HELP! Won't start
 

My 2004 HCH CVT is not starting. I turn the key and it lights up the whole desplay without doing anything else, then after a few seconds a fast clicking comes from behind the dash and the instrument lights blink. "Maint Reqd" is flashing and IMA battery is at 1/2 capacity according to the gauge (though it was close to full when I parked it yesterday).

Yesterday morning it did not start on the first try, then on second try it started fine. For the last week or so the Maint Reqd light has been blinking for a few seconds, usually that's because the oil change timer has expired.

I was also reading a post on the IMA battery issues and started to wonder if I may be getting that problem. My FE has dropped off about 10% over the last couple tanks, I can't get a tank above 40 mpg anymore and I never used to get below 40, even after my new tires. But yesterday I drove it about 100 miles through mountains and the battery seemed to be charging and assisting just fine.

Any ideas? I suspect it doesn't need a jump if the IMA battery is half full, but in any case, I've never jump started this car before, would that be advisable or not?

I am just under 80k miles.

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

It looks like you have a bad 12V battery on your hands.

Cheers;

MSantos

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

You're talking about the traditional engine compartment battery?

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

You bet. That's the one. ;)

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

Well, I'll jump start it tomorrow and see what that does. It's possible a door was ajar and ran the battery down. It is four years old though so it may be ready to go.

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

I'm betting on (and hoping for :)) 12V battery. I just had to buy one for the (non-hybrid :() Tribute. Hot summer is hard on batteries in TX. NM, too.

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

just take it to a place that sells car batteries, they can test the 12v in a matter of a few minutes and let you know for sure....Heat & Cold seem to be the big killers of 12V batteries, welcome to summer :-)

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

Yes, well I was used to cold killing my batteries in Minnesota... I guess I just moved to the other extreme.

I took it in for testing and it failed the load test miserably. So I got a new Interstate which was the same form factor but actually filled the rack rather than being smaller and centered in it, which means this is a bigger battery than the original. $82. The honda dealer offered to replace it with a honda battery for $135 which sounded insane until they told me it came with a 100 month warranty. Still though, I like interstate and I didn't have to wait.

The IMA battery charge indicator behaved strangely for the first trip with the new engine battery though. It registered zero charge at first (the result of having disconnected the main battery perhaps?) then suddenly showed two thirds full, then it jumped around a bit before settling about where I thought it should be. The next few trips should determine whether it's part of the problem or not I suspect.

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

Glad to hear it was only the 12 volt. I would suggest that in order to properly charge the IMA battery you should idle it very high for about 4 or 5 minutes in the drive way. My dealer suggested this after each time the 12 volt is disconnected. I used to get the IMA jumping all over the place too. This stopped that from happening.

Re: HELP! Won't start
 

Well, that was easy and just think of all the stress $82 relieved you of :-)