Thanks again. I'll replace the 12v tomorrow. What is recommended? I do not want to spend $2000 on a car that only cost me $3000. I need to make this car last. I spent $1200 on an engine plus install and another $800 on an ac condenser plus tranny flush. I know nothing about hybrids but id like to make this car work. Forgive my ignorance but I'll update tomorrow with new 12v battery. Is a 12v new battery the next step I should take?

 

Yes. What I mean when I say, "What I would do" also means, "what I think you should do."

I provide no guarantees, but an 8 year old battery isn't going to last much longer in any regard, and it's potentially the entire issue.

Note that if you connect a brand new 12V to a car that has corroded or degraded grounding straps, you will still have problems.

I'm sorry to hear of your plight. Unfortunately, few people realize how risky a used hybrid is. You have two propulsion systems instead of one. One of the major components of one of the second propulsion systems is a consumable. There's no such thing as a battery that lasts forever, and it's an expensive, complex component that is almost impossible to repair reliably. Replacement is frequently the only option. Grid charging can be a very effective solution, but the mode of failure must be pretty specific, and you can't have any truly failed cells.

If the issue isn't the 12V, and your battery is truly as jacked up as the codes suggest, then your only viable option given your financial constraints is likely to bypass the pack. Hybrid Automotive provide instructions on their website.

You may also have a cooling issue, but there are codes for failing fans, and you don't have them.

 

I went out today and bought a new 12v agm battery from pep boys and installed it. Radio, which I though had crapped out is working again and dash is lights are brighter. I drove about 30 miles and after about 6 miles the CEL and IMA lights came back on. Drove to have codes scanned and its showing p1449 and p1600. The assist and charge are working good and surprisingly my MPG is up by 5 mpg. Any thoughts?

 

While this is for Insight, it applies to HCH. Short the pins with a paper clip and count out the IMA light blinks.

http://99mpg.com/categories/insight/readingtheblinkcod/

If it's only a deteriorated battery, then there is hope. If it's temperature related, it's likely toast.

 

Ok I'll give it a shot tomorrow and post the results. Thanks again for all your help.

 

I was able to short the two pins as outlined in the link and count the blinks. I verified and re-verified 3 times. The codes the blinks are showing are 58 and 78.

 

A P1449(78) and a (58) are usually indicative of a failed cell. Failed cells generally do not respond to grid charging in a reasonable way (grid charging daily or a few times a week is generally not worth the effort).

The next steps are:

1. Conduct the 3X 12V resets (Friday evening). If car does not charge to full, hold at ~3000 rpm to force charge until full.
2. Let the car sit for two nights (until Sunday morning).
3. Remove IPU cover (10mm sockets and T30 Torx driver).
4. Check the 10 tap voltages on the connector at the end of the orange cable coming from the battery. Do not disconnect, just probe the back of the connector where the wires go in. Diagram as follows:

You are checking pins:
14-6
6-13
13-5
5-4
1-7
7-2
2-8
8-3
3-9
9-10

Each should read in the vicinity of 15-16V, and they should be very very close to one another. A substantial outlier in these measurements indicates that you have a failed cell.

 

So decided to do the 3x 12v process today since I'm off for the next few days. I disconnected the negative cable for 30 seconds then connected and started car. At idle I had 4 green charge bars. After about 4 minutes green bars went away so I held at 3000rpm and green charge bars came back until blue bars indicated about 75% charge then they went away again and I continued to hold rpms and blue bars went up until showing full charge. Total time about 7 min. 2nd and 3rd attempts green bars were at 4 for about 2 min each time at idle then went away. I held rpms at 3000 wasn't showing any green bars but blue bars steadily went up until full. 2nd attempt took about 5 min to full and 3rd took around 3. Is it normal for the battery bars to creep up to full even if I'm not showing any green charge bars at 3000rpms? Will let car sit for 2 days as advised.

 

There are "background" charge levels that do not show on the gauge.


The decrease in charge times with each successive is consistent with expectations. It is critical that the car sit until after the tap voltages are measured.