I have a gen 1 yr. 2000 insight w/ 234,000 m (just bought for $2,300.00.)
Issues
1. Throwing a 1600 error ima general fault (which I do not know how to interpret) Assuming it is a used up battery given my milage.
2. Transmission is grinding downshifting into 2nd but otherwise seems fine (not poping out of gear. clutch seems to work and body is in good shape with one dent in the rear fender just above the rear wheel well. paint not badly faded but pited and gravel dinged on hood.
Spending more than 6 grand total for car and fixes is going to be a tough sell, as thats what I showed her insights with half my milage offered at on the net!!!
Trany estimate is 2,500 for syncros seals and bearings. battery is $2,500 for replacement from bumbelbee battery of portland Or. Opps were over our s.l.c. (sleep on couch) by $1,300
What I want. Originally wanted to gut and make a town car pure electric.
Reading insight central has dissuaded me from this for the following reasons.
1. batteries: Lithium iron phosphate batteries are heavy take up a fair amount of room and are expensive. The insight was optimized for light weight and small size. It will be hard to find the space and suspension capacity to make a car of any range and performance fit in that package.
2. cost to payback ratio. The Honda running as a hybrid is capable of 70 mph
Tearing out it's whole drive train and replacing it with a pure ev would net me only a small gain in efficiency for the cost of conversion.
3. I believe that advances in sulfur cathode silica anode technology just out of stanford will drastically raise the capacity of batteries in the next four years. allowing a light weight vehicle such as the insight to have a usable set of batteries, say 40 amp hours at much less weight than now avalible. So any pure ev project i undertake would have to be chassis and power train only and leave batteries for the last element of integration.
So, thats the background on my project and here is why it is relevant right now. I just saw a 2000 insight identical to mine come up for $3,500.00 with 150,000 m and no mentioned error codes. Could I kill two birds with one honda? Take the trany and swap into my car, disassemble the battery on both cars, test and recondition the cells taking the best for reassembly into one functional battery pack. I would save the remaining insight minus bat and trany, for future use in 4 years in a pure ev.
cost of the new repair option on trany and bat is around 4.5 grand but I have a car that is closer to new than option 2
Cost of triage option $3,500 for a future ev roller and a working insight with questionable longevity, What would those of you that have gone down either of these roads Do? Would I be overpaying for the sacrifice insight? Is the expected life left in a reconditioned bat and substituted trany not worth the effort needed to swap them out only to have them potentially fail in 50,000 miles of further driving?
How long can i expect the best of the old cells to last from now even if I implement Mike's grid charger option and balance them monthly? If I go the battery revival route I would love to have a mentor locally who perhaps owns a grid charger or has worked on insight battery packs to calm my fears through this process. Yes I have read and watched mikes utube vids on bat removal relating to installing mima, but it's not the same as boots on the ground hand holding!
Thanks ahead of time and any comments are welcome. Oh Is a working insight at 3.5 g with 150,000 and no burning issues a common occurrence or can i feel safe in preserving my remaining bank reserves and pick one up after I have recovered somewhat from my recent purchase of my first problem child?
Issues
1. Throwing a 1600 error ima general fault (which I do not know how to interpret) Assuming it is a used up battery given my milage.
2. Transmission is grinding downshifting into 2nd but otherwise seems fine (not poping out of gear. clutch seems to work and body is in good shape with one dent in the rear fender just above the rear wheel well. paint not badly faded but pited and gravel dinged on hood.
Spending more than 6 grand total for car and fixes is going to be a tough sell, as thats what I showed her insights with half my milage offered at on the net!!!
Trany estimate is 2,500 for syncros seals and bearings. battery is $2,500 for replacement from bumbelbee battery of portland Or. Opps were over our s.l.c. (sleep on couch) by $1,300
What I want. Originally wanted to gut and make a town car pure electric.
Reading insight central has dissuaded me from this for the following reasons.
1. batteries: Lithium iron phosphate batteries are heavy take up a fair amount of room and are expensive. The insight was optimized for light weight and small size. It will be hard to find the space and suspension capacity to make a car of any range and performance fit in that package.
2. cost to payback ratio. The Honda running as a hybrid is capable of 70 mph
Tearing out it's whole drive train and replacing it with a pure ev would net me only a small gain in efficiency for the cost of conversion.
3. I believe that advances in sulfur cathode silica anode technology just out of stanford will drastically raise the capacity of batteries in the next four years. allowing a light weight vehicle such as the insight to have a usable set of batteries, say 40 amp hours at much less weight than now avalible. So any pure ev project i undertake would have to be chassis and power train only and leave batteries for the last element of integration.
So, thats the background on my project and here is why it is relevant right now. I just saw a 2000 insight identical to mine come up for $3,500.00 with 150,000 m and no mentioned error codes. Could I kill two birds with one honda? Take the trany and swap into my car, disassemble the battery on both cars, test and recondition the cells taking the best for reassembly into one functional battery pack. I would save the remaining insight minus bat and trany, for future use in 4 years in a pure ev.
cost of the new repair option on trany and bat is around 4.5 grand but I have a car that is closer to new than option 2
Cost of triage option $3,500 for a future ev roller and a working insight with questionable longevity, What would those of you that have gone down either of these roads Do? Would I be overpaying for the sacrifice insight? Is the expected life left in a reconditioned bat and substituted trany not worth the effort needed to swap them out only to have them potentially fail in 50,000 miles of further driving?
How long can i expect the best of the old cells to last from now even if I implement Mike's grid charger option and balance them monthly? If I go the battery revival route I would love to have a mentor locally who perhaps owns a grid charger or has worked on insight battery packs to calm my fears through this process. Yes I have read and watched mikes utube vids on bat removal relating to installing mima, but it's not the same as boots on the ground hand holding!
Thanks ahead of time and any comments are welcome. Oh Is a working insight at 3.5 g with 150,000 and no burning issues a common occurrence or can i feel safe in preserving my remaining bank reserves and pick one up after I have recovered somewhat from my recent purchase of my first problem child?
