Vehicle did not start

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Cacti

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
53
Sunday I charged the vehicle to 90+ percent. Drove vehicle approximately 5 miles after charging stopped at a store and when I left (approx 10 minutes) the car would not start and displayed the Electric motor unit warning light and the 12V starter battery charging system warning warning lights. Temperature was approximately 90 degrees F and the car has approximately 33,800 miles. Had vehicle towed to the dealership.

Report from dealership: DIAG COUND P1A15 PERFORMED BUS LINE, DIAGNOSES OK AT THE TIME CLEARED DTC AND PERFORMED ECU RESET OK

Dealership kept vehicle overnight and drove the next morning trying to recreate the conditions but vehicle did not display any warning lights. I picked up the car and have not experienced any more problems.

Anyone offer any explanations?

Cacti
 
P1A15 is High-Voltage System Error (1), this code is set if the ECU detects that it takes too long for the large capacitor in the Motor Control Unit to charge up to full voltage.
 
kiev said:
P1A15 is High-Voltage System Error (1), this code is set if the ECU detects that it takes too long for the large capacitor in the Motor Control Unit to charge up to full voltage.

Thanks for the response. Should I be worried about this?
 
How old is your 12V starting battery?

i went thru a spell where that fault would sometimes occur when the temperature was high, and my 12V starter battery was old. Replaced the 12V and no more starting faults, all working fine.

Looking at the CAN buss data i have found that the voltage measurement does have a delay while coming up to full strength, like the R * C time constant of a capacitor (resistance times capacitance). When temperature is higher, copper wire resistance increases and slows down the rise time.
 
Battery is 3 years old.

kiev said:
How old is your 12V starting battery?

i went thru a spell where that fault would sometimes occur when the temperature was high, and my 12V starter battery was old. Replaced the 12V and no more starting faults, all working fine.

Looking at the CAN buss data i have found that the voltage measurement does have a delay while coming up to full strength, like the R * C time constant of a capacitor (resistance times capacitance). When temperature is higher, copper wire resistance increases and slows down the rise time.
 
May want to check the water level and give it a good top up charge to 14.4V. If the water is low and it's been running in hot weather, and not been charged up lately--then that could be the root cause of the trouble code= weak old battery.
 
Experienced the same problems today (7/3/2017) as I had on June 21, 2017. Having vehicle towed to a different dealership. Vehicle would not start.

" I charged the vehicle to 90+ percent. Drove vehicle approximately 5 miles after charging stopped at a store and when I left (approx 10 minutes) the car would not start and displayed the Electric motor unit warning light and the 12V starter battery charging system warning warning lights. Temperature was approximately 90 degrees F."

Cacti
 
With a 3 year old auxillary battery that is the likely culprit. Did you try charging the 12V separately?

Do you have a voltmeter--check the voltage of the 12 V starting battery and report back the reading. If it is weak then you will have this problem.

Measure the voltage with everything off, then again with the key turned on. You may be surprised how it sags.
 
kiev said:
With a 3 year old auxillary battery that is the likely culprit. Did you try charging the 12V separately?

Do you have a voltmeter--check the voltage of the 12 V starting battery and report back the reading. If it is weak then you will have this problem.

Measure the voltage with everything off, then again with the key turned on. You may be surprised how it sags.

I passed this information along to the dealership that is working on the vehicle.

Thanks.

Cacti
 
We just had to replace our 12v starter battery too.

Car wouldn't start, wouldn't charge, and the warning light showed the "Car!" icon that the book calls “Electric motor unit warning light 3.75” (#15 on pg 3-71), etc. Replaced battery and everything is good :)
 
As far as I know the dealership has yet to get the car to start . They are communicating with Mitsubishi in California for technical support.

Cacti
 
Cacti, thank you for following up. Problems and issues with the i-MiEV seem to be quite rare compared to other cars, so the occasional problem such as yours really piques our interest. As diplomatically as possible, do try to establish a rapport with the service center in the hope that they will share with you not only the final solution but perhaps the troubleshooting process they are going through. All the best, hope they find the root cause of your issues, and do let us know when it's finally fixed.
 
Dealership called today (7/18), vehicle started but they cannot determine what caused the vehicle not to start the two previous times. Dealership will keep the i-MiEV a couple more days trying to duplicate the problem. Hope to get some sort of report that outlines all the diagnosis done looking for the cause.

Cacti
 
District manager called (7/28) MMC (Japan) and California technicians determined the Electronic Control Unit and traction battery are going to be replaced. They have been unable to recreate the original issue but felt it may occur again and this prompted their decision regarding the ECU and traction battery replacement.

Cacti
 
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