[Candoman]

2016 ED 451 with 13,000 miles, that when backing out of the garage, just quit. Dash light came on and said "Drive System, Engine Off". Just drove it one day prior with 60% remaining. Won't accept a charge, says "Malfunction", when trying. I know sitting for long, it will be totally dead. Any clues as to what I might do to get the car back up and running? The 12 volt battery is showing 12.4 volts.

 

[jwight]

Still under warranty?

 

[Candoman]

Just checked, and under warranty until August. But I'll have to have it towed about 50 miles. I was hoping that there might be a simple solution. Dumb huh?

 

[sokoloff]

Did you get the 12.4v for the battery via a multi-meter or a battery test unit? If from a test unit, please check it both with the contactor OFF and with it ON and post the results. That might tell you/us something?

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

 

[Candoman]

Did you get the 12.4v for the battery via a multi-meter or a battery test unit? If from a test unit, please check it both with the contactor OFF and with it ON and post the results. That might tell you/us something?

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

I put a battery tender on briefly and it when up to 12.6 , disconnected and turned on key and it remained at 12.6. This with a battery tester.

 

[jwight]

Just my .02, but if you have the opportunity to get it fixed under warranty I'd take it. The EVs are hugely expensive to fix if it's anything major. YMMV, of course. 🙂

 

[Candoman]

Just my .02, but if you have the opportunity to get it fixed under warranty I'd take it. The EVs are hugely expensive to fix if it's anything major. YMMV, of course. 🙂

Already checking on a tow. I'll update when I get more info. from the dealer. Appreciate the quick responses. Thanks.

 

[sokoloff]

Good luck and please keep us posted. And while you have the car at the dealership, make sure they check to make sure you have the latest service campaign. It came out in the 2015/2016 time frame, so your car probably has it, but it doesn't hurt to check and if it doesn't have it, it's free to get updated to it.

Did you happen to check the battery reading before you put a charger on it or is that where the 12.4v came from? A bad/weak 12v battery causes all kinds of problems with the 451's. You don't happen to have a battery test unit similar to this one, do you?

Battery Health Check Tool for smart Electric Drive (model 451)

It all started for me with a Hackster post of this guy in Germany who created a device to interrogate the status of the main battery in his smart Electric Drive car.

www.sokoloff.com

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

 

[Candoman]

Yes, the 12.4v reading was before I connected the battery tender. The date on the battery post is 9-18, so I think it is a fairly new MB battery. I have a battery tender cable on it, so I check it regularly and it has been fine. I did drive briefly in the rain on the day prior to this happening, but it has been running perfectly until it didn't. I will post an update of whatever the outcome is.

 

[Candoman]

Had Ed trucked to the Gainsville, Fl. MB dealer this morning, and received a call about 6 hours later stating it needs the HV Battery replaced. The service manager stated he thought he could source one and have it by next week. No cost to me. Wow, was I relieved. We'll see how long it actually takes, but no matter, it will be resolved. The only thing that concerns me is how a seemly good battery can fail over night. Drove perfect on Thursday, failed on Friday. I love the car, but the warranty runs out in August, so hope there is a warranty on the replacement HV battery. I will update this saga as it develops, but so far, it's MB to the rescue.

 

[sokoloff]

GREAT news for you!!!

Pretty unusual that the original battery was replaced after only two years. Also sounds unlikely then that the 12v battery is the problem, since the replacement one is only two years old.

Could you do the forum a favor and ask if there were any service campaigns for your car that weren't completed? Or just post or send me your VIN and I'll look it up. It would be good info to add to our database. We think most of the HV battery replacements came on the 451's that had not had that campaign done.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

 

[Candoman]

The service records that I have indicate that on 04/21/17, it was serviced at 3,042 miles and that the computer was reprogrammed. I will send you the vin#.

 

[sokoloff]

Okay, that likely was the service campaign that I was referring to.

Thanks.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

 

[Yinzer]

deleted

 

[Yinzer]

The only thing that concerns me is how a seemly good battery can fail over night. Drove perfect on Thursday, failed on Friday. I love the car, but the warranty runs out in August, so hope there is a warranty on the replacement HV battery. I will update this saga as it develops, but so far, it's MB to the rescue.

What failed is not the lithium cells themselves, but probably an internal component - or even just a false fault detected that is not resettable. But, because the service technicians are under orders to treat the battery pack as a "black box", the whole thing must be replaced for the failure of even a minor inexpensive part. If you car had not been under warranty, the car would have been a total loss. So please - MB deserves no praise - exactly the opposite.

 

[sokoloff]

As I suspected, your car has had the that service campaign done. Here is the note I got back today from the dealer:

"There are no open campaigns/recalls on this vehicle."

Thanks for sending me the VIN to check.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

 

[Vincent Rapide]

If your car had not been under warranty, the car would have been a total loss. [Yinzer]

In that case the thing to do would be to already have (or go get) a working hv batt out of a wreck (copart auction) and then do a switcheroo.

This post got me to call Seattle Service and see if mine was still warranted (ended last month) and if my firmware was up to date (must bring to dealer for a whole system scan). Then I d/l firmware>usb to DIY but when I got in the car found it had no usb port(!). Oh well, this little babe is all alone in the woods from now on. But I will start looking at the auctions.

VR. PNW. USA
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[sokoloff]

You absolutely do not have to take the car into the dealer to find out if there are any recalls or service campaigns outstanding. See my note above. They can look up that data with your VIN number.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 20,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 17,500 miles

 

[jwight]

"...but when I got in the car found it had no usb port(!)"

Your 2016 EV is a 451, correct? All 451s after 2010 have a USB port in the glove box - but only connected to the radio. There's no way I'm aware of to do a software update on a smart other than using a STAR computer...

 

[Vincent Rapide]

I went to smartusa.com which checked my VIN and showed nothing outstanding. BUT they are not equipped to see if auto/update via GPS was ever done so the website offers to d/l it onto your usb and then you plug into car to try to install that firmware. I did all that but their photo of a usb port directly under the brake lever is not my 451, must be the 453. I have nothing under my brake lever and the glovebox usb just asks for toonz. . The dealer can do a firmware check in their shop, but a 75 mile trip there for me is an exercise in pain. So I'll trust that the gps update went thru at some point in time.

VR. PNW. USA. 2016_ED. 2014 Spark_EV. 2012 ModelS.
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