I have a 2006 Civic Hybrid (with 65000 miles) and had the IMA and engine lights come on, my battery level gauge reading was drop suddenly many times in same trip from full bars to 1 bar before this lights come on, I went to a mechanic and he check it and got a code of Battery Module Deterioration ! and he checked the voltage of all cells of IMA battery and he got reading for each cell between 15.7 to 15.8 v, he told me that my battery has less power than normal and he claim that it should be it least 16 v for each cell... Does anybody knows what is the normal range of voltage for each cell ?
And how much I can run on my car before I replaced my battery in this condition ?

 

Well from the symptoms you describe it seems like that is indeed the case. Your HCH battery pack is either low on capacity or there is a short or problem in the dc transformer which charges the battery. The first one is the most likely, the voltage is on the low side, my cells are sitting around 16.4v or so which they should be with the mileage I have on the car. You might want to take the battery pack into the dealer to have them charge and test it if you are mechanically/electrically experienced enough to remove it yourself,(disclaimer) if not then the 158 volts DC which is output by the battery is quite hazardous and is best left to those with a solid electrical/electronics background.

These cars use nickel-metal-hydride batteries and they are very prone to overheating when they are bad, at some point your car should stop trying to charge them and give up entirely, this is a good thing since you don't want a fire in your trunk. It does however illustrate the battery pack is not of sufficient capacity to begin with in order to last the lifetime of the car, which is an engineering mistake in my opinion. I would shop around for an improved version that private companies may offer, these packs often are slightly higher capacity and they have taken into consideration corrosion at the battery terminals which I'm sure doesn't help the problem and is common I hear on HCH cars with more than 50k on them.

I used to work on golf carts, so I know the damage a high voltage/amperage DC system can cause if improperly installed or damaged during removal.

 

Thanks a lot Jamchel for the reply
Actually after the mechanic did a reset for those lights sings, they didn't come again until now.. and that problem of many drops in the battery bars has been decreased too much after I come back to use my car regulary again (I was driving my car very little for 2 months before that problem appeared )
But recently I've some resets from the 12v battery, I don't know if it's just some problem in the cables connection to that 12v battery or it's in that battery it's self..
So how can I know if my 12v battery is working good or no by my self ?

 

Just went to the dealer myself after engine light came on with code P07AF. Told that battery charge is very low prompting the code. According to US NHTSA, there is a technical service bulletin that reads:

HONDA / ACCORD HYBRID
2005-2007

HONDA / CIVIC - HYBRID
2004

HONDA / CIVIC HYBRID
2005-2009

HONDA / CIVIC-HYBRID
2003

HONDA / INSIGHT
2000-2006

Service Bulletin Number:
SB-08-062

NHTSA Item Number:
10026884

Summary:
HONDA: HYBRID BATTERIES CAN BE AFFECTED AND DAMAGED BY EXCESSIVELY HIGH TEMPERATURES. *PE

So, the battery has a very low charge when starting and the engine light comes on. The charged me just over $100 to diagnose the engine code and then applied a software update for free. I believe that if your complaint matches the Technical Service Bulletin, they're obligated to fix for free, but I feel like the battery may be damaged. This is the second time in a year that this has happened and its my second software update.

Any stories on negotiating with Honda for a new battery?