No Ready and Yellow Light after new 12V?

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MievHaver2

New member
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
4
2012 I-Miev. Long story, but sat in storage most of 2019 after purchasing it in late 2018. Somehow misplaced key during that period; had to have one re-cut (from a dealership blank purchased on eBay); new key worked fine, but 12V battery was extremely low, per dealer & after it spent a while at dealer before pickup, it wouldn’t start without a “jump” from a boltpower battery booster.

Was planning to use a trickle charger on the 12V, but eventually found that Walmart had the battery for $110 total installed rather than the $300+ Mitsu was going to charge. With the new 12V in, the i-Miev will not turn over to “Ready,” even though the accessories powered by the 12V now seem to work great. Tried jumping with the Boltpowerbox, didn’t seem to do anything as the 12V is fine anyway.

From reading other posts where there’s been this combo of issues (no Ready, and yellow car icon with “!”), I’ve seen the RFID in the key being possible issue in one case, an issue with shifting into park in another, an immobilizer issue, and 1-2 other technically complex issues I don’t entirely understand.

I guess my question is, should I just throw up my hands and have the vehicle towed back over to the Mitsu folks? I kept expecting one of the turns to finally get the car to Ready, as the key physically turns fine...but no luck. Not really sure what else I should be trying, other than to possibly see if by some small miracle I can find the original key I had.

Thanks if you all have any suggestions...
 
The car definitely won't go into ready unless the RFID tag in the key has been programmed to the car.

So if you just bought a random blank key with blank not yet programmed RFID chip and only had the key mechanically cut to fit the lock, that is one of your problems right there.

When getting a replacement key cut its sometimes possible to transfer the RFID chip from the old key to the new one as they are usually removable (with difficulty) however if the old key is completely lost you don't have that option.

Pairing the key to the car requires a MUT-III so if you don't have access to one you'll need to take it to the dealer and ask them to pair the key to the car. (Although I would have thought they should have already done that ?)

The gear lever issue is easy to rule out - is the gear indicator position on the dashboard flashing ? If not and it's a solid letter, it's not your issue. When the gear position switch reports an invalid position (in between correct positions) it causes the letter to flash.

To check whether the onboard charger and DC/DC converter unit is working try plugging the car in to charge normally.

If it seems to charge and the 12v battery goes up to about 14.4 volts during the charge the DC/DC converter is working. You obviously don't need a working key to charge so this is a good test.

Assuming the traction battery and 12v battery both charge when you plug the car in I'd say your only problem is the pairing of the RFID chip in the key to the car so get that sorted and you're probably back in business. Hopefully the traction battery has not been sitting at either fully discharged or fully charged while the car has been out of action.

If it was fully discharged for a long time the cell voltages may have gone dangerously low, this could cause serious damage to the cells. If it was left fully charged they will still be working OK but they may have suffered significant capacity degradation. If they were between about 30% and 80% they should be unharmed.

What does the charge gauge on the dashboard show when you turn the key on ?

if the 12v battery has been flat or left disconnected for over a month it can cause the BMU (Battery management unit) to forget the useable capacity of the traction battery. If that happens a battery calibration needs to be performed - this can only be done with a MUT-III but is not a difficult process. (I've done the equivalent process on my Ion using Diagbox, it basically just amounts to discharging then recharging the battery while under the supervision of the diagnostic tool)
 
Extremely helpful response here DBMandrake - thank you.

The main battery indicator shows a little over half capacity, which is probably accurate as I successfully had driven the vehicle to the Walmart from the dealership & am pretty sure there was plenty of battery remaining. Though that was just under 4 weeks ago. Sort of strange in that the battery bars seem to populate to that just over half-full number after the key is turned to “on” (I think - though maybe that was after ACC) from a several-lower number of bars. Maybe it doing that before these starting issues, and I just hadn’t noticed it before because of how typical It is for dashboard indicators to adjust themselves during startup?

The key was RFID programmed specifically to the VIN by the Mitsubishi dealership a few months ago, and had worked completely fine before the battery replacement. I’m not sure if there’s a different kind of RFID-check the car goes through after a hard restart like the one you’d presumably have after a brand new 12V was installed, but it seems a bit strange to me that the key would have worked fine beforehand (both mechanically, and for actually starting the car) and now not allow the car to start.

I’m leaning slightly to something key related still, though, and maybe the Mitsu phone support team will have some insight as the dealership that made the key had no idea.

I will keep you all posted in case this is an issue any one else ends up happening! And if anyone else has any ideas/potentially helpful advice (or if DBMandrake has any additional helpful ideas advice!), please share! Would be great not to have to go through a bunch of pricey diagnostics, especially if it’s something simple (I do have an OBD reader which I’d used successfully with other vehicles, but was having some trouble getting it to connect - I will try that again later in the week as well).
 
MievHaver2 said:
...
I successfully had driven the vehicle to the Walmart from the dealership & am pretty sure there was plenty of battery remaining. Though that was just under 4 weeks ago.

If you didn't charge the 12V aux battery, then it is likely discharged over 4 weeks, especially a new battery. They are filled with acid but not necessarily charged and can sit on the shelf for extended periods. A good strong 12V after a charge might clear you up. Your no-start condition sounds like a 12V issue to me.
 
Much belated update here, but after having car towed to a very helpful local Mitsubishi dealership, they charged the battery up (not sure if they meant the 12V, drivetrain, or both), and the car immediately started working fine, and is currently running great. Car is currently in more regular use, but I’ve kept it on a trickle charger at other points to keep the 12V in good shape/not needing whatever kind of jump the Mitsu dealership apparently provided it. Thanks again for the advice and recommendations provided in this thread.
 
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