I have been directed to another forum where there are plenty of people complaining of the same issues and same response from honda

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.f145abe/0

 

I spent at week in Tucson with my 06 HCH at the begining of August. Normally, I'm in the San Jose area and never run the AC and never have problems like you described. While in Tucson, I was loaded with 4 passengers, I was running the AC and the temps were in the high 90's. I experienced what you experienced. My car ran like crap, the IMA basically shut down, I could not auto-stop, nor would regen work. The car had a completely unsafe amount of power left over. The behavior and usability of the car in those conditions was completely unsatisfactory and just plain dangerous.

-dan

 

Run with AUTO CLIMATE CONTROL and set it at comfortable setting and your problems will go away!!! H

 

I always do when on AC and it didn't help me while in Tucson.

 

Honda should not even have a manual setting on the climate control!!! Manual CC is the biggest problem with the IMA system. H

 

not true. I have tried this. It doesn't change the behavior at all.
I went 2 weeks on auto and the problem was just as prevalent.

 

I still struggle with the idea that this is normal operation. Clearly, the system IS supposed to fail in this way to protect the battery under and overheating condition. This is normal. However, the discrepancy here seems to be the exact limits the car should be able to handle before getting into this failsafe condition. I can promise you that I have driven mine in 95F weather, sun-soaked, A/C cranking, with driver and 3 adult passengers and never seen this behavior. Am I just lucky?

Just off the top of my head:

- How are you certain that the A/C is fine? Just because it blows cold air when cruising doesn't mean that it's 100% fine. Maybe it only has half a charge in it, and can only cool adequately when driving (lots of airflow through the condensor to compensate for the fact that it's grossly over- or under-charged). If incorrectly charged, when idling, the A/C will turn to crap and then let the IMA overheat. They can pull the charge, confirm the charge amount, then re-charge it within about 20 minutes. Have they done so?

- There is airflow through the battery vent blower, but how do you know it's enough? Maybe the motor is only flowing half the air it should. Have you compared the airflow to another HCH2 side by side? The blower motor could be defective.

- The exhauster vent that allows the battery cooling air out of the trunk may be clogged. Has anyone confirmed if there are any leaves or spiders nested in there? Have you put any huge trunk liner in place that might block normal flow?

- The temp sensor for the IMA might be slightly out of spec, or at the very limit of it's allowed tolerance. Sensors are analog devices that have a tolerance. Maybe yours is just at the limit, making the IMA system think it's overheating too early. Has the dealer checked the sensor itself? (note: I have no idea if it's possible to check the sensor directly, or if it's internal and not serviceable)

I sympathize with your situation. The fact that dealers usually just pull codes, shrug their shoulders, then spout the Regional Rep's company line just pisses me off. Personally, I don't think your car is operating normally just because they produced some document that claims it to be so. Most of us have no issue at all in the exact same conditions. You need a dealer or Honda engineer that's willing to work harder to diagnose the issue.

 

I agree with Rob! Find yourself a dealer that is interested in solving the problem, because your car has a problem! And to top it off it is probably not a major problem. You may have a mouse nest in the cooling pasage or something stupid like that, but someone has to take the time and effort to check it out! So take your car back until they solve it. H

 

I totally sympathise with your situation. I live in las vegas and have owned my HCH II for about 4 months now and it get HOT here. I have never had a situation like yours. I am no car expert by any means but everything it pointing to a bad AC system. Although I rarly use my AC, even on hot days, I have never had the Regen system crash as you explain. Again, have an AC mechanic thoroughly checkout the AC.

Best of luck to you...

 

I'll just say this, whether the IMA system is running or not, ANY car this size with a claimed 110HP ICE should be able to at least accelerate up a hill or get up to the speed limit in a safe manner. In my opinion, the HCH feels like it has about 30 HP when the IMA is not able to help. It can't do either of those things.

Something is seriously screwed up when this happens.