Clarity System Check

An observation. I live in Los Angeles. During the day it is usually 70 degrees or more. But it can get cold at night. Yesterday, started out about noon. The temperature was about 65. It did as cold as 52 during the night. In Econ mode, the Clarity did go into System Check mode. The ICE fired up 3 times. Today, warm in the 80s. Did not drive until after 2 pm. The ICE did NOT fire up. Could it be that assuming the batteries are liquid cooled that the computer thought they needed to be warmed?

 

Happened again today. ICE came on at .3 miles and again at 1.3 miles. In the 80s in Los Angeles. An EV car with ICE should be an EV car and behave correctly. The ICE should not come on unless the battery is so low that the vehicle cannot function. Or perhaps if the batteries are too cold.

 

Bob, even when temps drop to the 30s and I drive away in the morning and it’s in the 40s, my ICE does not come on. If yours keeps doing this then it appears to be anomalous/atypical behavior. Might want to have dealer check for error codes. Viking might be right unless it keeps doing this. Let us know what you find out.

 

Wating to hear from Honda but will call the dealer. Thanks for your advice.

 

Yes, I agree, same with our dealer. Working hard to understand and remedy the problem since it is potentially a safety issue. Fingers crossed!!

 

Lash. Are you having the same issue?

 

Hi Bob, thanks for checking in, I am not having a system check issue like yourself but the high rpm rev and sluggish acceleration issue I described. Has happened four times. Still at the dealers. They are talking to Honda and Honda rep for the region. I’m hoping they speak with a Honda engineer about the issue. Tough to replicate and it is random and spuratic when it occurs and potentially very dangerous.

 

Wow. That can be dangerous. In California, we have a lemon law.

In California, a vehicle is presumed to be a “lemon" by the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act if, within 18 months of the vehicle's delivery to the buyer (or 18,000 miles on the odometer):

• 2 attempts or more have been made by the manufacturer to repair a warranty problem that could result in death or serious injury.
• The manufacturer has attempted to repair the same warranty problem at least 4 times.
• The car has been out of service for 30 days or more for repair to warranty problems.
• Problems to the vehicle are not the result of abuse by the owner.

If your car qualifies as a lemon, the manufacturer has the responsibility of either:

• Replacing your vehicle.
• Refunding you for the vehicle's purchase price.

 

Hi Bob, I hope it doesn’t come to that. I do really like the car but if they can’t fix the issue I will unfortunately need to go this route. We also have a Lemon Law here in Mass. Roughly the same results as Cali. Thanks again and hope the weekend was relaxing!! I will keep you posted on how it turns out!

 

Thanks, please do. Planning on going to a Honda dealer this week to see if anything shows up about ICE coming on when it shouldn't.

 

Called local Honda dealer. They have one tech certified to work on Clarity PHEV. Need to leave the car all day. We only own one car. Asked about a loaner. That, they said, can only happen if Honda authorizes it, but can't happen in advance of the appointment. Bummer.

 

Seems normal for a PHEV. If it's an EV, then it's always in EV mode. The PHEV model is a hybrid, so it's not. A complaint might be made that there's no way to lock ICE out and travel in EV only mode - as there is in other PHEVs such as Prius Prime. That is definitely a shortcoming. ICE almost always pops on during freeway travel unless I'm very careful about how I accelerate. It happens commonly during uphill travel at speeds greater than 65MPH - though I have learned how to gradually hit those speeds rather than moving to them too quickly and causing the ICE to pop on.

In other cases, ICE stays on after freeway travel at least until the car is stopped - for example at a light. There have been other times that ICE pops on and stays on for awhile - tied to engine temperature. And in those cases, nothing will "turn it off" - even turning off the car. As soon as the car is restarted, it immediately goes back into ICE mode. That's something I noticed that my Prius PHEV would not do. I could always 'reset' EV mode if ICE popped on (which it did far too easily) by rebooting (restarting) the system.

Only thing it makes me wish is that I could've lived with the EV's 97 mile range, since the EV travel mode in the Clarity is quite nice. PHEVs are a compromise.

 

Good observation. There should be a setting says "Do not turn on ICE ever unless the battery is completely out of juice." In other words, that is what the Econ button should do.

 

I had the same issue twice. Full battery just pulling out of the road I live on the ICE turns on when I press on the brake to slow (stop not required). You cannot turn off the ICE the whole trip to work the ICE is on. Temp 11C. Its not turning on the ICE to warm the car because I have had this car for months with below freezing temps and no ICE ever went on.

I think its this combo: Weather is warmer so shows higher EV range (like in the 70kms), battery is 100% full, you slow down it can't regen so triggers ICE. I will probably phone honda today see what happens.

 

Waiting to hear back from Honda. Next time this happens, I am going to turn the car off. That will "reboot" the car. See if that does it.

 

Surprisingly this have never happened on my Clarity. I descend a very steep hill beginning 1/4 mile from my house and typically use the regen paddles to slow it down prior to a stop sign at the bottom. I have never had the ICE start even when the battery is fully charged in the morning.

 

Wonder if the brake pedal triggers it? The regen paddles act differently.

 

I agree. Only times ICE came on for me when I didn’t think it was called for was right after leaving home with a full charge. One time might be a System Check, but not 2 times in 2 weeks.
Both times I had EV range in high 50s.

I have noticed that often when I leave with a full charge, I have less regen braking. Power bar does not go into the green as far as usual and pedal braking does not add to the regen like it normally does. This returns to normal after 2-5 miles.

So I’m thinking both the ICE start and lessened regen occurring immediately after a full charge is due to battery not accepting any further charge. So you get little regen or even no regen and ICE start.

 

Honda needs to change the programming so ICE does not come on unless needed, not because a "System Check" is being done.

 

A valid argument can be made for having the computer run the ICE occasionally to keep engine parts and seals properly lubricated and to evaporate any water condensed in the oil. Also to make sure the engine will start and run when you need it after long periods of not running for those who hardly ever use it. Mine hasn’t turned over in a month.

There was also a post that the Volt does this and also goes as far to run as necessary to keep gas in the tank from getting stale. I hope our Clarity doesn’t go this far.