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Any ZOE DIYers here?

6K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  Zarni 
#1 ·
Hi all, I absolutely love this forum!

Just go a very nice salvaged ze40 dynamique as my 1st electric project. It's got some body work to be done but that's not an issue. It looks like the main drive battery is there (but not 100% sure yet). The 12v battery is dead so I've put it on the repair mode with my 12v charger/repair kit.
When connected jump starter to 12v battery the car liven up and the dashboard shows 96% drive battery charge and multiple errors including DANGER electric failure, power steering failure, braking system error. One of the airbags (the one inside driver's seat) has been deployed. Other than that just body panels need sorting out.
My question is:
Is there a pyro fuse in Zoe that blows when any of the airbags are deployed?
I can't start the car when 12v is connected to jump starter. I mean it powers on but not fully. I can change the gears and use the central screen for like the reverse camera but car doesn't start fully if you know what I mean.
Any suggestions much appreciated
 
#7 ·
If the car had a leased battery and was written off, the insurance company would pay the owner the market value of the car (with a leased battery, in its opinion) and presumably paid RCI for the value of the battery (assuming that RCI did not insist on getting it back for some reason). But RCI could have remotely disabled (traction) battery charging. You'll need to check on the status of all that.
 
#8 ·
As long as it has a battery, if it throws up a subscription error just pull the TCU(?) fuse out and hey presto, the battery is yours.
 
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#15 ·
FYI - this does not work. If the charging lock is set by the TCU this logs a fault code which needs to be actively removed. Disconnecting the TCU wont do anything.

In any case a car bought as written off salvage wont have a battery lease - the battery will either be present and paid off, sent back to renault in france or was owned in the first place. The thing to note is that if you buy a written off car which was originally a leased battery then one reason that the battery would still be present is if Renault believe it is damaged. The correct procedure is for write offs with leased batteries is for Renault to inspect the battery and if undamaged ship it back to france, so buying an ex-leased battery written off car you've pretty much got to presume the battery is damaged if its still present, so ideally look for write offs that were originally owned. Of course the battery might just have a dent in the case or something that isn't much of an issue but its always a risk buying write offs.

Regarding your car, you need a fault code reader - as mentioned above I have the icarsoft one, i've found it very good with my Q210 (22kwh 2013). There are various things that could cause the messages on the dash and you need to know which one it is.

Check (carefully) that everything is connected. You don't mention where the damage is but did it affect any electrical components?

Last question - was it the white one with damage just in front of one of the back wheels ?

Cheers.
 
#10 ·
My advice would be to buy a new 12v battery, the Zoe can throw all sort stuff of faults similar to the ones you are getting if the 12v battery is not 100%.
Don't do the bodywork until the electrics is sorted, you can't be 100% sure of fixing the electrics economically, but it sounds very repairable and II hope it fixes OK.
You certainly have a battery as it's showing the state of charge, and you would have noticed the car sitting a bit too high ( battery is about 400kg). There should be an i badge on the boot if the car was battery owned, although not always.
Keep posting on your progress, there's some knowledgable guys on this forum, but I don't include myself in them.
 
#11 ·
Hi I have a 22kw that I am trying to get going.
What are the obd codes and voltages.
True Gary got his going.
All you need to do with battery is get the serial number if it has been added afterwards. But if not ring RCI lease, they will tell you if you own the battery,as I do.
Get a icarsoft rv2 about £100 .
As others have said, 12v on these are querkie.
Mine shows a 3.9v on the UPC.
Things I have found are the window will work with the key in the slot. But not when it is just in the car.
Pm me.
Simon
 
#12 ·
I believe you will definitely find some interlock has triggered preventing current from the traction battery, but evidently the BMS is still operating. I would tend to suspect it is a software setting, but obviously you need to make sure all the HV electrics are safe and fit first before reactivating that, which I presume is by Renault's proprietary 'CLIP' software.
 
#17 ·
Personally I'd start with a good 12v system. Your jump starter might be good enough to get the system to wake up but there does seem to be quite a large debounce timer on clearing the code for low 12v battery. Mine only cleared after I had fully charged the traction battery. That might have just been coincidental though as the 12v battery appears to get charged as the main battery is getting charged. Hmmm, I now can't even remember if that stopped the drive from working.
If the old battery won't charge then take it fully out of the circuit and just leave your jump battery connected. You should be able to read 13+ volts when the car is turned on (as well as you can get it to come on anyway)

I do keep an eye out on copart for Zoes that have batteries still in. One the other week went rather cheap, around £3500 for a 16 plate 22kWh I think and I really should have put a bid in but I've got too many things on the go.
 
#19 ·
Yeah. I always assume they are missing unless I can see that it is there. It depends on the yard but some you can clearly see the battery present or missing. The dash is pretty obvious too. If it just shows a raft of warning with --- range then the battery clearly isnt present. I was impressed to see one with a decent amount of range still on the display.
 
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