Can anyone recommend a mechanic near Los Angeles (actually south Orange County) who specializes in hybrids and can replace the IMA battery quick and cleanly?

My 2003 HCH has about 155K and I'm starting to get codes that indicate the IMA battery going bad. The codes come back within a few miles after resetting. I'm considering replacing the battery with one claiming higher capacity and lower operating temp from a company in New York. In any case, I prefer to pay an expert to do this kind of work to get the job done fast (a couple hours) and done RIGHT.

 

Are you sure you really need to take it to a shop for this? The part you are replacing is just a battery, albeit a big one. If I remember correctly all that you need to do is pull out the top of the rear seat, which exposes the main switch on the IMA. Turn off the battery at that switch. After that the thing is just a big box and won't zap you (well, so long as you don't take a bath with it). Then unbolt and unplug it (from the trunk side) and remove it from the car. Reverse for the new pack. Probably the only tool you need is a socket set.

The guy in New York should be able to send you explicit instructions.

Ironic that it fails at 155K as the batteries have a 150K warranty in California.

Oh, one other thing. Before replacing the IMA verify that the 12V battery is good. Apparently all sorts of odd things happen when the little battery is on its way out.

 

This is the best I could find - I have never used any of these folks myself.

http://www.hybridcars.com/service/pr...rid-shops.html

There are two in S. California, but neither is very close to you.

Do you belong to AAA? They have a number you can call to look up repair shops by specific keywords.

 

Another thing to consider is that many of the warranties on these cars were extended due to that legal case regarding the odometers not reading correctly. So the California IMA warranty may have been extended by 5% to 157,500 miles; it's worth asking about.


http://www.skidmore.edu/~pdwyer/e/files/campaign_and_recall_bulletins/a06-085.pdf

 

Excellent point. Most of the warranties on a 2003 will have expired due to time elapsed no matter what the mileage, but the IMA warranty in California is 10 years, so on both counts it should still be covered.

 

Thanks pasadena_commut and Gairwyn,

I had forgotten about those lawsuits. If I recall correctly, part of the settlement was that Honda agreed to extend all mileage-based coverage by 5%, so if the warranty for the IMA Batt is 10/150,000 in the manual, the new coverage is now 10/157,500. I better hurry!

 

You might also want to take a look at the last couple of posts in this thread:

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...30/index3.html

Seems like there might be a decent Honda dealership not too far from you.

 

So, it appears, from the Honda document "2003 Civic Hybrid California Emissions Warranty Parts List", my IMA battery has 8/80 coverage. It seems the newer (2005+) HCH has 10/150. But mine is only 8/80.

I think may just drive it for a while longer and investigate the company in New York with the higher capacity IMA replacement. And now (as of 3 days ago) that we got a 2011 Prius for my wife and I am now driving the HCH, I may do the replacement myself.

If anyone has experience with non-dealer, IMA-expert mechanics, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks.

 

Was your car from another state originally?

Pretty sure all HCH's sold in California had the 10/150K battery warranty, something about California refusing to let them sell them without that much warranty on the battery. I have a 2003 HCH 1 first sold in California (not to me, I bought it used) and checked the VIN number with a dealer before buying it to be sure that it had the longer warranty.

 

JJL,

Check to see if your car's emissions system is rated SULEV or ULEV (look on the rear window sticker, or on a sticker under the hood). If it is a California SULEV car, see this:

http://www.amid.com/docs/sulev_2003c...xtwarranty.pdf

If you are still unsure, have a Honda dealer run your VIN number to get an answer on how long your warranty is good for.

(This was later updated to include some other states that also followed the CA emissions regulations.)