Disconnecting the 12v battery will eliminate any small current drain on it in storage which buys you several months at the costs of needing to reset a few things when it is reconnected.

• Radio settings - Just put it on a channel and hold down the desired button
• Driver window automatic lower/raise - Just maually raise/lower the window (maybe twice).
• ECU memory - fixed after a few cycles of driving

The large (HV, Traction) battery is fully disconnected whenever you shut down the TCH - no problem there for about 6 months. Longer requires a periodic drive about to charge it up.Maintaining the charge on the 12v battery in storage is the main issue. The best maintenance tool is a "BatteryMinder" (~$60)You'll be fine with the simple precautions stated above.

JeffD

 

Thanks for the info.


Where do you buy a 'Battery Minder?'

 

Hi Folks, I had to come back to share some recent experience with you all after 2 weeks of driving.

Now, the 12V battery is fully charged - last time I checked, it was 12.54V and everything seemed to be working perfectly normal until 3 days ago.

Outside temperature has been very high lately - I have noticed 98F at noon for the past 5 days. So, 3 days ago, on starting the car, the Check Hybrid System and Check VSC error messages came up on the multi information display. It was a worrisome development. The 12V battery is now in top shape, what could be the problem this time? But strange enough, I could drive the car for a while until it went dead completely on its own. I noticed the Traction battery wasn't charging while driving - seemed car was running on the battery only and when that ran out, the vehicle simply stopped moving and the check VSC and Hybrid System messages came up. I also heard a loud thud at the front - close to the inverter section of the engine as the car grinds to a halt.

Someone advise that I reset the system by removing the battery negative terminal and putting it back. I did that and aside from the error messages no longer showing on the display, I was able to drive home the car. What's strange in all these is that this doesn't happen in the mornings when temp is relatively low. It rained last saturday and temperature has been low. At noon on saturday and throughout that day, we never saw the ''check'' messages anymore. The message only came up again today at about 14 hours. It was pretty hot today though.

Is there a link between the hybrid car performance and surrounding temperature? What can I do to ''permanently'' remove this error messages from my display? Thanks!

 

I use one I bought at Harbor Freight. It will not over charge the battery. It floats the battery at up to 13.2V. I'm not sure why it says "not for use on AGM batteries" as it works great on the TCH 12V battery.

 

just from my experience with very similar thread at TN forum
1. Optima does not have a direct replacement battery. this has been confirmed several times by Optima rep in the forum
2. reason being, OEM battery is vented AGM battery. 35 series batteries DO NOT have any provisions for attaching vent tube, that is attached to the OEM battery. hence, there is no provisions to potentially prevent hydrogen from collecting in the trunk
3. there are multiple AGM type 12V batteries manufacturers, none of them has vent provision
4. Optima recommends 65 series battery, IF IT WILL FIT. they do have 2 vent provisions.
5. dealership charges roughly $360 for OEM battery
6. OEM battery is vented Panasonic glass mat battery. in 07. maybe it's different in newer models.
7. personally, I shall replace mine with 35 series Optima, yellow top (deep cycle battery) BUT I HAVE WAY TO INSTALL VENTS ON IT.

 

First of all, if the battery went dead, there had to be a reason for that and I would disagree, 3 years is not much time for battery to go bad in normal driving conditions. My 01 Accord has original battery - 10 yrs, granted not same type, but also my TCH will have 5yrs in June, also never a problem.
You should at least have a dealer to check error codes, inverter could be overheating (low coolant/broken pump or even internal short) and BTW inverter is one of the most expensive parts in TCH, if I remember correctly. Also the fact that the battery shows 12V doesn't mean it can hold any significant charge and it still could be a problem especially if it was discharged completely before (am I understanding correctly that you just charged the original battery, not replace it?). IMHO, you shouldn't be driving the car until the problem is fixed, or at least identified. For example if the inverter's cooling doesn't work well, it could cause constant overheating and at some point it could cause some permanent damage, also you could get really stuck and add expense of towing on top of repairs. It would be really nice for you to have some sort of scan tool to monitor the car and take all the readings at the moment of failure, if you really want to do this yourself. There should be some tell tale of something going wrong, like overheating, since you're suggesting it's somehow weather related. And I don't think properly functioning TCH should have any problem with 100F temp. I drove in such temperatures without any problem and we have some members here who live in AZ, NV etc
where 110-120 F is normal summer temperature and I didn't see any posts complaining too much about car either.

 

found AGM Optima at Sam's today for $162.

 

Often, the reason is that the driver left something turned on. Or, just parked the car for too long. That's why you should test the battery before replacing it. It is very likely that the battery itself is not damaged.

 

IF YOU HAVE TCH WITH NAV UNIT:

turn car completely off
press start button once
press info button and hold it down with right hand
from "lights off" position turn light switch 3 clicks forward, until lights come up, then back to off; do this 4-5 times, fast, until diagnostic screen appears.
from that screen you can log into vehicle check screen, and check on error codes/ delete them.

you can, also, check on your 12V battery status. mine is under-performing. should show above 12V and shows 11.9 and above 13.8V when engine starts, and shows 13.5. i'll call dealership and find out if it's still under powertrain warranty.

 

ukrkoz,
Thanks. My TCH has a factory built NAV system. And I think the problems with the car has been resolved.

I haven't done an oil change for some 8 months - well, I thought since it hasn't done 5000 miles, I could just keep driving. So, I had the car oil changed and also changed the oil filter. I also changed all the tires. And you know what, car has been working perfectly. I had to wait this long to send in this just to be sure the ''improvement'' is for real.

Car starts anytime - day and night and at any outside temperature! Runs smoothly now. Thanks to Steve Hansen, yourself and others on this great forum.