iMiev won't start!

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bmscott
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iMiev won't start!

Post by bmscott »

My 2010 iMiev wouldn't start this morning. The symptoms seemed odd - the 'fuel'/charge meter acting differently, and a previously-unheard beep tone.

I immediately suspected the standby battery; after all, it's nearly 10 years old at this point! And a multimeter showed it reading a pathetic 7.5 volts... that's more than would be explained by the slightly-chilly morning! I put a charger on it for an hour or two, got it up to 9+ volts, but that didn't help.

Checking the manual for the error message (and finding nothing relevant or helpful) I did learn that the standby battery is charged when charging the car, not just while driving. So I plugged the car in for 10 minutes and poom - started 'er right up. And of course now the day is warmer, and it still starts even after leaving it for a couple hours. But I expect a similar issue in the morning, and will try to find a used battery as it seems a waste to put in a brand-new one on a car whose traction battery has maybe 3-4 years left...

Here's a short video of what the dash looks like when your standby battery is low: https://photos.app.goo.gl/IYaF3eyS2hDjSWj63

Hope this helps someone...
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by antiscab »

My dads 2012 did the same thing when his 12v battery died.

I'd recommend going to your local mechanic or battery recycler or even computer shop to see if they have any free 12v batteries.

Even a little ex UPS 20ah unit would do
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by bmscott »

antiscab wrote: Tue, 20 Feb 2018, 13:38 Even a little ex UPS 20ah unit would do
That's actually a great idea - and not - because I have the perfect battery already, a half-dead 12v/10aH battery that charges up to about 12.7 and gives me ~10 mins on the electric mower before fading to the point where it drags down the other (good) one.

I thought of using it as sort of a jumpstart battery, did not think about installing it fulltime until your post. But it wouldn't work as a longterm solution because I'm getting ready to sell the car, so it needs to have something that looks like it belongs there!

That said, my mechanic is also a battery specialist (it's half of the building they're in) so I'm guessing he can find me something suitable.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by mikedufty »

It may not have to do much work, but it is a major hassle when it doesn't do the one small job it needs to. I'd put a new one in. 4 years is about the expected life for a lead acid car battery anyway. All the 2010s in WA seemed to have completely flat batteries due to sitting around between the initial lease expiry and being sold, so I think a lot had the battery changed at that point. I haven't been able to confirm whether mine got a new battery or not, but it doesn't look OEM and the cover is missing. Had it go flat once when I was away for a few weeks and planned to replace it, but it has actually been good for a couple of years since then even with overseas trips.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by bmscott »

Well now I'm wondering if it was a false alarm - I drove it a lot yesterday and near-fully charged it last evening before unplugging for the night. This morning (mildly chilly, as was the initial morning) I thought I'd check the voltage before trying to power up - and I got 12.8 volts. That's not quite what a new battery would give, but is far more than the 7.whatever I got the other day...

I'm wondering if somehow there was a drain on the standby battery the other night? I can't guess what it would've been, nothing's plugged into the car and it was as turned-off as always.

You're probably right that the battery should be changed, but I've got other things I want to sort out on the car before I post it for sale so that's just going onto a list of small things.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by rhills »

I'm no expert, but my experience with Pb batteries is that when they reach the end of their tether they can have random "collapse" episodes and then behave perfectly normally in between. As Murphy is usually involved, collapses usually happen at the least convenient moment :evil:
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by coulomb »

rhills wrote: Thu, 22 Feb 2018, 21:43 ... when they reach the end of their tether ...
Interesting. Of course, "the end of their tether" for an EV is quite possibly years beyond "the end" for an ICE car, which are discarded when they can't supply the ~200 A to run the starter motor for a few seconds. So the "EV end of life" may behave rather differently to the "ICE end of life".

Then there are the hybrids; I believe you drive on yourself, Rob. When you start the ICE, is that with the 12 V battery or the hybrid battery? I'm guessing the latter, but it possibly depends on how they design it. Especially with something like the Outlander which comes in ICE only and hybrid models.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by antiscab »

The sudden death episodes tend to be more a flooded lead acid battery issue. Basically sediment in the bottom of one or more of the cells results in a condition path between sets of plates. Sediment moves around though.

Not really applicable to the various sealed lead acid types
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by g4qber »

I only changed my 12vdc batt last dec 2017. Because my canion was not working. Have had it since new 2011. Prolly didn’t need changing.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by rhills »

Hi Coulomb,
coulomb wrote: Fri, 23 Feb 2018, 07:24Then there are the hybrids; I believe you drive on yourself, Rob. When you start the ICE, is that with the 12 V battery or the hybrid battery? I'm guessing the latter, but it possibly depends on how they design it. Especially with something like the Outlander which comes in ICE only and hybrid models.
You know, I'm actually not sure! I do drive the Outlander PHEV and I've always believed that the petrol-driven battery charger simply operated "in reverse" to start the motor (ie driven by the propulsion batteries), but I don't know that for sure. If that is the case, I think you'd be correct in surmising that the 12V battery would not be unduly pressed and should therefore last quite well.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by Johny »

The traction generator definitely starts the ICE in the Outlander PHEV. I don't think there is a conventional starter motor at all.
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Re: iMiev won't start!

Post by nuggetgalore »

g4qber wrote: Fri, 23 Feb 2018, 12:23 I only changed my 12vdc batt last dec 2017. Because my canion was not working. Have had it since new 2011. Prolly didn’t need changing.
Just wonder if your airbag warning light was on after disconnecting the auxiliary battery.
This happened to my 2010 iMiEV twice, both times for unknown reason the bat went flat . Mitsubishi reset it the first time when i had it in for a recall, the second time not long after, they kindly checked this problem on the computer,found no fault but reset the warning light (for free!)
Never happened since.

Because my canion was not working....
Funny thing with my canion, cell volt and group temp page is not connecting any more on my vehicle, but checked somebody elses iMiEV at the electric vehicle expo and it connected all pages ok. Queer.
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