I've been following posts on the high voltage battery issues. I purchased a 2016 500e from a used car dealer about a month ago. It came without keys. I paid a diagnostic shop to install a new body control module (from the local Fiat dealer) and program two keys. The 12 volt battery was dry of electrolyte, which seemed to indicate a possible drained HV battery. I replaced the 12 volt battery with a new one. When I test the connections in the motor compartment for voltage (under a metal plate secured by three torx screws), I get 5 volts. I've purchased a Chromebook and Konwei plug and downloaded Alfaobd.com. I'm wa
iting for a yellow adapter.
Meanwhile, there's no contactor noise upon turning the key. The dash says "not ready."
Plugging in an OEM 110v charging cord get occasional "goalposts" but no steady charge indication.
I'm hoping to make this nice looking 2016 500e with 56k miles a runner, but so far I'm not hopeful.
I've followed the troubleshooting hints and searched youtube and googled for ideas.
Pleasant suggestions?
1. If the humidity sensor isn't just right of the rearview mirror, because the glass was replaced, you usually have to dig it out of the headliner. Pull perpendicular from the glass with each middle finger in the openings. Hold a round toothpick parallel to the glass & press straight into the crack to wedge the black socket away from the purple plug so you can yank it out. Leave it unplugged but you can tuck it in & hook the cover back on the left & snap up on the right:
2. Preferably disconnect the 12V first & insert a piece of plastic or cardboard to prevent sparking it awake. It's fine to just do the negative, & leave the positive connected. Preferably reconnect 12V after reconnecting HV.
3. The HV fuse should test out like this:
4. Here's the HV disconnect/reconnect sequence:
Click to enlarge, or scroll down for full-size pic since it's equally easy to get wrong or right.
6. As @fiatatat mentioned, note the faults before clearing, preferably selecting each one, to show their descriptions. Ideally get an OBDLink SX cable (or LX Bluetooth) so you can use the yellow adapter that's required to check modules such as the Body Computer.
The contactors are supposed to clunk shut when the car is off & you open the door from the outside. About 10 or 20 seconds later they clunk open again. If you turn the key before that, there will be no additional clunk.
They should also clunk closed when you plug in, & clunk open about 15 seconds after unplugging, unless it's fully charged in which case they clunk themselves open.
If you do get it running, then in order to start the car if it ever gets the unpreventable contactor glitch in a month or a year or a decade, you need the paid app on a charged-up device in the car. Keep that in mind for your OBD setup, even if that means leaving the Chromebook charging from the glovebox USB.
With the key turned one click, a Konnwei will normally connect AlfaOBD to the BPCM like this (click to enlarge):
Then read the status:
& scroll down to show the two critical numbers in the blue box I added:
5 volts in HVPDC is usually not great. Try the easy troubleshooting first, but then be ready to drop the pack and charge the cells one by one.
Also, it is a great idea to note down the errors before clearing them - this might help to get a better picture of what was happening before the HV battery went flat.
Most fault codes in a 500e are false alarms. For example, I had P1E25, which showed as "EV Battery Failure" when I selected it from the list, & I didn't even know it, since the car was working fine.
With the key turned one click, a Konnwei will normally connect AlfaOBD to the BPCM like this (full-size pics in post #6 above):
Then read the status:
& scroll down to show the two critical numbers in the blue box I added:
For example one owner had the 12V battery die of old age & replacement didn't fix it so it was towed to a dealership who wanted over $600 just to run a scan, saying it was likely the PIM.
The owner then had it towed out, unplugged the sensor, disconnected the 12V & HV for 2 days, and after clearing all the codes that would clear with the free AlfaOBD "demo" app it ran fine even though P1E25 & B23B0 "wouldn't" clear.
I put "wouldn't" in quotes because they would clear (later) when the key was turned from Off, only ONE click prior to OBD connection, & never turned 2 clicks.
...but I still recommend getting an OBDLink SX cable or LX Bluetooth in order to check & clear codes in the Body Computer & other modules that you can only access with a yellow adapter.
In the mean time, yes, step 5 above is to confirm that there's at least 12 volts in the system, because even a brand new battery can be drained pretty quickly, especially when there are error codes, & the contactors won't activate if it's just a bit too low. Sorry I don't know the exact number for your 2016 with its power-draining center screen, but someone reported that 11.9V was insufficient. It should show in OBD when you scroll down the BPCM data to see the top line here:
& please try to give us the HV pack's min voltage, so we can give a better guess about needing to drop the pack & charge cells individually. This shot is at 0.0000% (ran in neutral til it shut itself off):
Okay. It might require the contactors to close. Since that's not happening, I wonder if you'd be able to access the contactor enable function in the BPCM:
& if you can access it, but it doesn't work, try the contactor tests a little higher up the procedure list in the 2nd pic of the 2nd sequence.
Okay. It might require the contactors to close. Since that's not happening, I wonder if you'd be able to access the contactor enable function in the BPCM:
View attachment 115434View attachment 115433
& if you can access it, but it doesn't work, try the contactor tests a little higher up the procedure list in the 2nd pic of the 2nd sequence.