Problems with Drive Motor Battery Pack (IMA) - 2018 Clarity Touring

  • Thread starter Thread starter seconded
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 37
  • Views Views 1K
Landshark said:
Intriguing. Once it’s repaired we’re selling it to Carvana or trading it in at the Toyota dealer, who ever offers the highest price. For those who haven’t noticed, the issues have been PHEV related. This will conclude our experiment with electrified vehicles.

I recently purchased a 1963 Studebaker Avanti which has required some tinkering. It’s rather enjoyable. Modern cars are pretty much unapproachable when it comes to turning a wrench. Next up is a Sunbeam Tiger. Full gas from here on out.
Click to expand...
Nice! I recently picked up a 1968 Austin Healey sprite. Nice little car to tinker with.
 
Landshark said:
Intriguing. Once it’s repaired we’re selling it to Carvana or trading it in at the Toyota dealer, who ever offers the highest price. For those who haven’t noticed, the issues have been PHEV related. This will conclude our experiment with electrified vehicles.

I recently purchased a 1963 Studebaker Avanti which has required some tinkering. It’s rather enjoyable. Modern cars are pretty much unapproachable when it comes to turning a wrench. Next up is a Sunbeam Tiger. Full gas from here on out.
Click to expand...
@Landshark, you got the right Avanti--the real one. I've never accepted the Avanti II made with GM/Ford parts. Raymond Loewy and his team did an amazing job designing that car in less than 2 months. They found a way to make a good-looking car without a front grille. Today's BEV designers have not been as successful.

My Dad had a Sunbeam Alpine--the one with the absurd (for a British car) tail fins. I always smiled when I watched Maxwell Smart drive his Sunbeam Tiger.
 
Last edited:
Landshark said:
Intriguing. Once it’s repaired we’re selling it to Carvana or trading it in at the Toyota dealer, who ever offers the highest price. For those who haven’t noticed, the issues have been PHEV related. This will conclude our experiment with electrified vehicles.

I recently purchased a 1963 Studebaker Avanti which has required some tinkering. It’s rather enjoyable. Modern cars are pretty much unapproachable when it comes to turning a wrench. Next up is a Sunbeam Tiger. Full gas from here on out.
Click to expand...
I could hardly be happier with our Clarity and our Tesla Y. No thoughts of ever going back. My only regret is paying $1500 for the extended warranty to 120k on the Clarity, all I've gotten out of it is a $150 regen paddle replacement and it will run out soon.
 
insightman said:
@Landshark, you got the right Avanti--the real one. I've never accepted the Avanti II made with GM/Ford parts
Click to expand...
Thanks. There were several iterations after Studebaker shut down. I accept all of them for what they are. My preference was for an original, round or square headlights, 4-spd or automatic, color not critical. The must have was a supercharged engine.
 
Latest update: Honda corporate called me with an ETA of February 11 for shipping out a battery, promising to put me near the top of a list that sounds something like waiting for a kidney transplant.
 
AaD said:
Latest update: Honda corporate called me with an ETA of February 11 for shipping out a battery, promising to put me near the top of a list that sounds something like waiting for a kidney transplant.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that @AaD. The dealer received the battery last week and it took them a couple days to swap out the part so I've finally gotten the car back. (And luckily before the original ETA.) Hope they can do the same for you.
 
seconded said:
Sorry to hear that @AaD. The dealer received the battery last week and it took them a couple days to swap out the part so I've finally gotten the car back. (And luckily before the original ETA.) Hope they can do the same for you.
Click to expand...
I'm glad to hear they came through - I can live with waiting a few weeks if it means we can potentially get another 125K miles out of the car.
 
Has anyone who had the battery replaced checked the battery amperage capacity when the replacement was triggered? The number would likely be in the thirties or forties, 36.6 amps is supposed to be the point at which the battery is "used up", 55 is where they start new.
I just checked I'm at 44.0 at 110k miles. My improved charging protocol seems to still be making a difference, there was no change in the last 3000 miles.
 
David Towle said:
Has anyone who had the battery replaced checked the battery amperage capacity when the replacement was triggered? The number would likely be in the thirties or forties, 36.6 amps is supposed to be the point at which the battery is "used up", 55 is where they start new.
I just checked I'm at 44.0 at 110k miles. My improved charging protocol seems to still be making a difference, there was no change in the last 3000 miles.
Click to expand...
How are you charging? I am about 99% 110v charging.
 
Our battery is in (10+ days ahead of Honda's ETA) and scheduled to be replaced on Thursday. I don't know whether or not involving Honda corporate customer service made any difference, but it was nice to have the weekly updates they provided and I was left with an overall positive impression. We're looking forward to getting it back in service full time, been buying a lot of gas for the Subaru.
 
Update: car was at the dealer for 2 days and is now back to being a daily commuter. It was given to us uncharged with 0 EV range but 2 bars showing, so hopefully the battery is in decent health to start. It's difficult to judge the EV range just yet since it's been quite cold and my wife seems to like staying warm for some reason - but I'd guess we're back to normal winter ranges from years ago. With any luck, it will go another 5+ years before we entertain what's next (2031 Rivian R3?). Not bad for a car we paid not much over $20K for almost 8 years ago.
 
seconded said:
Hi All,

Just wanted to relay my ongoing problems with my 2018 Honda Clarity as a warning for the rest of you. I was getting "Power System" and "Check Engine" warning lights on my dashboard last year (2025) and took it in to the dealer. The first time was in March where they just blamed it on the 12V battery and charged me to replace it in addition to a $250 diagnosis fee (sigh). This problem then happened again at the end of the year so I took it back to the dealer in the middle of December to have them dig further into the problem.

The dealer came back and said it was an issue with the IMA (part number given to me was 1D100-5WJ-A02). Luckily, the car is still under warranty so it should be covered by that. However, the part is backordered and won't be available until January 28, 2026 (!!) at the earliest. In the meantime, I have been in touch with my dealer and Honda corporate and both have pointed to (blamed?) each other as "responsible" for loaners or otherwise providing any assistance while I remain car-less for almost a month and counting.

Taking the car back is out of the question, I think, as the dealer's shop foreman has told the service advisor that it "doesn't feel that it's safe to drive. He thinks it my [sic] die on you if you were to keep driving it with the bad IMA battery." So that is my saga and hopefully this is a warning to my fellow owners of what might happen.

I'm disappointed in Honda, both in the reliability of this car (let's not talk about the AC problems or the fuel pump recall..), but also in the handling of my current problem. I understand that normally a loaner isn't provided unlike other car brands when a repair is going to take a day or even a week, I get it. But this will be at least a month if not two months without a car and the response from Honda has been tepid at best. Anyway... if anybody has any suggestions, definitely welcome to hear it!
Click to expand...
So I just had the exact thing happen to my 2018 Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid vehicle that I purchased in December of 2018 and have over 117,000 miles on it it showed both those codes to check engine light was staying on the dealer said the high voltage battery is failing however they gave me a 25 pilot to drive a week ago and I'm afraid to call them for an update because I love this new car they'll call me when they want it back but yes mine is still drivable and I will trade it in instantly once it's up and running again and I'm also done with the electric hybrid crap gas only along with my 69 Camaro that's getting a modern LT1 engine and a 6-speed manual transmission which is all I need for theft control. However I would not object to getting one of these older batteries to add to my solar for my house as I'm approved for a 7.2 KW installed system I did myself and I only need about four times that much power so yeah a few hybrid batteries and I might be sending a lot less money to the Central Maine Power as they're getting close to $700 a month now with my solar array
 

Attachments

  • 20251115_181606.webp
    20251115_181606.webp
    719.7 KB · Views: 0
Joe17 said:
Nice! I recently picked up a 1968 Austin Healey sprite. Nice little car to tinker with.
Click to expand...
You were smart to start with that one you can restore those for a fraction of what they want for anything that has the word Camaro in it LOL I mean it's similar to buying stuff for your boat which means about another thousand so if you buy rope at the hardware store it's a couple bucks or it used to be you buy it at the boat store and it's 5 to 10 times that much
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top