Potential charging issue?

[WILLIAMJ4Y]

I've had my EX 6MT for about 3 months and put just over 3k on her without any issues at all. I've come to know the car's behaviors well, and read the forums enough to know about the occasional quirks. I've noted that when driving, the battery is typically charging (during braking/engine braking, or steady cruising which nets one bar of charge) or discharging (during heavier acceleration), and very seldom doing neither. Three days ago I realized that during normal driving, touching the accelerator pedal even the slightest amount would cause the battery to stop charging completely. I've replicated the issue in both sport and normal modes over the days since then intermittently. I have experimented with different climate settings in an attempt to isolate the problem, but nothing seems to make the slightest bit of difference. All I want is my single little green charging bar back! I imagine it creating somewhat of a problem on longer trips when there wouldn't be any charging, but sporadic discharging for great lengths of time.

Anyone dealt with something like this before?

[Jayemtee]

I usually have that one bar of charging in your situation. Sometimes I do not. I suspect that you are okay as long as your 12v state of charge is okay.

You might just want to make a mental note and keep on driving normally for a while and see what happens. I suspect that if you worry about it and watch it too close, you will subconsciously change your driving style.

There are so many factors in the logic of that system that it is almost impossible for a human to comprehend fully.

[Scotty001]

Moved to Engine and Battery Discussion..

On your potential issue. What is the net result? Is your IMA not recharging? Normally if you are accelerating - your not normally charging. The system is putting its resources into your input which in this case is the acceleration.

Nothing to worry about in-as-much as I can tell based on your description.

[mikev]

Are you watching the power source status on the MID? I've found that even when cruising, or lightly pressing the gas pedal to maintain speed, while there isn't one green bar on the Charging side, if I have the MID showing the power paths, it is showing that the battery is charging.

[Willard]

Originally Posted by mikev

Are you watching the power source status on the MID? I've found that even when cruising, or lightly pressing the gas pedal to maintain speed, while there isn't one green bar on the Charging side, if I have the MID showing the power paths, it is showing that the battery is charging.

This.

[helmsleyera1]

Hi. I actually have the opposite problem. My CR-Z trickle charges (one-bar charge) cooonstantly and I mostly just use the radio/navigation system screen (I've stopped using the climate control almost entirely thanks to this issue). I hardy accelerate and predominantly coast whenever possible, but I do have a piece of highway on my daily commute. Luckily, it wasn't as bad when we took the Cr-z on a road trip to Michigan (round trip 500+ miles) so maybe it's because my commute is only 34 miles round-trip. It's just frustrating. I've also experienced the loss of power in acceleration after a short period of time (climbing a hilly road to my home that almost always takes up 3/4 of battery power), but I spoke with a Honda mechanic and they said that these Cr-zs have LESS capacity in their battery packs than the first-gen Insight (which would barely take a quarter for the same hill). It's just sad that we're actually going backwards in terms of battery reliability and gas mileage. I am happy with the CR-Z generally as it is a fully realized vehicle compared to the Insight and I still have a "lifetime" average of nearly 44 with a CVT. Sorry for the rant, that trickle charge phenomena is the bane of my existence..lol

[gozoner]

This doesn't seem to be a problem. My experience is that when the IMA is at 6, 7 or 8 bars then there are plenty of times when no charging takes place. If the IMA is at 3, 4 or 5 then there is 'forced recharging' to restore the IMA charge.

The IMA charging behavior is very different in the three modes. For example, if on my commute I forget and leave the car in 'Normal' then I can climb a gradual hill and still have 6 bars at the peak. Whereas if I had been in Eco I'd be down to 3 or 4 bars. The charging behavior also changes as you acquire more 'eco leaves' which might explain why you are seeing different behavior now.

Also, one of the techniques for improving MPG is to intentionally cancel the one bar IMA charging by applying a little bit of throttle. This is done on down hills where you want to gain speed so that you can coast longer at the base of the hill.

[CR-Z Canadian]

also, WilliamJ4Y, what is the state of the battery charge when you notice this issue?
I've noticed oddities with 7 bars of battery, and the charge/assist stops showing a charge altogether. Especially when I've been charging with one bar for several miles. Turns out that the battery was actually completely charged, so it refused additional charging. The battery level meter was just out of synch - turning the car off and on again, and driving a mile or so, showed that this was the case.

Just another thing to consider, anyway.

[GaZoom]

I have arrived home, with 7 bars of charge, shut down the car overnight.

Next day after first start-up, it shows 8 bars of charge, until I am driving.

[mikev]

Constantly doing a full recharge to 100% over and over and over again actually puts the battery out of its ideal life range. The IMA batteries are found to have their best life if kept between something like 85-30%, which is also why assist stops assisting in most cases with 3 bars left. So simply by driving the car, it will recharge the battery to what is the IDEAL maximum, not to the point that the battery is fully charged.

I'm sure there are other reasons too, but this is the biggest.