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So i'm new to hybrids. I have a 2008 HCH which I bought last week which I am still getting to know and I have a few questions. I notice some noises and behaviour which I haven't had on on any of my other vehicles. I just finished my first tank of fuel so I really am new.

So question 1:
On braking I sometimes notice a kind of whirring sound. It sounds rather like an electric motor and I was wondering if this is normal? It seems to occur at lower speeds and disappear when I'm near stopping.

I noticed that Canadian Tire has a 1.85 watt solar panel that plugs into the power accesory kit. It's on sale and I was wondering if there is any benefit to me spending the 20 bucks on this.

My other question is regarding the CVT:
I'm in a fairly cold area and I notice when shifting from park to drive or reverse the trannie will engage and the car will move extremely slowly (no pressure on the pedal). I was thinking that i would be able to put it in gear and sort of move off and very gradually accelerate but the movement is far too slow for that. When I try to ease on the gas the car lurches a bit and the engine speed decreases as the transmission seems to engage suddenly. Is this normal?
Thanks guys!!
Eric

You are probably hearing the regenerative braking.

I'm not sure the power accessory panel will do you much good but MSantos has had good experiences with wiring in solar panels to keep the 12V system charged up. The car has high demand on that system and the battery is marginal for what is required of it. You can read about his implementation here: http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10872

Manuel is a fantastic resource for technical info about the HCH-II -- I strongly encourage you to read as many of his posts as you possibly can!

I can't answer the question about the CVT with certainty but I can guess that what you are experiencing is a less than smooth start clutch engagement, possibly due to the computer not properly compensating for a faster than normal idle speed. I believe the idle creep feature is implemented via partial start clutch engagement and if full engagement isn't smooth you'd feel a jolt as described in your post.

1.85w is nothing, is this the size of a cigarette pack?

Whirring braking noise: Totally normal for an HCHii. You'll also hear it fart on occasion. There was a TSB about this (since expired, I think), but it isn't a safety or reliability issue, AFAIK.

$1.85 solar power kit: Completely worthless. If you're good with your hands, build Manuel's booster instead.

Cold CVT: Yep, I get the same thing. If I'm in no particular hurry, I just let it slowly roll back and down out of my parking space while it remembers its lot in life. When I'm in a hurry, I'll just let it bite hard and get on with life. I'm just shy of 100k miles now, and my CVT fluid hasn't shown any visible-to-the-naked-eye anomalies, nor have I seen any burrs/shavings/whatnot on the magnetic plug when I pull it out.

Yes mine is like yours CVT slow when cold and electrical noise.All normal sounds.
Solar maybe good to maintain the 12V. H

awesome! I am reassured that everything seems to be operating properly.

Anything that plugs into the accesory socket will very likely not be able to move electrons with the car off: those circuits disconnect without the ignition on, at least in position 1, I think. Also, Manuel had some extra motivation for his solar charging kit: he has (or had) an anti-rust device hooked up, that was constantly using a bit of current.

With a normal setup you should be ok, though hooking up a low amperage maintenace charger once in a while might be helpful.

And yeah, every time you decelerate the car is charging, that's likely the sound you're hearing.

whew just about finished my second tank! My combined mileage at the moment is 44.3 MPG which makes for a tank of about 750 km. I'm totally pumped about that as the old truck could barely squeeze out 500 per tank. And the tank was nearly twice the cost. So I'm pretty much spot on that the gas savings from the old vehicle are going to pay for this car. I'm looking forward to see how much further I can squeeze out once the spring and summer roll around.

I'm wondering about gliding and super highway mode (did I get that right).

I read about gliding on these forums and have been trying to get accomplish this feat. But I really am puzzled by this. I must be misunderstanig because my impression was that in this mode the valves close and no fuel is getting into the engine. But also the way to achive this mode is to have no IMA and no regen showing as you glide. So I have been able to achieve this (Ithink) but what Ifind puzzling is what is actually propelling the vehicle then? Is this an EV only mode that just doesn't register on the instruments?

For SAHM ( i hope thats the right acronym for the civic version) I don't think I have been able to achieve this or my numbers would certainly be better than what I have now. I have ordered a scan gauge but for the time being is there a way to achieve this state without one? So far I haven't even gotten a confirmation of my order so I am guessinig this may take a while?

1.85w is nothing, is this the size of a cigarette pack?

Nope, It's the size of a flat loaf of bread. Still on sale for 10 bucks. Here's the link:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/SolarPortablePower/SolarEnergy/PRD~0112020P/Blue+Planet+Solar+Panel%2C+1.8W.jsp?locale=en

You are probably hearing the regenerative braking.

I'm not sure the power accessory panel will do you much good but MSantos has had good experiences with wiring in solar panels to keep the 12V system charged up. The car has high demand on that system and the battery is marginal for what is required of it. You can read about his implementation here: http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10872

Manuel is a fantastic resource for technical info about the HCH-II -- I strongly encourage you to read as many of his posts as you possibly can!

I can't answer the question about the CVT with certainty but I can guess that what you are experiencing is a less than smooth start clutch engagement, possibly due to the computer not properly compensating for a faster than normal idle speed. I believe the idle creep feature is implemented via partial start clutch engagement and if full engagement isn't smooth you'd feel a jolt as described in your post.

I can't agree more about Manuel's posts. I think I've read all of them now. Super informative and very interesting to read!

and one more question...I usually pull into work or my driveway at the end of the day with 7-8 bars on the bettery. but when I start it up after work or in the morning I rarely if ever have the same charge on the battery. It's usually 5 bars or so. Is this because of lower temperatures? A normal occurence???

You pretty well require a scan-gauge in order to know when you are in sham Mode. The secret is to keep the load below 50 {good state charge as well] and the ign. timing at 28d up to36.or more.
You have the glide correct. H