I think there is more too it than that? It does not take that much power to charge the pack? If for some reason it does take that much power then in that case it should be regulated so your car will still run at a reasonable level of performance! After all this could be a real safety issue and very dangerous! It sounds to me like the system is confused and almost shuts down? H

 

If you're down to one SoC blip and on the upswing of a recal, you will have absolutely craptacular performance. Been there, done that, and know what two's going through when he says performance sucks.

 

I've been following this thread from the beginning. I live in Phoenix where the temps get to 115 and 160 in the car. The 2006 Honda Hybrid is my wife's car that she drives to work. Many times she takes 3 or 4 co-workers to lunch in mid summer and has never experienced the problem noted here.

 

I have been down to 1 blip SOC many times without problems. The car will not force chg. when near full throttle. Once you come off the throttle then it will force charge, but that is OK because you are not using all that the little 90 has to offer. So what I'm trying to say is, why should it force charge at other times when power is required? H

 

Whiile Phoenix gets a little hotter than Tuscon, there are some significant geographic differences that challenge performance in Tucson. For one, Phoenix is pretty darn flat while reaching Tucson's suburbs, such as Oro Valley, are higher than Tucson and hilly. Another important difference is elevation, Phoenix is at 1100 ft while Tucson is at 2500 ft. Both of these can cause any car to work a lot harder.

My experience with the problem discussed in this thread occurred treking around Oro Valley in the heat of the day. Accelerating uphill was incredibly slow when the pack decided to not help.

This reminds me of a question (that may have already been discussed), why doesn't regen work when the pack is deathly low in these conditions? It was very frustrating that the car would only charge at 1 or 2 bars no matter what was happening.

 

the regeneration creates heat just as the assist does, either way your moving current into or out of the battery. If the pack is at its thermal limit then its going to prevent any usage as allowing anything to go into or out of the battery will just make it even hotter.

 

twuelfing,
I can tell your increasing level of frustration, and you may be too far on the down-side of this with Honda to take this in the light it's meant (to be helpful in you getting a resolution), but here goes anyway.

While I too feel for your situation, I think you are being slightly unreasonable in your request of a Honda dealership to drive you an hour from the dealership to get you to work. Mine wouldn't even consider doing that, nor would I ask. Most dealerships have a "shuttle service" but it has a limited range. I think mine has a 10-mile radius range limit. They have to, or else they'd spend a bloody fortune on multiple vehicles and drivers and gas ferrying people all around. That's NOT their job, nor Honda's. Now I know you said this dealer knew your situation and agreed up-front to it. If so, that's not cool, but nevertheless, it's your responsibility to get the car to the dealership, and yours to get yourself to work, and then back to the dealership to pick up the car.
Why not try this approach. Ask them if they'll go for this -
You drop the car off.
YOU get a rental car that Honda would pay for IF an issue is found - that they would cover under your rental reimburbement program.
IF they find such an issue, THEN would they cover the rental car? Even if not for the first day, you would certainly have a strong case for them covering a rental for the time it takes to complete the repair.
IF they don't find an issue, then at least you've had a second set of mechanics confirm Honda's ignorance in discovering what sounds like an obvious problem. Maybe this could be helpful in the case you are making. And it cost you one day's rental car $$$. You might even be able to rent an HCH2 (and wouldn't that be interesting!).

Out-witting a Honda mechanic is also not helping you make friends. You want their help - right? (Plus, at times, it''s just too easy - not really fair ).
Many of these mechanics hear and relay misinformation all the time - especially with the hybrids. They've heard all the excuses that CAN be used to explain away poor MPG in the hybrids. Most of us have heard them all before, also. For MOST people, this is their first hybrid. There are people that had no idea before their new hybrid what their MPGs were like compared to the EPA numbers. If they were agressive drivers (and not getting EPA mileage but not knowing it), now they're paying attention in their new hybrid, and not getting EPA mileage. They're certain their car is a dud, when in fact, it's probably their driving habits. So, the service departments have a list of things that could be affecting MPG, and wrong viscosity oil IS one of them. Right or wrong about the oil viscosity thing in your case (or the severity of the MPG loss) - I'd let it go.
My local dealer had their mechanics using the wrong amount of OIL in ALL their 2006+ Civics. Not just the hybrids. Some mechanic had the wrong numbers in his head somehow, and everyone else just followed suit. I found out about this while getting my own oil changed there recently, and spent more than an hour (being nice about it ) persistently demanding that they look it up. On their little computer lookup screens, someone had added 1/2 quart to ALL the 2006+ Civics (except the Si, they had that one correct). I got the service manager (whom I've spoken with several times - he has a HCH2 also - I keep him updated!), and the 2 of us, along with a disbelieving mechanic went to the Honda Service manuals themselves (the printed books) to confirm that I was correct. You CAN sometimes make things happen - it's partly in how you go about it. And don't think most other manufacturers/dealerships are different. I've seen stupidity and indifference at many dealerships and several brands. There is the occasional exception. The only reason I helped this dealership get it right is because their oil-change prices are reasonable and they are oh-so-convenient for me - close by and they have great hours.

About the issue itself, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the AC as part of the problem. I'd really try to have them look more deeply into this as a possibility. There are many intimate ties with the AC and the IMA system.

 

The AC works fine until the IMA shuts down. I have no way to test the AC and the dealer wont unless I pay for it, so there is nothing I can do anyway.


I appreciate your attempt to help, but honda has stated their side and how they dont care to address the issue. I have been waiting 5 days for a phone call that was promised in 2 from honda customer care.

Someone needs to start up a class action on this before someone is killed because they pulled out into traffic and coulnt accelerate.

There are many many people with this issue, just many of them only experience it from time to time so they dismiss it. But it only takes once to cause a problem.

 

Sorry for the misread. I guess it wasn't clear to me, even when re-reading your post to know how far it was form the dfealership to near the airport.
With that in mind, and the Honda plight, it sounds like you've worn out your welcome somehow. I agree that you may be in a stuck place.
Still don't count out the AC causing the IMA problems. Just because the AC cools you down and seems normal, that doesn't mean it's not wreaking some unknown havoc on the IMA system. It does draw some of its juice from the IMA battery, and at idle-stop it draws ALL of its energy from the IMA battery. What IF it's doing that ALL the time (getting its energy solely from the IMA battery)? This could pose issues, I'd think.

Sorry for your issues. They sound far worse than what most of us have experienced. I think we've all had the sudden SOC freee-fall to 0 bars, but it doesn't stay that way very long, or happen all the time. If it did, we'd all be after Honda to find and solve the problem.

 

I know this thread is old, but this past poster gave me a thought. The A/C compressor in the HCHII is itself 'hybrid' in nature. By that, I mean that it has both an electric motor AND a mechanical clutch/pulley to spin the compressor. This is kind of the 'old school' way of doing it, as most or all other hybrids have moved on to purely electric drive motors (less weight, less complexity, but they need the full 280V system to work).

I wonder what the behavior might be if the clutch has failed (or the clutch wiring, fuse, etc.). In that case, the compressor will be pulling ALL it's energy from the IMA system. I think that under heavy loads (or low charge), the car prefers to use the clutch. If you've lost your IMA system completely, it still seems strange that your A/C should cut out at all, as it has the mechnical clutch to use instead.

You should be able to look underhood and see the clutch to tell if it's engaging or not. To find a more peak load, you might want to try it with the temperature setting at the lowest point, Auto everything else.