My IMA and Engine light came on today. It was bitterly cold (about 21) and my car had been sitting in an open air garage for most of the day. The battery should have had close to a full charge when I pulled into my parking garage. When I pulled out, I didn't note the charge, but I had 1 bar by the time I had made it three blocks down the street and was trying to get on the interstate on an elevated ramp (always fun with the pathetic gas engine only). About a half a mile later, both lights came on. The battery seemed to be charging properly and car seemed to be operating okay. I am taking it in Thursday, and I'm wondering if anyone has advice as to what it might be.

 

Crutnacker,
Wondering what the answer was after your description of the IMA light coming on recently on the cold day.
Greg

 

your 12V battery is too low and it caused the IMA computers to crash. check the 12V battery.

ks

 

The same thing happened to me this morning. It was very cold (probably ~25F) and my car started up just and went on its way. After about maybe a mile or two both the check engine light and IMA battery light came on. There was some weird fluctuation with my IMA battery charge but after a few minutes it seemed to be operating as normal (charging and giving assistance). Both the check lights are still on though.

This also happened about a month back when it was very cold, and it went away on it's own after a week or so.

BTW, I went in for an oil change at the dealership last week and they said my regular battery was just fine so it probably isn't that.

Any other ideas?

 

So what did the error codes say it was? I presume the dealer checked those...my car is frequently exposed to temps in the 0-20F. range and not had any issues.

 

I found in sub 20 temps its better to let the car warm up before driving it, otherwise mine bucks around like an old 80's econobox and is generally unpleasant to drive. I haven't seen any codes even when it dropped to 14 the other night and I drove it after warming it up just fine.

Just to add as a good rule of thumb, once the heater has warmed the cabin your car is fully warmed up.

 

Wait! I thought you lived in Carlsbad. It did get to 29 here one night this week... coldest of the year by far... but hardly 14!!!

Ohhh, you meant Carlsbad, North Pole, maybe.

 

Yes I park my car in a refrigerated garage….no….lol. I regularly visit the local mountains and the HCH is a pretty decent mountain car, put it this way it keeps up with just about anyone unless they are in a supercar…….

 

nothing wrong with the car or battery, this is straight from your hybrid manual

If the IMA battery is too hot or too
cold, the IMA system limits the IMA
battery’s output power to protect the
battery. This disables the IMA assist
and Auto Idle Stop, even though the
Battery Level Gauge may show that
the battery is well-charged.
Therefore, if the motor assist is
frequently used, the battery
becomes hot and starts to limit its
output power.
It takes the IMA system a few
minutes in cold weather to normalize
the IMA battery’s output power, and
about 15 minutes in hot weather.

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