships that are more or less equidistant from me. I guess I should ask each service department how many hybrids they take care of on a regular basis.