[jcamayd]

I tried all the tricks before towing it to the dealer. Service department doesnt have any ceritifed 500e techs but took a look at it and said that something is wrong with the EV Battery and it cant be serviced. They looked up the warranty and it ended 2-3 weeks ago. I called Fiat customer service and the guy on the phone basically said "to bad."

Any other car company would have still honored the warranty and made things right. I wish the 500e was not the unwanted headed step child. I loved this car and it looks like this is the end and I cant afford to buy another car now.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

You tried all the tricks HERE, in SEQUENCE?...:HOW TO FIX A "DEAD" 500E that won't start...

 

[Iceman]

Take a deep breath. Just because those morons can’t fix it doesn’t mean it’s not fixable.
id ask them exactly why they think that, technically speaking.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Ya, & then don't believe it, since even the 500e techs aren't trained in all the tricks at HOW TO FIX A "DEAD" 500E that won't start...

 

[jcamayd]

I have done all the tricks in the book. multiples times. I have the upgraded to the full version of alfaobd. Im so upset about this just because I missed the warranty by about 14 days.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

There is no actual book, so "every trick in the book" is a figure of speech. & if there really was a book, edited before last Xmas, it would not have every trick.

So please confirm that you tried every trick HERE, in SEQUENCE: HOW TO FIX A "DEAD" 500E that won't start...

It might help you to tell us what was happening before it failed, & exactly what happened when it did fail.

 

[jcamayd]

by "every trick in the book" i meant to say yes i did go through the whole sequence.

this is what happended in order and the theory on whats the actual problem:
1. first i had intermittent charging errors which happened mostly if i was at a public station
2. a few weeks later i had intermittent charging issues at home
3. a few weeks later it completely stopped charging. "charging system" error
4. car would still work normally otherwise
5. while trying to work on the car for a few weeks, i started getting the 0% or 47% batter. no clunk when i would open the door and a ton of battery errors.

theory:
my initial problem is mostly like lt an issue with the charging module. but at this point the battery has become completely discharged and won't wake up.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

1, 2 & 3 (charge failure ONLY): so you left the humidity sensor unplugged, deactivated the onboard charge timers, plugged into a freshly-rebooted OEM cord, & when all that didn't work you did a 30-hour 12V disconnect, right?

4: Car working normally other than charging means there's no problem at all with anything other than the charging system. That includes no problem with the HV battery or PIM, no matter what the dealer claims.

5. No clunk indicates a dead 12V starter battery or a contactor glitch, so you checked & there was over 11.5V at the terminals, & then you successfully completed the contactor reactivation sequence on AlfaOBD, right?

Depending on the age of the 12v battery, it may be more likely to die than the HV which only loses about 3%/week IF the U69 "recall" was done, so what was the HV % right before you started working on it, & when was that?

 

[jcamayd]

yes to all of the above.
this happened around November. Charge was at about 35%. U69 was done on the car a few years back.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I'm very sorry, but November ended more than 15 weeks ago. At 3% HV loss per week that's over 45% loss. Starting at 35%, that likely ruined the HV pack by draining it too low (10% below zero).

Other than a software glitch, if it has like 90k miles the most likely cause of the charging failure was the OnBoardCharger, which is reportedly about $2k, so it's sad to think that maybe replacing it could have saved the $6k HV pack.

 

[swiss]

What year and mileage does your 500e have?

 

[jcamayd]

What year and mileage does your 500e have?

2013 with 83000 miles

 

[jcamayd]

I'm very sorry, but November ended more than 15 weeks ago. At 3% HV loss per week that's over 45% loss. Starting at 35%, that likely ruined the HV pack by draining it too low (10% below zero).

Other than a software glitch, if it has like 90k miles the most likely cause of the charging failure was the OnBoardCharger, which is reportedly about $2k, so it's sad to think that maybe replacing it could have saved the $6k HV pack.

yes.its sad but im sure the battery is not really dead. im looking for instructions on how to remove it and charge the cells individually. if anyone has them, i'd appreciate it if you could forward them to me.

 

[Iceman]

I'm very sorry, but November ended more than 15 weeks ago. At 3% HV loss per week that's over 45% loss. Starting at 35%, that likely ruined the HV pack by draining it too low (10% below zero).

Other than a software glitch, if it has like 90k miles the most likely cause of the charging failure was the OnBoardCharger, which is reportedly about $2k, so it's sad to think that maybe replacing it could have saved the $6k HV pack.

Where are you getting 3% per week loss? That’s far more than I’ve ever experienced with lithium batteries.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I had read that too, & would have believed it if I hadn't checked & found OBD millivolts per cell dropping 1.5% in 3.5 days.

I only tested it once though, so please do your own test & report back.


"Show Your Work":

• My own same-age 2013 dropped from 3924mV to 3909mV in 84 hours (3.50 days).
• 100% is 4100mV & 0% is 3100mV, so zero-to-full is 1000mV.
• 1000mV divided by 100 is 10mV per %.
• 3924mV minus 3909mV is 15mV, divided by 10mV per % is 1.5%
• 1.5% in 3.5 days times 2 is 3%/week.

"Dummy Check": I know that loss is likely not linear, so let's give it the benefit of the doubt & say only 2%/week. That would still drop 32% to 40% in the 16 to 20 weeks since the end or beginning of November, respectively. Granted, "0%" on OBD or an accurately calibrated gauge won't kill the battery immediately, but it should if you wait a few more days.

 

[Phewwee]

I have done all the tricks in the book. multiples times. I have the upgraded to the full version of alfaobd. Im so upset about this just because I missed the warranty by about 14 days.

Disconnect the humidity sensor at the top of the windshield.

 

[vladifresh]

I’m getting the exact same issue at the OP. I bought my 2013 500e at auction (with 49k miles) and thought it would be a simple fix of just changing out the 12v battery (I also have a 2014 500e that has been trouble free from the day I bought it used). The auction car had the 0% and 47% with drivers door open. There is no clunk, so contactor doesn’t engage. I got the AlfaOBD $50 app and that Bluetooth tool to connect to the system, clear out fault codes, and I attempted to reset/enable the contactor, but no success. I also tried the various reset sequences, which didn’t help either. Humidity sensor unplugged didn’t do anything. I’m about to do an ancient rain dance around the car to get it to charge😥.

I also took off the HV diagnostic cover under the hood, and took a measurement to see the voltage on the propulsion batteries. With the key engaged or off (with driver door open) the reading is 5.6v. Keep in mind there is no clunk, so not sure if the contactor is partially engaged, or I’m reading something else. Also the car was last registered in 2018, so I’m not sure when it was last charged. I thought that voltage reading should be around 400v with contactor engaged.

I have the same question as the OP; are there instructions for dropping the batteries and charging the cells individually? Can I try to charge through the diagnostic point, where I was reading 5.6v? Any help would be appreciated? Someone already mentioned sending the alfaOBD readings to some shop in Poland, but I’m a little optimistic about that.

thanks,
Vlad

 

[ga2500ev]

You're out of luck if you cannot get the contactors to engage. They are designed to completely isolate the HV pack from the rest of the vehicle. Without them, it's not possible to charge from any outside interface, including the test port under the hood.

ga2500ev

 

[vladifresh]

Thanks ga2500ev, I had a feeling that is probably the case. The weird thing is; if the contactor is not engaging, then why am I reading a 5.6v signal at the test port?

 

[Kiesling]

I’m getting the exact same issue at the OP. I bought my 2013 500e at auction (with 49k miles) and thought it would be a simple fix of just changing out the 12v battery (I also have a 2014 500e that has been trouble free from the day I bought it used). The auction car had the 0% and 47% with drivers door open. There is no clunk, so contactor doesn’t engage. I got the AlfaOBD $50 app and that Bluetooth tool to connect to the system, clear out fault codes, and I attempted to reset/enable the contactor, but no success. I also tried the various reset sequences, which didn’t help either. Humidity sensor unplugged didn’t do anything. I’m about to do an ancient rain dance around the car to get it to charge😥.

I also took off the HV diagnostic cover under the hood, and took a measurement to see the voltage on the propulsion batteries. With the key engaged or off (with driver door open) the reading is 5.6v. Keep in mind there is no clunk, so not sure if the contactor is partially engaged, or I’m reading something else. Also the car was last registered in 2018, so I’m not sure when it was last charged. I thought that voltage reading should be around 400v with contactor engaged.

I have the same question as the OP; are there instructions for dropping the batteries and charging the cells individually? Can I try to charge through the diagnostic point, where I was reading 5.6v? Any help would be appreciated? Someone already mentioned sending the alfaOBD readings to some shop in Poland, but I’m a little optimistic about that.

thanks,
Vlad

If you look around you can find people that have dropped the pack. Do a search on Evolving World 500e. He has videos where he takes apart the car.
On one of the 500e facebook groups a guy recently dropped the pack and charged the modules to get the charge up enough for the BMS to recognize the pack and get rid of the 47% error.

If the car was last charged in 2018 or 2019, it may not be recoverable. 3 or 4 years is a long time to sit with a discharged pack. . .