So I own a 2006 Honda civic hybrid. It has 70,000 miles and just recently it began giving me battery problems. So after I drove the car and let it sit for about 5 days it wouldn't start. I didn't leave any lights on. The car was completely dead. I jumpstarted it and drove it for about 10 minutes. It got about 4 bars on the battery. I let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours and once again it was dead. It says the battery is being charged and it does give me some bars but it keeps dying. What could be wrong???
Thanks for looking.

 

I'm very new to this hybrid thing but I'm pretty good with basic auto electrical systems.

It sounds like a bad STARTING battery.

It's an ordinary 12 volt battery and they wear out pretty quick (compared to the big expensive battery that moves the car)

A bad battery would rob the charging sytem of a lot of power and make everything behave badly.

You can take the car to any old autoparts store and have them check it for free.

Whether or not they carry the appropriate battery is another story, but the charging circuit and the lead acid battery should be pretty basic.

 

What hert said. You have two batteries in the HCH. The 12v under the hood that runs the accessories when the engine is off and starts the engine initially, and the 144v? IMA battery between the backseat and the trunk. Any auto parts store should carry the battery you need for $60-100. There's no fixing it, just replacing it. It being a 2006, the battery is (likely) original and is just worn out. The 144v battery has nothing to do with starting the engine initially, only after auto-stop.

There is a possibility that the alternator is shot and the battery is dead because it is not receiving enough power from the alternator to keep the battery charged, but that is rather unlikely, given the situation.

My '04 had a related quirk the last time my 12v died. When turning the key I'd step on the accelerator and it acted as if the IMA system kicked in to start the engine. I didn't have enough power to run the lights with the engine off, and it still kicked over but didn't have the traditional engine starting sound. I don't know if this is something intentional by design of the HCH, but I do know it worked.

 

Yep. The small regular battery needs changing. I plan to change mine every two years as a routine. Texas heat saps batteries in general. Giving over $100 every two years to avoid a serious unexpected car headache is a good way to go in my opinion.

 

I just want to clarify, the HCH II does NOT have an alternator, the 12v is charged off the 158 v pack.
The HCH II does NOT rely on a starter under most conditions, the same 158 v pack that restarts on an auto stop, starts the car initally.
The car does have a starter which is primaraly used in sub 0 temps, in three years, with winter days in the single digits, mine has never been used.

Given all of those corrections to previous statements, I do in fact think your 12v battery is shot, reason is, while not used to start the car it is used to keep the cars inormation active and run the computer that boots the car using the 158 v pack,

Does that make sense? By the way I reccomend that your local Honda dealer supply and install the battery.

 

SO does that mean the car will start wit ha dead battery?

Like if I use the radio as a community boombox on a camping trip?

Wow, that would be cool.

 

Bob's shedding a lot of light

Further, the car typically uses the bigger hybrid battery to start, but won't start with a dead 12 volt battery, since the car requires the computer to start, and the computer requires the 12 volt battery.

The replacement battery for the HCHII is only available through the dealership. There are some esoteric 3rd party batteries that will "fit", but I don't think you want to go there now. Particularly in light of this being a hybrid vehicle, I would take it to Honda.

 

Just an FYI. I had a basically dead battery and my car would start. I had the printout of the 12v and it had a small amount of charge left but not enough to function. Maybe just enough to power a mother board?

 

My HCH always used the starter whenever the temp was below -25C (-13F) even when the block heater was plugged in. One time I did not think it would start but it did. It was at -42C (-43F) with the block heater plugged in, but ever so slowly.

 

Coil? Joints? I mean no offense, is this non-US engish for cable and terminal?

Anyway, battery evaluation is as follows; get a digital meter, read the battery with the car off- it should be above 12V, like, 12.4 or so.

Then, without starting the car, load the battery, turn the key on, turn on the lights nad fan. The voltage should remain high, like 11.6- nothing lower.

With the car running the charging voltage should be abou 13.8 to 14 or so.

Dave