Clarity Issues

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by jdonalds, Dec 22, 2017.

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  1. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    Your hypothesis about how the FIt EV charged and PCs sounds reasonable. It would be as if at the end of charging when the charging tapers down there isn’t enough power to fully handle the rather high demand of the PC. So then it pulls from the battery. Poor design.

    I’m not having this problem with my Charge Point Home level 2 EVSE.
    When topping off a charge for a long trip, I started PCing when the taper was at a very low point (first small peak, then large PC peak), then the power spikes for the ~30 min of PCing. I left with full bars and 100% SOC on HL. Range was normal.
    E396ED81-4924-4B63-A1E4-4B27EBFDFACF.png

    I have also PCed after charging is over and likewise left with a full SOC and normal range.
    29231C62-8967-45F7-B540-ED3D9A327AA6.png
    So it’s apparent that preconditioning uses well over a kWh with temps in the 30s F, and if it’s not coming from the EVSE, you battery’s SOC (and range) are going to take a big hit. I don’t know why yours is acting the way you describe.
    Notes:
    The time scales of the two graphs are very different. The first is just 30 min while the second is 7 hours.
    In both, the preconditioning used about 1.3 kWh. This was with temps in the 30s F. I expect bigger draws as the winter gets colder.
     
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  3. JFon101231

    JFon101231 Active Member

    To be clear, what do you mean - "the way you describe"?

    I noted that today at least EV range did NOT drop noticeably at least according to the gauge after P-C.
    I did note that the GoM was off by 10% beginning vs end of drive miles driven plus remaining range, but I don't attribute that to the P-C necessarily. Not sure if it will get more accurate with more miles (1400 and counting, got first scrape today when someone backed into me :eek::mad::mad:).
    After filling up, HV went to 269...
     
  4. LegoZ

    LegoZ Active Member

    Weak... sorry that happened
     
  5. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    I thought you were saying that you could not easily precondition and leave with 100% SOC while I can without doing anything special. My apologies if I misunderstood.
     
  6. Ceetee

    Ceetee Member

    @insightman , update: They replaced the a pillars today for free and that resolved the gap and rattle issue (I'm now a happy camper). They said it wasn't installed right at the factory to begin eith.
     
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  8. Alex0913

    Alex0913 Member

    Awesome! How long it take?
    Did you have to get a rental?
     
  9. Ceetee

    Ceetee Member

    About 1 week for part to arrive. 1hr install, so no rental.
     
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  10. Casey Martin

    Casey Martin Active Member

    Has anyone experienced the rapid beeping when getting out of the car with the key fob on you with the car off? The same noise it makes when you leave the car on but exit the vehicle with the fob. That is when it is suppose to make that noise. I am having the issue when the car is off (I am 100% sure it is off) and it does the rapid beeping. When it does that the walk away auto lock feature does not work. If I try to lock it using the fob it will lock but not beep. If I open the door and close it again then it will go back to the normal procedure. It will beep once when the door is closed and beep again when the doors lock after I am about 5 feet away. At first I thought it was happening because my cell phone was in the same pocket as the fob. I know a cell phone can block the signal of the fob but it shouldn't cause the car to beep rapidly like it is still on. It has happened several times when my cell phone was not near the fob so I know that is not the issue. This appears to be another software glitch with this car.

    Also, is there a fix for the XM locking up when using preconditioning? According to my service department there are still no updates for my car.
     
    Ceetee likes this.
  11. Just give the dashboard lights time to run though the welcome screen BEFORE STARTING the car and you will not have any problem with losing XM.
     
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  13. Casey Martin

    Casey Martin Active Member

    I am aware of that but I forget sometimes when I get in the car. I then have to reboot the radio for it to work. I imagine Honda will have a fix for that eventually.
     
  14. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    There have been posts on this before. I believe that it is related to the auto-lock feature. I have experienced it, but cannot reliably reproduce it. I suspect it has something to do with the car "losing" the fob when it doesn't think it's reasonable to do so.
     
  15. Casey Martin

    Casey Martin Active Member

    I did some research after posting and it appears this is a known issue with many models in Honda's lineup when using the auto lock walk away feature. There doesn't appear to be a fix or an answer as to why it happens.
     
  16. Casey Martin

    Casey Martin Active Member

    I have another question/concern. How do you "defrost" the Clarity after a winter storm? We got about 3 inches of rain and snow mix this past Sunday. It was just above freezing when I finished cleaning it off but then temperatures plummeted to below zero that evening. The next morning the area under the wipers, the cowl, was frozen solid. With a normal gas engine vehicle I would just let it run with the defrost on high and it would eventually thaw out enough that I could remove the snow. With the Clarity I don't know what to do. I was lucky enough to be able to bring it into the garage at work and allow it to thaw out. Is there a way to get the Clarity to heat up enough to melt the snow/ice build up in the cowl area?
     
  17. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    Haven’t had to try it myself, but from what people have shared it’s impossible to do on a level 1 EVSE due to the low power output. But plugged in to a level 2 and turning the car on so you can select defrost (shunting the flow to the windshield) should work I would think. However nothing seems to get any heat to the area in front of the glass, especially in the newer designs.
    If I couldn’t garage during a storm I would invest in a windshield cover that will also cover the area where the wipera are in front of the glass. I used to have one for a truck where it was hard to reach the center area and it saved me in a few storms. A pain to put on, but worth it for a few instances.
     
  18. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    How about using the secret procedure to force the engine to run for emissions testing? That might provide more heat for de-icing.

    Today I found I had to run in HV mode to get enough heat from the defroster to melt the rain freezing on my windshield while I was driving. I was disappointed.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2019
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  19. LegoZ

    LegoZ Active Member

    If you turn it all the way to HI I think it should start the gas engine due to climate demands. This is another problem with the smart wiper system. Even if you have Prestone De-Icer washer fluid there is not and soak time for the fluid to interact with the “contaminate” on the window. Prestone big wash has always served me well in the past but now unless it’s just dust or road grime is having to manually scrape it off at a gas station...
     
  20. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I'll have to try that. I didn't know the Clarity would start its ICE in response to the climate-control system.
     
  21. Casey Martin

    Casey Martin Active Member

    Thank you for that trick! That is exactly what I was looking for. I will also try setting it to defrost and HI to see if that makes the motor start automatically.
     
  22. Casey Martin

    Casey Martin Active Member

    I have the same issue as most that the drivers side sprayer doesn't reach up to eye level. I am going to try to adjust it but at first glance it doesn't appear to be adjustable.
     
  23. DennisH

    DennisH New Member

    Sorry to join the unlucky group of Clarity owners who have experienced high revving and simultaneous loss of power while on a freeway. Very scary and unsettling. As background, our car was originally delivered to the dealer in Jan, 2018, we purchased it in late Aug, 2018, and currently have 7,000 miles on it. Despite its numerous quirks, we've really liked the car up to this point. But what happened to us is a major safety issue and I'm very concerned for my family's safety going forward.
    On Jan. 13 were driving on a super-flat stretch of highway in Iowa (thankfully on a Sunday a.m. with little traffic), 30 degrees, 70 mph. The car had automatically shifted from EV to HV as designed, when suddenly the ICE revved up and speed declined -- as if the transmission had suddenly been disconnected from the engine or power source. Total loss of wheel speed control. My wife was able to safely slow down and get off the side of the road. We turned the car off, then back on, hoping some computer just needed to 'reset'. Eventually we were able to re-enter the freeway and get back up to speed, but with a sense the transmission was connecting/disconnecting for awhile. Once back up to speed, no problems for another hour. After being parked for 4-5 hours, got out of parking lot Ok, but then a similar problem when going 20-30 mph -- a sense of power, no power -- but eventually back to speed and a return home trip of 1.5 hours with no more problems.
    After comparing notes, my wife and I remembered a similar thing had happened to each of us once before, but it was at slow speeds around town so didn't seem like a big deal. It's happened once since that day it happened twice on Jan. 13, again at slow speed in town.
    I immediately scheduled a service appointment with my local dealer, which occurred yesterday:
    1) The Technician was unable to replicate the problem -- no surprise there, it's happened 'only' 5 times in 5 months.
    2) No abnormal 'codes' or events were recorded by the Clarity computer, as determined when they hooked it up for a diagnostic.
    3) When the Technician called "Honda Tech in CA" they said no Technician has ever called with that type of problem before.
    The local service Manager was nice, but offered that their shop doesn't have the expertise to diagnose a complex system like that in the Clarity. We agreed I would continue to document problems if they continued to occur. He understood the severity of the problem as related to safety, but honestly wasn't able to help. So, this will have to be handled by Honda USA, I guess.
    Very disappointed, as we loved the car, but man, how can we in good confidence take this car into a large city or a mountainous area safely with this problem? How does Honda think they can sell a new car with a warranty and then just say, "sorry"?
     
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