Hello All,

I have a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid with 230k miles on it. I know it will need a replacement battery but while I wait for me to find one that isn't sketch and won't brake my pockets, I decide to try to grid charge it and as I started to test the pack I found that the cells didn't seem to be that bad of shape, at least from the knowledge I got from reading forums and watching YouTube videos. After putting the battery back in and starting the car it showed the battery was full and I got all the features of having a fully charged pack, but then it went down to two bars then moved up to three and then went back up to full and sat there for a couple miles before going back down to two and the IMA light coming back on. I decided to pull codes and got the "Battery Pack A Deterioration" which I knew I was going to get but looking at the live data anything regarding the IMA battery and it outputting voltage or it being requested it just showed 0 but it was getting a reading for the temp of cells. I'm just wandering if anybody else has had the issue of it charging to full then going down to two and then staying and why is the OBD II not seeing any output for voltage for the battery. Thanks in advance.

 

The gauge behavior you describe is a recalibration and is a sign of a failing or imbalanced pack.

Proper use of a grid charger is important to maximize benefit, but there are some failures that grid charging can't fix or improve.

What is the grid charger current?
Does the grid charger drive the battery cooling fan?
How long did you charge it?

I don't know what you were using to try and query HV battery voltage, but there are few tools that work with Honda Hybrids.

 

Thank you Keith for your response. If your talking about the the amperage used to charge it was 5 amps and I got that from a video. I charged it until the battery pair reached 17.8 volts and then begun the discharge. I only did the cycle two times for each pair, I wanted to do it more but it was so slow to discharge. As for the cooling fan, I don't know because I didn't know there was a fan. So how will I got about checking that?. Finally for the checking the output, the OBD II had a option in the live data for "IMA Output".

 

Now I'm completely confused. First you say "grid charge," which typically means charging the entire pack as a whole.

Now it appears you charged each stick pair individually?

Please link the OBD II tool you reference.

 

I apologize for anyone confusion, but yes I ment each cell individually.
Here's the link to the OBD II tool: https://www.obdzon.com/products/FOXW...QaAndbEALw_wcB

 

We're having terminology issues again. Breakdown:

There are 11 sub-packs
Within each subpack are two "sticks"
Each stick is 6 cells

Thus there are 132 cells in the pack, so I'm guessing you didn't test all 132 cells, but you tested the 11 subpacks (dual sticks).

So now the questions:
1) how much was input into each subpack, typical?
2) how much was discharged from each subpack, typical?
3) were there any obvious outliers from a more consistent grouping?
4) did you record the 132 cell voltages?

Regardless, the 06-08 HCH2 battery is the second worst hybrid battery every made. If you got one that lasted 230K miles, you won the lottery. I had two '06 models, and I went through 14 salvage yard packs to get 3 "decent" packs. It is unlikely that you will be able to refurbish or recondition your pack.

 

QUOTEThanks for clearing everything up for me. Like I said I'm new to this.
​​​​​
​​​​​​
a) Most subpacks where around 15.3v and I put in around 2.5v at 6amps.
b) I discharged 2.8v, I did this cycle 2 times because it was taking about an hour to discharge.
c) There was one subpack that was at 14.7 volts. But after charging and dischargimg and letting it sit it stayed with the group of 15.3-7volts.
4) If your talking about all 11 subpacks then yes.

Once again thank you for you help and understanding with me. Also can I just hook up my charger to the pack from the negative and positive on the battery and when I flipped the breaker on it I didn't get any readings from the battery.

 

First thank you for help so far and clearing everything up. Also I apologies for a late reply.

1). Most subpacks where at 15.3-8volts. I put in around 2.5 volts at 10 amps.
2) Most where discharged at 2.7volts
3.) One subpack was at 14.3volts but after cycling with the rest and letting sit overnight it stayed at around 15.3-7volts with the other subpacks.
4). I did not.

Lastly l want to note something interesting and want to get your opinion. After learning that I can test the output voltage with voltmeter I decided to test my battery. Idling the battery sat at 186volt, but while driving it fluctuate between 190v -200v. I tested it for an hour going highway speed and just normal driving around town and stayed at 190-200v even with the IMA and Engine light. I just wanted to know why that might be. Thank you in advance.

 

1) I don't understand "I put in around 2.5V @ 10A" - you input capacity, not voltage, i.e., if you charge at 10A for 1/10th of an hour, you've put in 1Ah.
2) I don't understand. You discharge to a target voltage, typically 1.0V/cell at a CURRENT.
3) That subpack is likely bad, and a range of 0.4V across the others is bad. They should be pretty much on top of each other.
4) Okay.

You were likely measuring the IMA motor output at the battery terminals, not the battery itself.