Recall: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE

[bennelson]

My car is in the shop right now for the airbag, brake vacuum pump, and underbody rust recalls.

I dropped it off there about a week and a half ago. At the end of last week, I got a call from the shop saying they still didn't have the parts in yet.

I agree with the earlier commenter about how much time it can take just to get the car to and from the dealer. I am in south-east Wisconsin, and my closest "iMiEV-Authorized" service dealer is in the north-west greater Chicago area. That's a greater distance than I can make on a single charge. There is a fast charger between here and there (sort of) which was NOT working. At least I found out about it BEFORE I left for the trip. I was able to make the trip by charging on a level 2 Volt charger at a GM dealership for about an hour before they opened in the morning. (I've had bad experiences in general at Chevy/GM dealers for charging...)

Gary Lang Mitsubishi in McHenry, Illinois was nice enough to give me a BRAND-NEW Subaru as a loaner car. (It had 180 total miles on the odometer!) It's a little too fancy for me. I'm afraid of getting it scratched or dirty.

I miss my electric car.

Hopefully, I'll get it back soon.

You can read the details on just getting the car to the dealer at my blog: http://300mpg.org/2015/12/09/imiev-recalls-chargers-and-an-electric-blanket/

 

[Carsten]

I have had the Impact sensor recall done and noticed something new afterwards:
I have a steep hill right after I leave my house and I roll this one down inn B-mode. I didn't have to brake much and if I did, the dash showed a lot of regen. Now the car speeds up quite a bit and if I brake, there is hardly any regen. When I go right back up the hill and redo the same thing, the car acts normal. I have normal regen the rest of my 35mi commute to work. It seems to be the same sort of thing on my way back, but I don't have a hill to go down right after the start of my commute home.
I'll do a couple of runs up and down that hill today and record it with caniON.
Does anybody have any experience with that sort of thing?
Regards,

 

[pbui19]

Now the car speeds up quite a bit and if I brake, there is hardly any regen. When I go right back up the hill and redo the same thing, the car acts normal.
I'll do a couple of runs up and down that hill today and record it with caniON.
Does anybody have any experience with that sort of thing?
Regards,

is your pack fully charged ? my commute also starts on a hill, regen really diminishes around 96% state of charge.

 

[Carsten]

The car always gets charged overnight. It never happened before. It's colder then usual. caniON shows 100% at the start. Just wondering, why it never happened before and I have driven 42,000mi in 2.5 years.

 

[JoeS]

Carsten, it would be nice if you could make some careful observations. I also start out my trips from home downhill, first down a very steep driveway. I agree with pdui19: as soon as it tries to take the battery over 360v, regen cuts back significantly. Normal.

It would alarm me to have this type of a software change done as part of the Air Bag Recall.

 

[PV1]

If it is colder than usual, it may have nothing to do with the airbag recall (I just had it done on Bear. My trip odometers weren't reset, so they didn't flash the ECU). What you may be experiencing is the regen temperature de-rate. As the pack cools further below 55 F, regen strength is reduced. Pack temperatures below freezing experience dramatic regen de-rate.

As for regen at high SoC, on my return trip from Seven Springs last fall, the first hill is about a mile more or less straight down. I started down at 15 MPH (no other cars), and used regen to hold speed. The BMS allowed the cells to climb to 4.2 volts per cell and throttled regen on that voltage. I was doing almost 40 MPH at the bottom. This was around 85% SoC.

But, yes, please record your experience with CaniOn, as that will reveal what is going on.

 

[Carsten]

JoeS and PV1,
Thanks for your info. I will record the next couple of trips with caniON. It's getting warmer here in MD, so it might not show anymore. Would be a good indication, that you guys are right.

 

[JoeS]

Does anyone know if Mitsu removes the front bumper in order to replace the airbag sensor?

 

[PV1]

Yes. The whole front bumper has to come off. I actually got my car back a day later than expected because they didn't anticipate removing the bumper.