my Miev will not charge

[kiev]

i've had this happen several times, and found dirt and debris on the pins in the charge port. i cleaned it with alcohol and a cotton swab (there is no high voltage on the port pins), and it is fixed until the next time it happens--rinse and repeat... also cleaned out the socket terminals of the evse handle too. My car and evse is outside all the time.

[Sbess]

I brought it to a dealer and they said it is the on-board charger. The on-board charger stopped communicating with the rest of the car. It is over 5k to fix. The car is only worth 4.5k. Sadly I have said good bye to the Miev.

[kiev]

@Sbess, where abouts are you located?

Piev and i reverse engineered the TCCH/ Elcon chargers and have performed numerous modifications (# of cells, voltage levels) and repairs including replacing the microcontroller chip and loading new firmware.

Maybe we can fix it, got to start somewhere.

[kiev]

Turns out i had more than just the usual dirt and debris because it wouldn't charge again, so time to investigate. i have a Blink WE-30 level 2 EVSE unit that is mounted outside under a shade tree.

First obstacle is the security screws on the EVSE handle, and they are not 6 pt torx either, they are called Torx Plus Security screws with 5 splines and a center pin. These are called size TPS15. $25 bucks for a set of bits if you can find them. They were repaced with regular #6 x 1/2" wood screws philips head

!!

Then i found bugs in the hardware--alabama fire ants crawled thru the 3 little vent/drain holes in the handle and made a nest.

!!

Not much stuff in the handle, just a pocket full of shells. Not surprised to find this handle was made in Germany--silver label under the circuit board, the mains line wiring colors, and the use of those stupid TPS screws were the clues:

!!

Gave it a good cleaning, and now it's charging again. So check for bugs, they are not always just in software...

[jray3]

I have been slowly stripping a local low mileage crashed I-MiEV, could see how much they'll take for the charger if you like.

Kiev, thx for the "TPS Report", and burning memories of debugging. Fire ants are one thing I do not miss about the South!

[pluto]

My 2012 iMiEV's onboard charger has also just recently given up the ghost. Car will only go into 'Ready' mode intermittently. Was quoted almost $5000 Canadian to replace (Part Number is 9481A095 and is listed on a couple sites as being $3100 USD)

I'm out of the bumper to bumper warranty but still covered under "battery warranty" anyone know if Mitsubishi will cover the replacement?

I bought my car in the US so I have to take it back there for any warranty work; the Canadian dealer did the diagnosis for me and quoted me the price but couldn't tell me if Mitsubishi Canada would cover it if the car had been purchased in Canada.... Similarly the US dealer wouldn't tell me over the phone if it was covered, they require me to take it there (I'll have to get it towed about 80 miles). Mitsibishi customer care wouldn't tell me over the phone either, they said it is up to the dealer

[kiev]

Ask them for a copy of the diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) they pulled with the MUT3 tool that indicated the charger was defective and post them up here. Maybe it is written on a service work order or receipt.

[pluto]

Code 39OBC

[kiev]

If your 12V Aux battery is not too old or too weak, then this code has no remedy in the service manual. Hopefully they might cover it, but if not maybe you could find a used one rather than pay full new. We could take a look to fix the PFC circuit on the board, nothing to lose.

Code No. 39: Power Factor Correction (PFC) Circuit Output Voltage Abnormal (either too high or too low)

TROUBLE JUDGMENT
Check Conditions
The on board charger control power supply voltage is more than 8 V.
While the on board charger is powered from the EV-ECU.

Judgement Criterion
Power factor improvement circuit (PFC) output voltage is more than 400 V.
or
The power factor improvement circuit (PFC) output voltage is smaller than the specified value.

FAIL-SAFE AND BACKUP FUNCTION
The charge is stopped.

PROBABLE CAUSE
The on board charger is failed.

DIAGNOSIS PROCEDURE

STEP 1. M.U.T.-III diagnosis code
Q. Is the diagnosis code set?
Yes, Replace the on board charger/DC-DC converter.

No, Then it is an Intermittent malfunction (Refer to GROUP 00 - How to Use Troubleshooting/Inspection Service Points - How to Cope with Intermittent Malfunctions

[pluto]

Thanks kiev. So I flatbed towed my car to the closest US EV certified dealer in Williamsville, NY yesterday and paid yet another diagnostic fee, however this time they couldn't detect any error code!!! Sure enough they plugged it into their L2 EVSE and it started charging @#$%@$

I got enough charge there to make it back to the Chademo in Niagara Falls Ontario and topped it off there for the drive home. It charged up normally last night at home from my home L2 charger.

Anyway, the tech there was very nice and quite knowledgeable despite not having seen very many iMiEVs; he did mention something about doing a re-balance of the cells while it was there - one thing I did notice this morning that I only used 1 bar during my 18km commute (0 degrees celcius outside) whereas most of this winter I've used 2-3. I assume this is related.

He was unable to tell me that if I did have the same problem again whether it would be covered by the battery warranty which is the only warranty left on the vehicle. This is quite disappointing to me as the owner of a 2012 Volt still in the 8 year Voltec warranty which covers everything involved in the electric drive system including the charger (my Volt's onboard charger died after the 3 year bumper-to-bumper warranty lapsed and it was covered).

Right now my faith in the little iMiEV is shaken and I'm seriously considering trading it in while it is still running and worth something :/