My 2012 Civic hybrid has about 137,000 and has not had any issues until today. As I approached a red light, the IMA system stopped working. No brake assist, no auto off,no hybrid assist. I limped back home as cvt was not downshifting. Also couldn’t rev above 2000 rpm in neutral. Made it home and read codes.here’s what I got....
P0DA8 no DTC definition
P0AE1 hybrid propulsion
P0A27 battery power off circuit

12 v battery measures 12.67v without engine running. Started engine and voltage dropped to 11.9, but goes to 14.7 when revving. Battery is original... turned engine off, hooked up float charger and allowed to charge to 100% (started at 84%).
cleared codes and P0AE1 remains after clear. Still cannot rev above 2000. Feels like rev limiter kicks in. I’m not sure where to start. Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thanks!!!
Since original post... disconnected 12v battery for 30 minutes, reconnected and same symptoms persist. Took all IMA related fuses out to measure and they are all ok so I put them back in. Took out back seat and battery cover. Battery measures 152v. Not sure what to do next. Will probably call dealer Monday morning... I attached picture of rear battery just because... maybe someone can point me in the right direction

The car is at Lehigh Valley Honda in Allentown, PA,. The appointment was for yesterday but they finally pulled it in the shop today. They say the power inverter is bad and needs to be replaced. The part number is 1B200-RW0-000. They quoted $3587.73 ($2967 for part only).
They can no longer get the car started and claim I cannot drive it without replacing the inverter.
I asked them to please recharge the 12V battery so I don't have to replace it due to being totally drained. They claimed charging a 12V battery is no different than jumping it. That's the first time I've heard that. When I challenged that, he stuck to what he said. I am now considering bringing it home and doing the work myself. Also getting second opinion from the dealer I purchased the vehicle from.

I went to the dealer to check out the car. The 12v battery was in fact too weak to start the engine. I hooked up my own charger, allowed it to charge to 99% and it started right up. They ran a (12v) battery test earlier and it failed. My first question was ... if there is a problem with the 12v battery, could that cause the symptoms with the IMA system? They say no. I tend to disagree. I will bring the car home tomorrow, put a new 12v battery in it, then maybe buy the new power inverter if it doesn’t solve the problem.
They’re telling me the new 12v battery will die if I don’t replace the inverter because the charging system doesn’t work. But when I run the car and rev the motor, I see 14v on the battery. How can they say that?

When I read about this vehicle before I purchased it, it said that if there is a battery failure, it could be driven in gas only mode. Apparently, this does not seem to be the case.

I welcome anyone who has advice to please chime in. Thanks in Advance!!!!

 

Year matters. Since you didn't specify, I'm going on the apparent battery type, you have a 2012+

Have you ever replaced your spark plugs? If so, did you replace them with the NGK equivalent or a cheap-o? Did you replace all 8?

Are you 100% certain your oil level is between that marks?

Both of the above can feel like a rev limiter.

The charging/jumping comment by the dealer is BS.

A bad 12V can cause a multitude of issues. 14V during rev just means the charging system is working at that moment. The IMA system with an inop HV battery will only charge between about 1500 and 3500 rpm.

Check the HV battery fuse. Check ALL fuses in both engine bay fuse boxes.

If it turns out to be the Inverter, I've heard from 3 different non-dealer sources in addition to dealers that the inverter is a VIN encoded item and can't be user-replaced.

Good luck

 

My apologies, it is a 2012. I replaced all 8 spark plugs with NGK equivalents at about 100,000. I was surprised how expensive they were but I did it anyway. Oil level is good also. I do all scheduled maintenance myself and on time. I’m hoping to keep it a long time.
I did check every fuse except for the HV fuse in the battery box. I will check that before I move forward.
I drove it home from the dealer last night and could rev to 3000 RPM the whole way. Until I climbed the hill close to home, I went a little over 3000. Then it went in to limp mode and I couldn’t go above 1800. I will put a new 12V battery in this weekend. If that fixes the problem that would be great but I’m pretty sure the dealer may be right about the inverter. I’ve read about it and watched a few instructional videos on how to do it. This is the best one...
I think I can do it. I told the mechanic at the dealer that I was going to change it myself and he did not mention anything about VIN encoding. When I order the inverter, I can validate fitment with my VIN Number. Looks like I can get the part for $1800 vs the $3k the dealer quoted. I just want to make sure I can return it if it doesn’t fix the problem. Some of the comments the dealer made makes me nervous about their hybrid knowledge. Thanks so much for the reply. I will be working on this and will post any significant progress.

 

I've checked the codes from my 06-11 manual, and they are both related to contactors, which are frequently due to a weak 12V. The bogus unknown code is also potentially from low 12V, though certain electronics component failures can thrown unknown codes (inverter?).

Given the 12V is the original, it needs to be replaced. I doubt it will fix everything, but it needs to be removed as a variable.

IMHO, I would attempt to obtain an inverter from a salvage yard before I dropped the big bucks on a new one.

EDIT: I've received 3 calls on 2012 HCH failures, and all three were bad inverters.

 

Got a new 12V from NAPA and put it in. As expected, it didn’t fix the problem. Tried to clear codes but still get the hybrid propulsion code. So I disconnected 12V, turned off hybrid battery and took out the inverter. Doesn’t look like there’s much I can do with it other than replace it. I called more than 10 salvage yards and struck out. I’ll look at it more tomorrow

 

check car-part.com and lkqonline.com

EDIT: How was the battery fuse?

 

BTW... I finally located my notes from the last troubleshooting session. Failure of the inverter threw a P1440 code. It was confirmed by the dealership, and the dealership was adamant it was VIN specific.

I don't see that the fuse is replaceable according to the parts diagram, or what I mean is that I see no fuse at all in the IPU, but it's almost certainly there somewhere on the battery pack if Honda is at all consistent.

 

I didn’t see any fuses after the orange wires coming out of the battery pack where I measured 152V when the switch was on. I assume the fuse is in the battery pack and must be good. Thanks so much for the links. I will make some calls tomorrow. There are a couple promising leads.

I looked a little closer at the inverter. It seems the IGBTs are glued to the heat sink, then the leads are soldered to the board above it making it impossible to take apart unless I unsolder every pin. I probably will not attempt that unless I am unable to get a new part for a reasonable price. I don’t see why the part costs $1800. It looks like a pretty simple assembly.

Edit:
I found this video just now. I think it's in Spanish but you can see how to take the unit apart

 

Found the problem! I finally decided to take it apart and look further... it’s a blown IGBT

In other news, I was able to find a salvaged part (1B200-RW0-000) from Rochester NY for $325 from a car with 19k miles. i probably made about 20 calls until I finally found someone who had one. I hope to have that tomorrow. In the mean time I will search for replacement IGBTs. Then, with any luck, I’ll have a spare

update... here’s better pics of blown IGBT. Looked for a couple hours trying to find replacement part but it appears to be a custom Honda part. I think Mitsubishi makes the original part similar to PN CT600DJH060 but I can’t figure out how to buy new ones...



There is a publication here with a lot of info. Towards the end of the publication, they mention the J-Series which looks a lot like the part from the inverter.
https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/e...3_complete.pdf

 

Fixed! I am very happy to have my daily driver back! I was driving my motorcycle on nice days and my grandfathers 95 Buick Century on rainy days.

Thank you S Keith for your help on this!! The links you sent saved me about $1500! I saved over $3000 overall by doing it myself vs. letting the dealer fix it.

I created a case with Honda to see if they are able to help further. If they could make the IGBTs available, I could fix my old one. I'll post if I get more info...