It would really be worthwhile to see what kind of results "cheezmo1" would get if his car could be flashed back to the old firmware or if the computer was swapped with one that hasn't had the update in question.

Maybe they gave you a extra quart or 2 of oil along with the new firmware.

Low 40's vs high 40's

 

We will never know because Honda won't look at my car. I offered them to send an Engineer and see why I have issues when all their tests show normal. I'm not alone here. A few months ago it was like 2 or 3 people, now it seems to be more lately, at least from this forum and cleanmpg. I will keep saying Honda is ignoring the issue, because they are doing nothing.

 

I got a form letter in the mail today from Honda letting HCHII owners know that there's a free software update available "to help prevent early IMA battery deterioration." It says that "frequent stop-and-go driving during warm weather speeds up the IMA battery deterioration." Wow, it's a good thing people here in Southern California didn't buy any of these cars...

To summarize the changes under the update:

--Engine restarts sooner in autostop. Restarts with 2 SOC bars. (Does this mean forced regeneration, because I get that now with 5 or 6 bars sometimes)
--May not go into autostop with up to 4 SOC bars
--IMA reserves more battery power. "This reduces the IMA assist as the vehicle speed increases." (Is't that the entire point of the IMA--to assist as the vehicle speed increases?!?!?)
--SOC bars "more accurately indicates the battery's SOC"

 

I have experienced the decline of my gas mileage from a high of 46/39 in 2006 to 38/28 today after having my "software updated" after continually complaining about loss of power, electric assist, and mileage. I am so angry at Honda's corporate decision to protect their ASSets at the expense of their customers so they don't have to replace their poorly designed batteries and hybrid system. Honda charged us a premium and falsely advertised the Civic Hybrid so they could get richer at our expense. I will never buy or recommend a Honda to anyone.

Anyone know of a mechanic that can reverse the software updates? Is that even possible?

 

My car seems to be almost constantly dropping to 1-2 bars and recaling afterwards. It on average will recal 2 times during my 2.1 mile drive to work. My FE has dropped horrendously....No IMA light on. Bought the car in Dec of 2006 so the 5 year battery warranty should still be in effect.

 

Owl - take your car to a dealer and have them test the battery. Tell them it has erratic SOC behavior (the constant re-cals) and you may get a new battery like this guy did:

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...-needed-27087/

those recals are definitely a battery issue that won't go away on its own

 

Ok, called local dealer...I explained the situation and the guy I talked to was unfamiliar with it. He said I could drop it off on Tuesday and they would run "diagnostics." There is no IMA light though so I can't see them finding anything if all they do is "run diagnostics."

 

I believe there is a good chance their tool can tell how much degradation has happened based on what I've read in the past.

My vehicle also had the re-cals almost every time I started my car and during drive.

I bought a junk-yard battery that was much newer and lower miles and now I have -no- recals at all, and no more dreaded power loss when the re-cal begins at random times.

So the problem was definitely the battery. Also I am getting 55MPG w/new battery vs 47MPG with the bad battery.

 

Awesome...my battery sounds like how yours was. Any assist used to climb even the smallest hills forces it into a recal. I miss the way my HCH used to be...

 

I really hope you get a free battery because your HCH will feel like it did before, and better with the new software/new battery combination