I'm with you, lakedude. Don't fix what ain't broken...

 

It's been almost a week since my update. I haven't notice any change in IMA assist. My battery levels have not change from its normal behavior. My MPG took a small hit, but I have been using the A/C and I have to take in account that the car was running idle for a while when they performed the update. I just filled the tank today and will find out more after my next fill up.

I thought the update was only to fix the lean burn problem ( which only happens in ideal conditions). I'm sure if there was more to it Honda would of told us. I mean, what does Honda gain by being deceitful to its customers. It's not Honda's way (then again, I hope not).

 

I'm hoping this update corrects the problem that caused my car to break down at the end of March that they couldn't diagnose.
(See my thread for details)
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...7777#post17777

If this issue is the same as the mystery ailment that affected my car, I wouldn't take the problem lightly. My car was running fine one moment, the next I was trying to figure out what the heck to do with my engine dying, driving uphill, at night, in the rain, with nowhere to pull over. It wasn't pleasant, plus I had to get the car towed.

I did get the sense from the notice that not all Hybrids had the problem, but they weren't bothering to sort them out, which would mean that some of you will take your car in for no reason. Too bad there's not some way to know.

 

Hey y'all, not a hybrid driver but just wanted to mention something. Mechanics probably didn't drive your car all that much. As mentioned before, when you disconnect the 12V battery, the mechanics are instructed to let your car idle for a good amount of time. It's called the idle learn procedure, and basically Honda tells them to start the car cold, warm it up to normal temp, let the fans cycle a few times (think the number was four), and idle for another ten minutes (not sure on the last step, maybe, maybe not). That's why all your MPG dropped a lot.

 

I just had my 03 HCH in yesterday for the recall. I just drove it home from the dealership and filled the tank. 117 miles, 3.54 gallons, 33.05 MPG. The lifetime average is 45.4. I was having a fairly average tank before I took it in, so I bet it went into the dealership getting 44 or so. It's only a 20 mile drive home - too short to drop the mileage from 44 to 33, so I'll bet it's what went on at the dealership. I didn't pick up any miles (that I noticed) at the dealership, so I'll bet it was the idle time. That makes sense. I'll report back how the new tank is doing in a few days.

Update 7/25/05: I've put about 150 miles on the new tank - meter reads 52.4, which is on the upper end of what's average for this car. No change in how the IMA operates - batteries are as they were before.

 

Went on a long trip the next day after having the upgrade. Mileage was incrementally up over our short ownership average to 43.1 mpg from 41's. Man it is funny when you tell people what you're getting and they say things like, "great, that'll leave more gas for the rest of us!" This from my brother who get's about 14 mpg with his Suburban. (Or as Dave Barry puts it, 'Chevrolet Subdivision') We live with a nation of bloated fat lazy Americans who resist change and drive around like the zombies they are in their lazyboy recliner suv's.

Not sure why some people resist the upgrade. If your dealer sucks, ok, but in the long run, if this car needs warranty work and they find you've blown off the upgrade, won't that impact your position on arguing for warranty coverage? Seems like the dealer will have ammunition against coverage.

 

Took my 2005 CVT (bought feb/ 5500 miles) in yesterday for the recall/ 'upgrade'. Also had the dealer do the offered free first oil change at 5000 miles. I provided mobil-1 0w20.
left the car with 57.1mpg (on short trip) and charge at about 7/8ths. Got it back with 33.6 mpg and 7 bars charge / about 1/4 guage. showed it had gone 2 miles. drove it home and it charged right back up to near full. assist and mpg seem to be functioning the same as usual. I did ask if they had performed the upgrade or if it was already installed (as some newer cars here have said) and was told that they did install it, my car hadn't been upgraded. no free car wash
checked my tires when I got home and they were all down to 30/32psi. pumped them back up to 45psi.
this is my ocal & purchasing dealer- so haven't used them before. they said they've been servicing hybrids regularly. there was one in the service lot. I guess time will tell....but only if I have problems! (knock on wood)

I can't see not doing the recall if you have a warranty either (I do). I'm not sure it will effect my newer PZEV car at all since the PZEV's don't have the "lean burn" engine. I'll have to wait and see if my mileage seems to go down.

 

Great point. Deserving of being pointed out, nice work Wango.

 

One thing to note is that this "product update" expires on July 31 2006. If you do not do the update and were to have a failure of your cats after that date and you are out of warranty, there is a good chance you would be paying for a new set of cats.

I have put a two tanks through since my update and the car performs the same. There is no reason not to have this update done. It should take less than an hour at a dealership who has done one before. My took about 35 minutes from when I dropped it off to when I left.

 

KLCarch,
I found out that you have to ask for the car wash in order to get one. I got one for my first oil change but nothing on my second visit. When I dropped off my car for service on the update (recall), I inquired about it. They told me if you don't ask you don't get. They also performed a 7500 mile service for $114.00 which inclued the oil change which I know costs $45.00 so I found it a bargin to let them do it (I change my oil every 5000 miles). I wasn't a happy camper when I got the car back. I found black grease all over the driver side carpet (globs of it)(which I brought to their attention to right away), grease on the steering wheel, and they got white grease (spay can type) all over the insides of the door jams when they tried to grease the hinges (I mean it was every where but on the hinges ). I had the car for a week (400 miles later) when I checked the oil and found it was 1" over the full mark. IDIOTS!!!!!! I called them right away and they said there was nothing to worry about but to get the car to them ASAP . I know from my mechanic that too much oil can damage the engine. I took it down that day and had them drain some oil out of it. I didn't even get a sorry out of them. This WAS the only Honda dealer in my area that I trusted (I have 2 to choose from). It's been two weeks since and I just got an apology letter in the mail from the service consultant from the dealership. She also stated that the techs will now use paper mats when performing services on all vehicles and attached to the letter is a free oil change.

It's funny how other people treat your property without a second thought. I guess I'll have to stay there and baby-sit my car during service from now on.

As for the Update, I see no change in performance. My MPG is still hovering where it belongs (if not better).

TurpinCL makes a good point...deciding not to have a recall done, in some cases, voids your warranty. It has happened to an uncle of mine that owns a dodge pick-up truck with a diesel engine. He got a recall notice on the engine computer and it specified that his warranty was voided if he did not bring it in. They reprogrammed the computer and now his MPG is nowhere near where it use to be.