Completely Dead !!

[KAB779]

Let me start by saying … We love our PHEV! Incredible gas mileage, comfortable to drive, and great looking car!

But we had a problem this morning and our car is being towed to the dealer. Pulled the car out of the garage. No problem. An hour later, tried to start it. No go. First error to come up … ACC Problem then Temperature Too Hot then Charging Door Open then Tire Pressure Too Low, etc. The car went through every error message it had in the system! The car won't start and is completely dead!

Called the dealer and they had no idea. Has anyone out there had this problem? If so, what was the problem, what was the fix, and what did it cost you? Thanks!

 

[sony3max]

So, what was the problem ? Did the dealer find it ?

 

[Cobra]

Hopefully that was under warranty.

Maybe something simple like a problem with the 12V battery. Hope you stop back to update us!

 

[tumeric12]

Well, this almost exact situation just happened to me a few hours ago and I stumbled upon this post. However, OP didn't reply to what happened so I will tell you what happened to me and how I resolved it, so perhaps there can be some closure.

tl;dr version- 12V battery died and needed to recharge. Rev'ed up engine with EV Charge button.

I went on vacation for 2 weeks and I left my car unplugged at my parents house. This isn't the first time I left my car unplugged for an extended period of time. My parents said the alarm went off a few times due to fireworks. They had to move the car. I had the feeling they may not have completely shut off the car.

Anyway, I got back to my car and it took a while for the fob unlock door to register. When I tried to start the car from the push button, nothing at all happened. Power kinda turned on, but dead. I figured the 12V battery drained.

I got my car jump started, but then all the alarms came on, ABS error, Brake system error, ACC error, Power Steering error etc. From the manual and from this post I decided to take it into the dealer. As I waited for the tow I got a little upset because the wait and the dealer was closing soon. Because there's no power steering the steering wheel just freely turns. And revving up does nothing (because you can't!!).

Then I noticed I could sort of drive it out the drive way. Once I got out, I needed to rev the engine somehow to get the alternator (does it even have on?) going and maybe recharge the 12V battery. I then used the EV Charge feature, because that forces the engine on. Amazingly, it worked, the engine rev'ed up and started charging the hybrid batteries. However, the alarms/errors were still on, so I was afraid to drive further and still awaited the tow truck.

So in my impatience I started to drive down the neighborhood. Amazingly, around 15mph or higher range, all the alarms went off and the car behaved normally. I got to the dealer (about 5 miles away), shut off the vehicle and turned it back on. It turned on normally with the normal chimes. Unfortunately the dealer closed, and couldn't look at the battery, but I took it to AutoZone and the battery was drained it seemed.

 

[Cobra]

Thanks for the details!

Very interesting. That's why I mentioned earlier on that it might be the 12V battery. It seems the PHEV runs most of the electronics off the 12V, which it can recharge itself, but if it runs down some crazy errors are reported.

To answer your question about an alternator... no, not really. The engine has a generator attached that is used for charging the main high voltage drive batteries. Then there is another converter (a DC-DC voltage converter, it looks like) that can charge the 12V battery from the high voltage battery (and maybe from the generator as well). I think this only happens when the car is running and maybe it requires a certain level of charge in the high voltage battery for it to work.

Are you planning to get it in to the dealer to have it checked? It'll be interesting to see if they think the 12V battery needs replacement or if it's just a matter of it was run down and only needs to recharge.

 

[tumeric12]

I got it checked at the dealer.

Since I drove it back to my own house 120 miles away I got a good 2-3 hours of hard freeway driving up and down a couple mountains. I took it to the my local dealer in the morning (I bought the car in LA County where my parents live, but I live in Kern County). They said it was fine. I was concerned that the 12V battery died when I only had the vehicle for a little over a year, but they said it happens, and when you first jump the car all the alarms do come on, but they are supposed to "reset" once you start driving.

They did do a battery check anyway. It was still healthy, they check the battery "cold" then turned on all the accessories for a while and checked it hot. The 120 or so miles charged the 12V battery back to normal.

 

[srl99]

While I would trust the diagnosis from your Honda dealer, because they would happily replace the battery for a warranty claim, any full service auto parts store near you should be able to test the 12V battery. An auto department at Sears or Walmart could also test it.

You could also get an almost free volt meter (~Harbor Freight) and see the voltage yourself (less complete than a battery test).