My husband and I just bought a 2006 Accord Hybrid with 123,000 miles on it. The IMA and check engine lights came on two days later. I had the diagnostic check done on it and the code for battery pack deterioration came up. I read online where this code could be caused by the 12-volt battery going bad, and as it had the original battery in it, and the check on that showed it needed to be replaced, we did that. Two days later, the lights were on again. So we know we’re going to have to replace the battery pack, which we’re okay with, but what we want to know is whether the car will still run once that battery is completely shot. So far, it’s still showing a good charge on it - whether that means anything, I don’t know. Also, if it will run without the IMA component, will we be doing any damage to the car if we let it go for a few weeks? We got a really good deal on it, and otherwise it’s in pristine condition, with all the maintenance done on time at the local Honda dealer. But a new battery will be $2000-$3000, and our budget is just a bit tight at the moment. Thanks for any help or advice!
I suspect if the main battery fails completely the car will be disabled or go into the " limp" mode. But I’m just guessing. Maybe you should ask the Service Manager at a Honda dealership how a battery failure will effect the operation of the car…I checked several Honda Hybrid boards and it seems there are MANY owners ignoring the IMA light and just driving the car without any problems…
I would think that this would be a subject covered in depth, in the owners manual.
I would hope that they explain “when the battery begins to fail” , you will have this much time before you will have to have your wife get out and push???
Though I know very little about hybrids, I have to agree with @Caddyman about it going into a limp mode.
Yosemite
Thanks for the fast replies!
@Caddyman, by the main battery, do you mean the regular 12 volt battery or the lithium (or whatever it is) battery pack? And by “limp” mode, is that where we limp to the nearest mechanic, lol? I’m hoping that replacing the 12 volt will keep the main systems up and running. Thanks for checking the Honda Hybrid boards. Interesting to know that others seem to be continuing to drive with no problems. We probably won’t let it go too long - my hubby tends to freak out a bit over things like this, so we’ll be fixing it fairly soon.
@Yosemite, I’ll check the owners manual to see if it has anything on this. I’m also going to get a service manual - just standard procedure for any car I own. This happened so quickly, I haven’t had a chance to do that. I’ll shop around first, but I always assume the dealer is going to tell me any work needs to be done immediately or the car will blow up. I come from a family of mechanics and shade-tree mechanics, so I will likely be doing this myself.
U got car for $3k less than retail and now will spend $3k on battery pack. But you will have NEW battery. Which is nice. I mean to say, u could have paid retail for a car with an old battery pack.
@Cavell, actually, we got it for almost $5k under kbb, so no complaints there! We just need to stretch it out as long as we can to get the extra $$ together.
@Pflamingo
I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO CONTACT HONDA USA
If I’m not mistaken, Honda has extended the warranty on hybrid battery packs to 10 years/150K
You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain
If Honda corporate tells you BS over the phone, bring your car to a Honda dealer. Speak with the service manager if you must
The cars sold in California got an extended warranty…But perhaps not the entire fleet…Which is rather small…These cars were NOT big sellers and in 2007, Honda quit making them…The powerful 6 cylinder engine (270hp?) gave the car ample performance without needing any battery boost…The standard Accord was a lot cheaper to buy and delivered almost the same mileage…Hybrid buyers flocked to the Prius and avoided the Accord…Very few were sold…
Yep, push Honda hard on this. They might go half with you. I don’t know the cost for the battery, there weren’t many Accord hybrids sold, so the installed price might be higher than you think.