Citroen CZero charging problem

[Tymko]

Hello. I recently bought a 2011 Citroen CZero. And on the very first day I started having problems with charging at 10A. When I insert the connector, the charging indicator blinks several times and goes out. If I turn the ignition key, the charging indicator blinks constantly and does not charge. After that, I disconnected the charger and after a lot of attempts, I switched the car to ready. After that, I re-inserted the charger and charging started. Then there were no problems for a couple of days. Today I noticed that I did not switch to ready mode the first time and then the car stopped charging again. Again, I tortured it for a long time and charging started. At the same time, the voltage of the small battery is 12.8. When charging 14.2. What could this be?

 

[MickeyS70]

Hello and welcome to the forum

What is unusual is that you seem to be able to charge when the CZero is READY or did I misunderstand?

If it's also struggling to go READY in the first place, then there is a good chance this isn't OBC related (12V aux seems fine, so at least the DC/DC section is working). What is displayed on the dash, if you just connect the charger to the car without plugging the other side into the mains socket?

A similar issue was recently solved by replacing a faulty CMU inside the HV battery, but without additional data this is just a guess, therefore best to invest in some diagnostic tool, see options below:

Phone based
https://myimiev.com/threads/smartphone-tablet-apps-for-i-miev-c-zero-and-ion.4936/


Laptop required:
https://myimiev.com/threads/overvie...ters-their-functionality-and-the-future.5719/

Mickey

 

[Tymko]

I cannot charge the car in ready mode, but if I turn on charging in ready mode, the charging indicator starts blinking. After turning off ready, charging starts working

 

[Tymko]

Hello and welcome to the forum

What is unusual is that you seem to be able to charge when the CZero is READY or did I misunderstand?

If it's also struggling to go READY in the first place, then there is a good chance this isn't OBC related (12V aux seems fine, so at least the DC/DC section is working). What is displayed on the dash, if you just connect the charger to the car without plugging the other side into the mains socket?

A similar issue was recently solved by replacing a faulty CMU inside the HV battery, but without additional data this is just a guess, therefore best to invest in some diagnostic tool, see options below:

Phone based
https://myimiev.com/threads/smartphone-tablet-apps-for-i-miev-c-zero-and-ion.4936/


Laptop required:
https://myimiev.com/threads/overvie...ters-their-functionality-and-the-future.5719/

Mickey

if just connect the charger to the car without plugging the other side into the socket, nothing happens

 

[MickeyS70]

if just connect the charger to the car without plugging the other side into the socket, nothing happens

Interesting, no charge indicator on the dash? Does the car go READY with only one side connected?

 

[Tymko]

I'll check the behavior again. I don’t know how important this is, but I live in Odessa, it’s winter now and the temperature is around 0 degrees Celsius. When I put the car in ready mode and switch the headlights, the dashboard lights dim by half. And the battery parameters 12v 30ah

 

[MickeyS70]

I'll check the behavior again. I don’t know how important this is, but I live in Odessa, it’s winter now and the temperature is around 0 degrees Celsius.

Shouldn’t matter, same temperature here presently

When I put the car in ready mode and switch the headlights, the dashboard lights dim by half.

Also normal, the dash dims when the lights come one.

And the battery parameters 12v 30ah

Once READY the 12V circuit is powered be the OBC (14.2V) not the aux battery. OEM was only 27Ah?

I cannot charge the car in ready mode, but if I turn on charging in ready mode, the charging indicator starts blinking. After turning off ready, charging starts working

Looks like whatever is stopping the car to go READY is also preventing the charging process and if you eventually achieve READY state, charging will also work? This doesn’t seem to be OBC related and could therefore well be either a HV battery (CMU) issue, a known MCU problem (P1A15) or something else entirely..

 

[Tymko]

This morning we have relatively warm sunny weather. Before starting I checked the 12V battery voltage, it showed 12.7 volts. Ready started without problems the first time. I was a little confused by the fact that after turning off the battery voltage became 12.2 volts. Last night, when after many attempts I was able to start charging and almost charged the main battery, it showed 95 kilometers and an almost full battery. In the morning it already showed 100 km and a full battery. I checked again, if you turn on the Ready mode and just insert the charger connector into the car(only one side), Ready turns off and it is impossible to start it and the charge indicator blinks. The same thing if in the ON mode, the charge indicator starts blinking and does not turn on. After disconnecting the charger, everything works fine. So far I have one pattern, when it is cold there are problems with charging and it is strange that the voltage dropped so quickly from 12.7 to 12.2 volts. I'll try to buy a diagnostic scanner in the near future, thanks for the links, but I still haven't figured out which one is preferable.

 

[MickeyS70]

This morning we have relatively warm sunny weather. Before starting I checked the 12V battery voltage, it showed 12.7 volts. Ready started without problems the first time. I was a little confused by the fact that after turning off the battery voltage became 12.2 volts.

If the car is not charging or READY all systems are powered by the 12V battery alone, if it’s voltage drops quickly best to replace it, more so if the cold weather seems to make it worse.

I checked again, if you turn on the Ready mode and just insert the charger connector into the car(only one side), Ready turns off and it is impossible to start it and the charge indicator blinks. The same thing if in the ON mode, the charge indicator starts blinking and does not turn on. After disconnecting the charger, everything works fine.

Good, this is how it should be

I'll try to buy a diagnostic scanner in the near future, thanks for the links, but I still haven't figured out which one is preferable.

HobDrive (paid version) for Android works with almost any cheap OBD Bluetooth dongle, while the MUT3 (Windows based), openport 2 clone route is also promising.

 

[Tymko]

Is obdlink lx enough to identify charging problems and monitor the condition of the battery and vehicle systems?

 

[MickeyS70]

Is obdlink lx enough to identify charging problems and monitor the condition of the battery and vehicle systems?

Yes, the OBDLink LX works reliably with all known triplet (Android) apps, follow link in post #2 above (phone based) and scroll down to #9 for instruction videos.