EV mod quit working

[jamesleber]

I just installed the ev mad from coastaletech. It worked GREAT for about a day. This morning, I was using it and sped up past 34 mph and it shut off like it is supposed to, But I have not been able to get it work since. Does anyone have any ideas?


Please help


James

[BobZ]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jamesleber @ Sep 29 2006, 09:00 PM) [snapback]325846[/snapback]</div>

I just installed the ev mad from coastaletech. It worked GREAT for about a day. This morning, I was using it and sped up past 34 mph and it shut off like it is supposed to, But I have not been able to get it work since. Does anyone have any ideas?
Please help
James
[/b]

look for any loose connections make sure pin is all the way in the plug at the puter.......

[jamesleber]

I checked all the connections and the pin that goes in the plug. All is crimped all the wan and the pin in the plug is inserted all the way. Any other ideas?


Thank you!!!

James

[efusco]

How many times have you re-tried to enter EV mode...are you sure all conditions are met. Are you getting the triple beep when you try to enter or is there no sound a all?

Often folks who are having trouble w/ their EV mod it is b/c they are trying to use it under conditions where EV won't work...not fully warmed up, HV SOC too low, etc.

Try it from a cold start in the morning in the first 5 seconds and see if it will enter EV mode.

If not, then more than likely one of your taps is loose or the pin isn't all the way in it should be as deeply inserted as all the other pins in the ECU plug. The taps can look like they're on correctly, but not quite be making contact...removing and replacing is a good idea as part of a check.

[jamesleber]

OK, I went for a drive this morning and it wouldn't work at first. Then about a half mile down the road it started working. It worked for a while. I live in the mountains, so I use it quite frequently when I am going down hill and when I am on the flat roads. Then I just give it more gas or speed up past 34 mph to disengage it. But after a while, about 6 miles of down hill with the car in B, not exceeding 34 mph, I heard the three beeps and has not worked again since.I was not going too fast and my battrey was 1 bar from full. What would make it work and then not? Could the charging system be getting hot? I have no idea.

[efusco]

Can't use EV in B-mode....
And, except for long steep mountain grades (like the kind you'd be going over 34mph on for several miles) you shouldn't be using B-mode anyway.

Sounds like the mod is working fine to me, I think you're just encountering various conditions that are not satisfactory for EV mode to enable. You 'may' be having some intermittent short, but I doubt it from the description you gave...

Again, I'll ask, when you say "it has not worked since" is it giving you 3 beeps? If so, then the mod is working fine, you're just in a condition where EV is not allowed.

Sometimes when the battery SOC is 1 bar from full you cannot enable EV mode. Other times you can. You see, there is significant hysteresis of the SOC of the battery. Above a predetermined threshold (maybe 70% SOC?) EV is not allowed...in the SOC 1 bar from full the SOC could be anywhere from 65%-77.5%.


And yes, part of it could be that the inverter temps or battery temp is out of range to EV mode to be allowed. Sometime I can't get EV to work...usually I know why, but sometimes I've not sure. But I am always sure that it's that way to protect my car and I'll accept that at face value.

[jamesleber]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Sep 30 2006, 03:25 PM) [snapback]326124[/snapback]</div>

Can't use EV in B-mode....
And, except for long steep mountain grades (like the kind you'd be going over 34mph on for several miles) you shouldn't be using B-mode anyway.

Sounds like the mod is working fine to me, I think you're just encountering various conditions that are not satisfactory for EV mode to enable. You 'may' be having some intermittent short, but I doubt it from the description you gave...

Again, I'll ask, when you say "it has not worked since" is it giving you 3 beeps? If so, then the mod is working fine, you're just in a condition where EV is not allowed.

Sometimes when the battery SOC is 1 bar from full you cannot enable EV mode. Other times you can. You see, there is significant hysteresis of the SOC of the battery. Above a predetermined threshold (maybe 70% SOC?) EV is not allowed...in the SOC 1 bar from full the SOC could be anywhere from 65%-77.5%.


And yes, part of it could be that the inverter temps or battery temp is out of range to EV mode to be allowed. Sometime I can't get EV to work...usually I know why, but sometimes I've not sure. But I am always sure that it's that way to protect my car and I'll accept that at face value.
[/b]

Yes, It does give me the three beeps when it does not engage. Even when I am not near full but more than three bars it still does nopt work. I usually turn the screen to the graph page and when it changes to the battery page, I know it is on. I wish it had a EV light on the dash so I deffinately know it is in EV mode. The reason I use "B" is so that I do not have to use my brakes as much when going down hill. When I am in ev mode, It does not turn off when I switch to B, So I just left it alone. And when I stop, I am still in EV mode because the motor does not start.

Why would it kick out of EV mode when going down hill and not exceeding 32 mph. Because the battery is too charged? I would think that a fully charged battery would be even better for EV mode. But I am not the engineer who designed it.

Thanks again for your info.


James

[efusco]

If you're getting 3 beeps every time then the EV mod is working exactly as designed.

I believe you can engage B-mode after you're in EV, but not the other way around...but would have to test to be sure...I just don't use B-mode enough to know for sure. There really are very few conditions where B-mode is a good choice and using it in almost all conditions can actually have an adverse affect on your fuel economy. I suggest doing a search on "B-mode" for the many many threads and links to excellent information that will back up what I'm saying.

Again, I'm not the engineer either and your question about why EV won't engage above a predetermined SOC is one of the mysteries...but we assume it is to prevent heavy use that could damage the system at high SOC.

[Presto]

I don't think it's the SOC being too high that is limiting the use of EV mode. More than likely, the batteries are too hot. After a long period of regen, the batteries will be super hot (49+ celcius), and you have to wait till they cool down.

It was quite a mystery to me when I first installed the EV button. SOC would be in the blue, and ICE hadn't started yet, but I would get the 3 beeps. After a while, I figured it was the temperature of the battery back, and I confirmed it when I got CAN-view, and actually saw the battery temp.

[efusco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ Sep 30 2006, 02:50 PM) [snapback]326138[/snapback]</div>

I don't think it's the SOC being too high that is limiting the use of EV mode. More than likely, the batteries are too hot. After a long period of regen, the batteries will be super hot (49+ celcius), and you have to wait till they cool down.

It was quite a mystery to me when I first installed the EV button. SOC would be in the blue, and ICE hadn't started yet, but I would get the 3 beeps. After a while, I figured it was the temperature of the battery back, and I confirmed it when I got CAN-view, and actually saw the battery temp.
[/b]

Again, SOC is clearly a limiting factor, even if battery temp is within acceptible limits
Again, battery temp is clearly a limiting factor even if SOC is within limits
Again, inverter temp is clearly a limiting factor even if SOC and battery temp are within limits.

Any and all are taken into account and can determine if one can or can't enter EV mode. I know that I rarely see the battery temp out of range (above 105 degrees F makes it very difficult to use EV, above 110 it isn't possible at all) except in the heat of the summer. But if the battery has been exercised a lot via extensive use of the EV button or something else causing rapid swings in the SOC it can get hot in other conditions.

This doesn't even take into acount the what stage of operation the hybrid system is in...another thing that can and will prevent EV mode from engaging.