| Date |
Issue |
| April 15, 2000 |
On the first attempt to use the rear wiper, it swung to the rear and stayed there, hanging over the back of the car. I repositioned it manually and drove home. Upon lifting the black plastic cover over the wiper shaft, I found the 10 mm retainer nut completely loose. I lined up the wiper blade aesthetically and carefully snugged the nut while holding the blade (so as not to stress the drive motor gears). It now works properly. |
| April 23, 2000 |
I recently found a silver colored clip on the driveway. This morning, I figured out what it was. It is one of the clips that secure the plastic aero panels under the car. You can see them if you open the hood and look past the engine (easiest on the right) to the panels below. I'll have to get the car on a hoist to figure out if one is missing. If the clip is not an extra lost during the build, a bolt is also missing.
I have determined that the clip is from the right front air dam, which was apparantly not installed correctly. I am told that these parts are dealer installed (probably because they reduce ground clearance required during shipment). If the missing bolt was ever installed, it was very loose and vibrated free at some point. I checked the left air dam bolt and found it ready to fall out. It had never been tightened. I screwed it in and snugged it up. The air dams are secured by 8 Phillips sheet metal screws and one 10 mm bolt. See page 20-60 of the Service Manual. Note that the service manual seems to incorrectly specify (if I read it properly) a 1.0 mm bolt, which would be too small even for my bifocals.
Roush Honda gave me a bolt, so I set out to install it (I'm sure they would have done it, but this seemed simple enough). Roush has supported me well. As it turned out, I'm glad things worked out as they did. The alignment of the parts just did not seem right. There was a recess formed in the bottom of the air dam to accept the aluminum center panel under the engine, yet the air dam was installed below the panel. Referring to the service manual, I determined that the original clip and bolt installation was not correct in a way I had not anticipated. The clip had been installed on the aluminum panel and the bolt inserted through the air dam rubber. This necessarily placed the rubber below the aluminum center panel. A check of the other side showed the same problem. As I put things right (clips on the rubber and rubber above the panel -- looks very neat and Honda-like now, I must say), I noted that the left side bolt is not the correct part. It is OK electrolytically (coated) but is intended to be used elsewhere in the underneath fairing. That means that I'll have to find the misapplied part (I've looked -- don't see it) and switch them or get another bolt to keep my Insight correct to specification.
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| May 1, 2000 |
I received two recall notices today. The first deals with a cold weather starting ECM problem. The second installs better grounding on the rear window wiper motor to eliminate static when using the AM radio function while the wiper is operating (never would have found this one).
Today, May 10, Sharon took the car to the dealer to have the recall issues corrected. It took about 2 hours. The ECM replacement did not cause loss of mileage data. We now have an ECM computer that will work in an Anchorage winter (should we ever be there at such a time) and a properly grounded rear window wiper that won't interfere with the AM radio (whatever that's for). These were not BIG problems.
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| June 14, 2000 |
The engine malfunction light is on. I don't see any obvious problem and the car is working fine. A loose gas cap can cause this, so I removed, inspected, and reinstalled the cap. There was no change. I have a shop appointment for June 23. The dealer says drive as long as it exhibits no problems.
After the checkup, the dealer says we have a bad O2 sensor (computer code P1164, lean mixture). There is no problem with driving the car as is. A new sensor has been ordered. This issue has been seen in several cars in the discussion group.
I had the O2 sensor replaced today (July 17). The "worry" light is out and the car runs fine.
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| June 31, 2000 |
The engine malfunction light came back on. I was ready to drive to Indiana, so the dealer took me right in. They said the problem was not the O2 sensor, but the car still presented code P1164, lean mixture (see June 14). According to the printout, Honda is looking for a fix, but nothing can be done now. They reset the light and sent me on my way.
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| October 14, 2000 |
I noticed some oil spots on the garage floor. I put the car up on ramps and removed the plastic under panels. The oil drain plug had a very small leak. I changed the oil myself last time (to prevent just this kind of shoddy work, hmmm) and did not replace the plug gasket as Honda recommends (thought it looked fine). Lesson learned. Replace the drain plug gasket with each oil change. I was able to snug it up and stop the leak until next oil change, but it is tighter than I like.
The real issue is that the right front plastic under panel was seriously deformed. I did have a run-in with high water recently and the right rear under panel was actually dislodged. Because of this you'd have to think this damage at least might be a result of that incident. And, so it might be. However, It would have take a great deal of force to permanently stretch and bend the panel as it was (the rear panel was not permanently deformed). No attachment holes were torn out (as they were on the rear panel) and the relatively weak rear transverse aluminum attachment member was not bent or damaged in any way. Also, the left front panel went through the same high water is absolutely straight. It had no oil on it when I took them both down today. The deformation in the right panel was clearly isolated to areas where light oily road grime had collected in the 2000 miles or so since the last oil change. For now, I'm assuming the panel was damaged by oil. The experiences of others will tell.
Whatever the cause of the problem, I repaired the distorted panel with aluminum bracing and aluminum pop rivits. Positioning of the transverse brace is important to prevent interference with the crankcase. You can see pictures of the left and right panels as found, the repaired panel, and the panels installed here. |
| December 20, 2000 |
My auto-down driver's window switch has never worked predictably. I read the following maintenance report on the e-Groups discussion list today:
"Performed input test to master switch. OK. At this time performed input test to window motor. OK. At this time called Tech line Ref #90645. Tech line knows about problem. Updated parts are not available at this time! ! No repair made."
According to the post, ". . . there is a problem internal to the drivers window motor involving the Insight and the S2000. Something involving the motor shaft and an internal short causing the auto down feature to work only intermittently."
This was on the discussion group today (March 22, 2001) -- Service Bulletin 01-013(2/6/2001)Drivers window auto down function does not work. Symptom-When you use the Auto function to lower the window,the window goes down only 3-4 inches.The window goes down all the way if you push the power window switch lightly and hold it. Probable Cause-Contamination in the window motor causes a loss of ground. Corrective Action-Replace the window regulator assembly. Parts Info-Left window regulator assembly: P/N 72250-S3Y-A01, H/C 6348494 Flat rate time 1 hour. |
| June 5, 2002 |
The car went in today to have the driver's door rear lower window channel insert replaced. The rubber-like insert had come loose. As the window was operated over time, more and more of the insert worked its way to the top of the rear channel creating a blockage that prevented full closure. Roush Honda replaced it free under warranty (300 miles to go). Roush gave me a 2002 Insight CVT to use during the repair. It had 422 miles on it and a lifetime mileage of 36 (yuk). I drove it about 40 miles and achieved 61.5 mpg in metro freeway driving. That's about 10 mpg worse than I do with my 5 speed, but not bad at all. The CVT was very smooth and tight. The experience was quite a pleasant surprise. |
| July 12, 2002 |
I noticed rattles in the driver's door shortly after the rear lower window channel insert replacement on June 5. I had been planning to open up the door panel and check this out when the rear channel insert came loose again today. I removed the door panel and glass to inspect the channel (I have all the books and tools). The insert was out of the channel completely from the window sill all the way to the bottom of the channel. I reinstalled the insert in the channel and noted that there is really nothing to retain it. While the dealer may not have installed it correctly, if the channel lube dries up, or the window centering adjustment is a bit off, window operation is very likely to rip the insert out of the channel. I added two nylon tie-wraps around the lower channel and insert below the window travel range, one above and one below the bottom bracket. These tie-wraps will keep the insert in the channel unless something binds pretty badly. The rattle was caused by the glass contacting the bare metal rear channel. |
| February 3, 2005 |
At 67,000 miles I finally got around to getting the three recalls I had been sitting on done. There was a headlight wiring issue, a parking brake lever issue, and a ECM issue that was supposed to be related to improper emissions-related codes being reported when connected to analysis tools. I had a Honda Civic Hybrid for a loaner car. It did fine, but I missed my manual transmission and the "video game" instruments that help me optimize my mileage. |
| December 15, 2006 |
The dreaded IMA light came on last week (83,000 miles). On Friday I called the dealer to check on IMA battery replacement. I was told don't worry about the warranty mileage, you're covered on that. But, they said, it could be a controller problem. Bring it in next Friday (12/15) and we'll see what is wrong. By Monday, I also had a check engine light and assist and recharge were showing no activity. I checked the OBD codes and found P1447 and P1449. That is a fairly good sign the battery is a goner. I called the dealer and reported the news. Later that day I got a call deferring my service appointment for a week to allow time to get parts. I'm guessing a new battery is on the way.
Today (12/15) I started getting 12 volt battery and braking system lights. Also, the engine is starting with the 12 volt starter now and then. This is a first. I'm fairly sure all this weirdness is related to the IMA failure, so I'm not worrying about it. I will keep the 12 volt battery on charge when I'm not driving the car until the IMA problem is fixed.
Mileage is down about 15% with no IMA. |
| December 22, 2006 |
The Insight is back in its garage with a new battery module ($3,597.25), battery control module ($1,415.34), and control unit ($643.07). Labor was $167.20. Honda picked up the bill for everything. It was raining, so they could not wash the car -- I got a rain check. I have only good things to say about Roush Honda. |
| January 8, 2008 |
Took the car in for an ecu recall. |
