Battery pack change plans

[alviseven]

Have a 90K mile UK spec 2011 Imiev which struggles to charge beyond about 3/4full and range of early 30s on good day.
Bought a non runner 2010 spares imiev which was running early march and had range of 50 miles and only done 28K KM not miles. Battery check icon comes on but have been able to get the OBD zero to read cell voltages but cannot charge it at all

Bought a good selection of insulated tools and following advice hatched the following plan

Remove the 2010 battery pack. Remove the 2011 battery pack.

Change over all the battery cells using the same 2011 CMU and BMS units from the 2011 car keeping both the electronics in the same orientation and cell placement and when I move the cells from the 2010 unit plan to keep the same order of these too. Gather the CMU units are different colour between the two years - are they really different coloured units or just coded like this? Will I be able to tell when I take the units apart.

Do I need to strip the donor battery units right down to individual cells and then build them up in the same order into the current used car or can I just take the blocks across and use the same CMU which I gather are not with the battery cell pack blocks OR am I miss reading this advice?

I cannot currently charge the 2010 unit - can I do this manually once the cells are off and should I flatten the 2011 currently in use car to as near empty as possible before removing the battery pack to try to match the voltage of the flat 2010 car?

Think I can cope with the removal and the electrical issues but does this sound like a plan that might work or will I need to get some dealer to "reset" things?

Will the OBD zero phone app clear codes or does it just read? Assume my normal OBD reader will not work either?

Sorry for all the questions as its a steep learning curve my end.

Every day is a school day it seems.

 

[MickeyS70]

Hello
I’d say both are 1st Gen cars and therefore you should be able to do a straight battery pack swap. To be sure compare the VIN numbers of both cars.

OBDZero is a great app for diagnostic, but it cannot read or reset DTCs, use CarScanner/Hobdrive for that purpose.

No need for a dealer reset if you’re patient, the car will adjust the new capacity automatically, it may take months though but there are apps out there to do that at home in one go.

While your 2011 pack certainly has issues, there is no guarantee that the older pack will be a big improvement but then beggars can’t be choosers..

Let us know how you get on..

 

[piev]

Hello
I’d say both are 1st Gen cars and therefore you should be able to do a straight battery pack swap. To be sure compare the VIN numbers of both cars.

OBDZero is a great app for diagnostic, but it cannot read or reset DTCs, use CarScanner/Hobdrive for that purpose.

No need for a dealer reset if you’re patient, the car will adjust the new capacity automatically, it may take months though but there are apps out there to do that at home in one go.

While your 2011 pack certainly has issues, there is no guarantee that the older pack will be a big improvement but then beggars can’t be choosers..

Let us know how you get on..

I agree

 

[alviseven]

I agree

How do I check the VIN number - obs I can read them but how do I know they are similar One runs from a black box charger the 2011 one and the 2010 has different direct plug in charger and no box with lights on. Different front bumper and loads more tinted glass and light units etc 2011 more UK spec type and with heated seat where the 2010 one is missing this feature

 

[MickeyS70]

How do I check the VIN number - obs I can read them but how do I know they are similar One runs from a black box charger the 2011 one and the 2010 has different direct plug in charger and no box with lights on. Different front bumper and loads more tinted glass and light units etc 2011 more UK spec type and with heated seat where the 2010 one is missing this feature

Interesting, might put them into a VIN decoder or post them here to see what exact build they are…

 

[alviseven]

2011 is JMALDHA3WBU000262
2010 car is HA3W0001622 which seems to short but is from the reg document

 

[jray3]

I agree, plus I continue to have no problems after installing a 2014 pack into my 2011 built (2012 model).

 

[MickeyS70]

2011 is JMALDHA3WBU000262
2010 car is HA3W0001622 which seems to short but is from the reg document

Yes, 2010 VIN isn't complete, but the important bits are there, IIRC HA3W is the build model and they seem to match...

 

[alviseven]

I will look on the car soon when I can and get the full.
If they are the same why does the black charger on the 2011 car not work on the 2010 car at all?
If I change the pack as is over might i transfer the Lock out status that the 2010 car seems to have - think it has lost it key chip to immobilise it but no idea bought like this but the car was working late march. has a yellow warning light on it which seems to be a key but not the same as the car with exclamation mark on it that the running car has.
many thanks for the advice starting to feel like i need to get my new tools out make a change to working in the Enfield 8000

 

[alviseven]

I was expecting to find the VIN on the car on front screen but its not there and not under the front bonnet either - where else might it be please

 

[MickeyS70]

I was expecting to find the VIN on the car on front screen but its not there and not under the front bonnet either - where else might it be please

Try the passenger door pillar…

 

[MickeyS70]

I will look on the car soon when I can and get the full.
If they are the same why does the black charger on the 2011 car not work on the 2010 car at all?
If I change the pack as is over might i transfer the Lock out status that the 2010 car seems to have - think it has lost it key chip to immobilise it but no idea bought like this but the car was working late march. has a yellow warning light on it which seems to be a key but not the same as the car with exclamation mark on it that the running car has.
many thanks for the advice starting to feel like i need to get my new tools out make a change to working in the Enfield 8000

Might want to invest in an OBD dongle to read out DTCs/ battery data…

Check out https://obdzero.dk/ for manual and compatible dongles.

 

[alviseven]

Might want to invest in an OBD dongle to read out DTCs/ battery data…

Check out https://obdzero.dk/ for manual and compatible dongles.

Got one and car allows me to do a bit but can only read cells not do the test since the car is immobile and nothing seems to work without the key on
will look for vin too

 

[MickeyS70]

Got one and car allows me to do a bit but can only read cells not do the test since the car is immobile and nothing seems to work without the key on
will look for vin too

So what do the cells look like on the 2010 car, does it give you a SoH?

 

[alviseven]

2010 vin full from plate is ZAA HA3W00001622

 

[alviseven]

So what do the cells look like on the 2010 car, does it give you a SoH?

got to try again since I find it very hard to record the data from my phone but all the 88 cells are pretty flat as the car is too but they are all similar and temp about right not all over the place like the running car. I will try to get screen shots this weekend. Been some time since I have used the OBD - lost it TBH!
Thanks for the help

 

[MickeyS70]

2010 vin full from plate is ZAA HA3W00001622

VIN must be 17 digits therefore its still short, but you should be able to get the correct one via an app, but regardless, the way forward is to remove both packs and check the data connectors on the side, if they match, try a complete pack swap first.

Otherwise open the packs (beware: High Voltage), if the CMU boards (on top of the 4/8 cell modules) are the same color, transfer the entire modules (from 2010 car into 2011 battery pack), make sure you put them back into the correct the location.

It appears that the 2010 pack is well balanced, but it may be a good idea to measure each cell voltage individually, ideally they should all be within 10mV. If not "bench balancing" may save a lot of time in the long run.

If they are different color, swap the CMU boards (put 2011 CMUs on top of 2010 cells) and transfer the modules back into the 2011 battery. Again check balancing while working..

 

[frank1]

my vin is also stamped on the rh rear inner wheelarch, and is very different to the ones above ^ (peugeot)

 

[alviseven]

OBD zero managing to get this to connect to my phone now via the dongle but other than writing the screen data down how do I record it or access it from the phone. I have a folder for OBD on my phone but it only has a record of something in 2021 and a file of settings - cannot get it to record anything - do I just take a photo of the screen?

The SoH that is mentioned does seem to start measuring but never then gives any progress and says it need 693 minutes to complete which seems a huge amount of time to leave the car and the phone especially when I think my pack is near flat anyway! I can get a list of the 88 cells but not record this either. No VIN number is recorded on the system either did find that but it was just recorded as VIN.

 

[MickeyS70]

Yes, posting a screenshot of the cells screen will be a good start, ideally do it twice, once when fully charged and when near empty.

OBD Zero displays the current SoH in the OBD tab, but it can also calculate the actual SoH of the battery pack but not change the value in the BMU, see manual for details

Are you saying that value for VIN in the OBD tab (last value) is blank?