Electric Motor Unit Warning Light When Using Remote?

[MLucas]

Tried this test last night:

Schneider/Square D EVLink EVSE - no issues or yellow lights on instrumenation. Works as advertised.

 

[Don]

I just got a notice from Mitsubishi that my car needs to have the Cell Monitoring Unit software updated, so maybe this has something to do with the problem?? Probably not - It sounds like something different

"The current internal software programming for the CMU may falsely detect a failure of the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery, which may result in illumination of the warning light and reduce battery output"

Everyone who has a car manufactured before July 12th 2012 should be getting this notice shortly. It will be interesting to see if there is anyone at my local dealership qualified to do the upgrade . . . . I kinda doubt it, truthfully - They may have to send someone in

Don

 

[Vike]

I did a quick test this morning after the installation of my Eaton Level 2 EVSE (the first unit approved by Mitsubishi, sold through Best Buy Geek Squad). I'm seeing the yellow EMU warning light briefly illuminated when the remote is activated and turns off the charging, but it goes out once all that clicking and whirring is done.

To be honest, if I hadn't read this thread, I'd have assumed that was just a transient warning light test, a bit like what one sees when starting the car (any car, really, not just the i-MiEV). Do we know that it's really a problem even if it doesn't stay illuminated?

 

[nt2w]

I did a quick test this morning after the installation of my Eaton Level 2 EVSE (the first unit approved by Mitsubishi, sold through Best Buy Geek Squad). I'm seeing the yellow EMU warning light briefly illuminated when the remote is activated and turns off the charging, but it goes out once all that clicking and whirring is done.

To be honest, if I hadn't read this thread, I'd have assumed that was just a transient warning light test, a bit like what one sees when starting the car (any car, really, not just the i-MiEV). Do we know that it's really a problem even if it doesn't stay illuminated?

Thanks very much--- you're the first person after me to do "the test" using one of Mitsubishi's preferred partners' L2 EVSE. I spoke with my dealer yesterday afternoon and asked them to try it using their Eaton EVSE- haven't heard the result yet, but that should make things... interesting if their "approved" equipment does the same thing.

Frankly, don't know if it's a real problem or not. All I know is that since a warning light is coming on, something unexpected is happening, and the car is under warranty, so I'm going to ask them to make that determination. My money says there's something with the pilot signal that the car's equipment doesn't like, or the car's charger is doing something like opening (or grounding) the pilot line when it receives a signal from the remote, causing the EVSE to sense something is wrong, starting this shutdown dance.

Keep those tests coming in--- still looking for a second AeroVironment EVSE tester, preferably one that had AV's contractor do the installation.

Results so far in next post... thanks again, Vike, and all who've been doing the test.

Rich

 

[nt2w]

RESULTS SO FAR FOR THE L2 EVSE/EMU WARNING LIGHT TEST:

L2 EVSE tested causing EMU warning light to come on when remote turned on:

• AeroVironment EVSE-RS *
  Eaton L2 EVSE *
  GE WattStation
  SPX
  OpenEVSE
  EVSEUPGRADE
  Schneider >?<
  Clipper Creek

*= Mitsubishi preferred EVSE partner

L2 EVSE tested NOT causing EMU warning light to come on when remote turned on (works as advertised):

• Schneider >?<

We had a response in each column for the Schneiders, so I'm confused... any other Schneiders out there?

I'll add to the list as others come in-

Rich

 

[FiddlerJohn]

Two L2 EVSE stations I tested that DO NOT cause the EMU warning light:

1. SemaConnect http://semaconnect.blogspot.com/
2. Modified Mitsu OEM L1

 

[tonymil]

Finally got around to testing the remote with my Level II Eaton Charger and the warning light came on. This is very surprising, I bought this charger from the Mitsubishi dealer. It's the charger dealers are required to install by Mitsubishi.

 

[derminghsieh]

I just got a notice from Mitsubishi that my car needs to have the Cell Monitoring Unit software updated, so maybe this has something to do with the problem?? Probably not - It sounds like something different

"The current internal software programming for the CMU may falsely detect a failure of the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery, which may result in illumination of the warning light and reduce battery output"

Everyone who has a car manufactured before July 12th 2012 should be getting this notice shortly. It will be interesting to see if there is anyone at my local dealership qualified to do the upgrade . . . . I kinda doubt it, truthfully - They may have to send someone in

Don

I also received the so called "Customer Satisfaction Campaign" from Mitsubishi on Sep. 13. Quite a few people responded to this as saying nothing has gone wrong with their iMievs, so they do not know if this upgrade is necessary. Well, I have a different take and I think this so-called campaign instead of recall is a preventive measure taken by Mitsubishi to keep them from a potential disaster.

After remote fiasco with my EVSEUPGRADE charging cable at 240 V, I received a stern warning not to use the cable again or potential damage will result from Mitsubishi (it means in spite of all the EMU warning lights, nothing has been damaged yet.) Within a week, something terrible happened to my i again.
To make long story short, after extensive use of "B" mode, I got into trouble just once with driving i. One afternoon, I wanted to pull my car several feet after parking for a few minutes, I experienced a drag when I stepped on my "gas" pedal. Then two yellow warning lights came on with green ready light still illuminated. I could not believe what I saw. I was in such a shock state that I did not know what to do for a while. Then I told myself to calm down and took out the owner’s manual to check on the two warning lights: one was EMU and the other was RBS. According to the manual, “EMU light will illuminate when there is a problem with high voltage component; RBS light comes on when the regenerative brake performance may be weakened. In this case, drive the vehicle at a lower speed.” After reading the manual, I still did not know what to do. The final resort might be to reset the key. Thank almighty, after resetting, everything became normal and no more warning lights since.

Two days later, I drove i back to the dealer. The technician, remotely controlled by Mitsubishi engineers, did all the checking and could not find anything wrong except the error codes by the remote fiasco before. Then the fun part began. I was drilled by the Mitsubishi engineers on the issue of “if I was still using EVSEUPGRADE cable”. I told them “no”, but I also told them I was using CheckPoint public charging station on daily basis at level 2. I would like to see how they responded. They could surely bully the small company like EVSEUPGRADE, but this time I got the big company and I would like to see if they would dare picking on them. Well they did not dare like I’ve expected. I have extended experience with regen brake with riding electric bikes for several years and I am still riding them. I had broken a battery pack, battery management system (BMS) and controller due to high pulse current and voltage of regen brake. I really could not see how an on-board charger problem could be related to what just happened to my i. So when they were asking my charging cable, I know they were trying to deny my warranty (this is just my own opinion, it might not be true). Because the incident is not reproducible, they ask me to videotape it should it happen again. I agree with their request and I have my camera ready every day to capture this rare event. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it has not happened since.

Well, the above story is a true story of mine. You will be the judge. I just hope that if you have similar situation like mine, please do not hesitate to post it. Thanks.

 

[Vike]

OK - so after all these reports of various "it lit up" "it didn't light up" - do we know if the EMU light briefly illuminating while the i cycles through its response to the remote is a problem or not? Unless I've missed something (entirely possible), I don't think there's anything in the manual on this point either way. If anyone has contacted Mitsubishi and gotten a meaningful answer, or even found a relevant note in the documents or at a Mitsubishi site, please let us know - I'm just trying to avoid reinventing the wheel. Otherwise, I'll try contacting Mitsubishi and see if I can get anywhere.

Thanks!

 

[nt2w]

As posted earlier, I reached out to my dealer with the details of my particular situation as well as the results folks had shared here.

Here is the response:

Rich,

I have talked to the I-MIEV certified technican we have on staff and have been told that what you are experiencing is normal. He did tell me that he is going for a week of more training at the end of this month and would like for you to send me a message with step by step details of what you do and what happens so that he can present it to the technician that will be at the training who knows pretty much everything there is to know about this car. So if you can send me a message with each step and what you see or hear happening at each step for when you turn the remote on like we discussed and also for when you do your time delay as well. He leaves monday morning for a weeks worth of training. When he gets back I will email you the results.

Here's what I responded with:

Thanks for the email.

Here's what happens with the remote.

I plug in the car, and it begins the charging cycle normally.

I then push the on/transmit button on the remote. The remote transmits, and shows the charge level of the battery and the charging icon. Approximately 3.5 seconds later, there is a series of clicks. After the first, the EMU warning light comes on, and remains on (solid) for another approximately 9 seconds. The dashboard red charging indicator also flashes during part of this time. Then, the L2 EVSE dock shuts off and goes to ready mode. There is no fault indication on the EVSE at any time. The remote still indicates that the car is charging after the EVSE shuts down.

Pushing the on/transmit button again, the remote transmits, shows the charge level and no longer shows the charging icon. The car charger kicks back on and begins charging the car normally.

For timer operation at this point, I cycle to the delayed charging mode, set the delay and hit the on/transmit button. The charging stops, and "error" flashes on the remote. If I hit transmit again, the car starts charging again, then cycles through to delayed charge mode.

Likewise to pre-heat or cool the car, the first transmit results in the error and charging shutdown, the second transmit re-starts the charging but without the pre-cooling, then the third finally starts the A/C cycle.

I have exchanged information with other owners on the internet and it appears this troublesome behavior occurs with all but a couple types of 240V L2 EVSE including Eaton (your EVSE at <your dealership>---- try it!) and AeroVironment, both of which are Mitsubishi preferred partners.

Let me know if you need anything else from me. Thanks again.

So, we'll see what I hear back when the tech comes back from training.

On a related topic, has anyone who has had the software update tried the "remote test" with their L2 EVSE to see if this stopped the EMU light coming on?

 

[derminghsieh]

Thank you for the detailed post, Rich. Thanks also to every one's help, Rich has kick-started the process to force Mitsubishi engineers to face the remote problem and hopefully solve it.

I have done the upgrade of the software, but I do not have the courage to perform the test on the remote. I am afraid I will give Mitsubishi an excuse to deny my warranty should it not work. The new error code will tell them I am using the forbidden EVSEUPGRADE cable again if it fails. Thanks again for your effort. The remote control lovers are all going to benefit. Thanks.

 

[JoeS]

When using the Remote, one must always program the TURN ON time delay (I set it to 0hrs when I want it to start immediately), and then follow up by programming the ON-to-OFF time period. I had experienced the beeping "Error" indication on the Remote (using my L2 SPX) both when programming the TURN ON and ON-to-OFF times. In all cases, after a few tries it would accept the programming.

I'm away and won't have the ability to test my Remote for a few weeks, but here is one additional variable to consider:

It may be my imagination, but I seem to recall that the "Error" occurrence was dependent on what the previously-programmed time of day and perhaps time delay had been - if I was programming close to the previous time setting(s), it would accept it right away, but if I was programming in a different time of the day (or duration?), it would require a few attempts.

 

[derminghsieh]

OK - so after all these reports of various "it lit up" "it didn't light up" - do we know if the EMU light briefly illuminating while the i cycles through its response to the remote is a problem or not? Unless I've missed something (entirely possible), I don't think there's anything in the manual on this point either way. If anyone has contacted Mitsubishi and gotten a meaningful answer, or even found a relevant note in the documents or at a Mitsubishi site, please let us know - I'm just trying to avoid reinventing the wheel. Otherwise, I'll try contacting Mitsubishi and see if I can get anywhere.

Thanks!

While the EMU light’s brief illuminating during the remote use might not (??) cause any physical damage to the car, it surely renders the remote not as functional at level 2 as at level 1.

Rich's account of what happens when remote is used at level 2 is the same as I have encountered. While Mitsubishi can dismiss my case as incompatibility, Mitsubishi could not do the same with Rich. Rich is using an EVSE with Mitsubishi’s seal of approval.

If you do not use remote at all, don’t even bother with this issue. However, if you would like to use the remote, then it is a serious matter to get the remote function as well at level 2 as at level 1. Whether Mitsubishi would consider it normal or not, it is totally irrelevant.

 

[garygid]

Is one supposed to use the remote to program charging
related (charge timing) parameters WHILE charging?

I would suspect that one should set these parameters
BEFORE plugging in to charge.

 

[JoeS]

garygid, thank you very much for taking an interest in our iMiEV, and we appreciate your help in delving into the iMiEV CAN-bus.

The Mitsubishi iMiEV Remote is only usable when the J1772 connector is plugged into the car and providing power to the car. The Remote provides charging turn-on delay, charging ON time, and ability to turn on the heater or aircon for a short while in order to pre-heat/cool the vehicle.

The device works well with the Mitsubishi Level 1 EVSE, but, as you've seen on this thread, there are some charge timer compatibility issues when using other EVSEs.

Yes, it's kinda silly to have the car start charging and then have it suspend charging while one programs it.

 

[iDriver]

Wow am I happy to see this thread. I thought I was losing my mind or just failing to understand the instructions for the Remote.

I have the EXACT same issue. I own a Wattstation. Just like you, whatever state my EVSA is in while hooked to the vehicle, changes anytime i activate the remote. Here is both scenarios:

Scenario A: EV hooked up and charging, press remote = Warning Light and Wattstation shuts off and stays off.
Scenario B: EV hooked up and NOT charging, press remote = Wattstation turns on, vehicle begins charging, no warning light.

You should also know, I just had the CMU recall update applied to my car on Thursday Oct 4th. This had no effect on my current Wattstation issue.

My wife won't even use the remote thanks to the convoluted "dance" we have to do.
I do NOT have this issue with any of the public ChargePoint Level 2 stations.

Anyway, if someone can figure out just what the hell is going on I would be very grateful. The little yellow car light with the "!" on it is freaking me out.

 

[garygid]

Sorry I was off-base, but happy to try to help.
I will watch the progress here.

 

[DonDakin]

Hello,

This is an interesting thread. Here is a little more information from my experiences.

I am using the supplied L1 cable with no mod's to it.

I have had 2 occasions where I tried to turn on the remote heat and the remote unit started flashing error. The car was charging normally with no timer function at the time. Charging continues the heat just does not turn on remotely.

Both times I just gave up and got in the car and left. I have used the remote to preheat the car many times without any problems just twice for some reason it would not comply.

As a side note I am also seeing a funny thing with the key remote when locking the car. Most of the time the lights flash and the car locks but sometimes the horn also beeps.

The horn thing is amusing but the heat thing is a pain.

I am getting the feeling that there are a few glitches with the remote that need to be firmed up.

Don......

 

[iDriver]

Removed by user.

 

[MLucas]

Sorry I was off-base, but happy to try to help.
I will watch the progress here.

Never off base, always good to get another outside opinion on this. Maybe you are seeing something we are not. Instead of getting a smartphone app like other EVs have, we are given this little radio device that even comes with a cute little antenna. Some of the i MiEV owners are having trouble using it with their Level 2 charges, but not all like myself. It seems dependent on the EVSE purchased. I have a Square D Level 2 EVSE and have no problems with the warning light coming on and I use the remote all the time for preclimatizing my car. I don't use it for delay though, the square D is very easy to control for delay using the interface.

For me, I'm happy not to have a smartphone app since I don't have a smartphone and don't need one either. But, others mention they would like to have the option.