Hello, I was wondering if anyone has had their Hymotion pack become unresponsive? I received a flash code a few days ago (I did not catch the count) and when next starting the car, had no LED power on the button. Drove home without the pack and plugged in to charge it up. Next day - still no indication of power on the dash LED with switch in the on position - tried toggling and power cycling the car 5 times - no difference. Checked the 15amp circuit breaker on the pack and it is not extended. When I turn the car on I can hear a few clicks from the pack, but again - no indication at the button or on the Display of anything from the pack. When I plug in the pack the break lights come on for a few seconds and turn off (as is normal since the firmware upgrade earlier in the year) - also I believe I hear the battery chargers kick on when plugged in. I have a call in to Hymotion on this but I am really hoping to find a solution without driving to a CHIP location. The one here in Minneapolis closed. If anyone has suggestions or thoughts on what may be the problem, please let me know and thank you in advance for any help.
just an update. I spoke with Engineer Jim today from A123. Based on my symptoms he is sending me to Milwaukee for a service call. I did make one item of progress based on his suggestion. Checking the orange plug just left of the pack, he suggested I ensure it is fully seated down. I pulled it up a little and pushed it back down to lock into place - I then got a flash code on the dash of 3 flashes. After turning the car off and on again - no indication light or flashes on the dash. The battery is still not communicating with or sending additional power to the car - so I'll be driving over to Wisconsin for a service appt.
Milwaukee? I hadn't heard anything about a Milwaukee installer. If for some reason you end up in Madison instead next Saturday morning we will be having our hybrid car club meeting there from 10am-noon at Smart motors. Stop upstairs and visit.
You are right - Madison. I will stop up - thanks for the invite. Looking forward to getting the problem fixed.
Hope this will be a quick fix for you. et us know what the problem was and how it was fix. Thats if you can get that information.
Last minute change... looks like the meeting will be postponed one week until September 21, 10-noon. Sorry that we'll miss you this time. It would've been great to hear your Hymotion experiences.
So my service appt. was today. They were unable to schedule it on a Saturday. That was a bit painful burning a vacation day from work to get this done and I am tired from the drive, but positive outcome I think. First off Smart Motors has a very nice service center. I was impressed with the facilities, the equipment used (motion tablets, electronic clipboards, pretty cutting edge stuff). Eric assisted me in getting things started and I took a rental car to run around and burn some time. I got a call by 3pm that the car was all finished and I could come pick it up. They replaced the entire pack. 3 bars driving out and it seemed like a whole new experience. I really think my original pack was defective. Its been months since I've seen the single purple bar and I saw it on this new one. Also, on the original pack, I never saw more than 30 miles on a charge (any time of year, any conditions). Hopefully I have all of the latest hardware and software updates now as well. I'll post back with updates after a few charge/drive cycles to let everyone know if I have any more issues and also if I see improved performance from the new pack.
Max9952001 I was just there on the 17th to get the software upgrade. Had a bad experience with the service rep... Just when car was done, I asked him if John could right my on/off button (which was installed upside down in Minneapolis). The rep said John just left, but I can do that. It's easy. The next day, the system would not engage. John in Madison gave me a few things to try and he also had Jim Strong from Hymotion call me that day. Apparently, rep had pulled too hard and pulled a wire out. I couldn't get it in with a paper clip, tweezers, and a flashlight. Drove back the next day and John fixed it in about 10 minutes. Working great now. Brake lights come on when plug in. After a few seconds "fades to black"!
Mine was the same way but I fixed mine myself. I was told by my installer that he followed the installations by the book down to every last zip tie. In my case he installed the switch on top of my dash instead of the button blank since I have all three filled on mine plus he did not hook up the EV wire since I all ready had the button. I think they might have pictured the switch up side down in the installation manual. Just to be clear it was the on/off switch wire right? I know when I had my firmware upgraded a wire came loose in the back on the main plug for the battery. This caused a major system problem but was easily fixed by clearing the codes. I also fixed this myself. Apparently they only crimped the wire to the pin and not soldered it. This is why it come out. When I inspected the pin it was a very lose crimp. I made a suggestion to Jim that they should also solder the wires just to prevent this from happening to future installed units.
Yes. The red light was on the lower part, and the "on" toggle was down. As I recall there were 4 wires going to the harness. And one of them had pulled out of the worm like connector. I kept trying to fish it out of the hole but couldn't get a good grip. I'm not very mechanical anyway. By the way, do you know what the software update does besides turn off the brake lights. Several months ago, Jim Strong had said that a software upgrade was out there that turns the lights out, but that I should wait, as another upgrage is coming out in October. Any way to find this out? I tried google. By the way. My wife and I are from Cleveland, and I was wondering where you had your install done? George
The firmware I have that was installed early this year fixed the brake light issue and prevented the car from entering EV at start up to conform to CARB regulations. You cna still get into EV mode at start up if you install a manual EV button. I had mine installed at Fitzgerald Toyota in Maryland.
