1967 Econoline van with Nissan Leaf system

I am very ignorant so far with all the "Canbus" stuff. but im learning fast!

im wondering if when the Thunderstruck VCD, the Leaf inverter, and the battery BMS all have their "Canbus" wired together;; if this makes the leaf battery happy.?

it seems the Leaf battery has a computer inside it, and all this runs the internal contactors. so i need to learn to operate the internal contactor relays with the Thunderstruck VCD..???

once again, sorry for my ignorance. i generally dont like asking questions on the net as the info is generally all readily available. however, here i am and VERY MUCH appreciate your help!

Ill take some pictures soon to keep your interest

shnitzel

update and questions...:

i got the old van motor and tranny pulled out of it last night. drug it out from under with my honda and onto the driveway!

i wired up all the leaf components to the Thunderstruck VCM.

i got the Leaf pack internal relays working to precharge the main leads.

and i got the Thunderstruck VCM talking with putty.

when i turn on my ignition switch i hear the precharge and main negative relay click inside the pack. then i check the voltage entering the traction inverter and i see 384V there.

HOWEVER, Putty keeps repeating the line "inverter voltage too low 0v".

i do have the green and blue canbus wires directly from the VCM to the nissan inverter. maybe im missing a terminal resistor or something?

i also have keyed power and ground going to the inverter.

im missing something still.......... ill just keep googling and reading!!!!

sooooo close to a running bench test.........

shnitzel

thank you for your compliment! 9 days of progress and then 3 days stumped... ha ha ha...

i cant get the motor to run consistently. i have de-tuned all the settings. i have put 2 x 120ohm resistors on each end of the canbus. i have disabled canterm in the vcu. i have relocated all throttle and canbus wires away from any other wires.. all grounds are seperate and tied to the same bolt on the inverter casing. i have wrapped the canbus + throttle wires in tinfoil and grounded that to the motor... still same...

if i VERY gently press the pedal i can get the motor to move forwards. and i can make it move backwards. sometimes several times in a row. but always by the 2nd or 3rd throttle blip it faults and the green light flashes.

if i quickly press the pedal it revs up, jolts a bit and faults.

so im kinda winning... but confused. thats enough for tonight. supper time and cartoons next!

shnitzel

thanx Jeff! ive watched all your videos.... i do have my throttle grounded to the same point as the VCU. both grounded to the aluminum case of the inverter. the battery is also grounded there. and the throttle wires are routed far from any other cables.

John at Thunderstruck has lead me to a relay issue.

when i turn on my ignition toggle it sends 12v to the precharge relay and the main (-) relay in the pack. then when it senses voltage it turns on the main (+) relay.

i havnt opened up the leaf pack. so far i have just tapped into the 3 relays inside. i am assuming the bms will still keep the pack balanced without the whole car attached??? i am assuming......

i checked for running voltage after VCU startup... i clipped my voltmeter to the high V terminals on the inverter and it reads 383v at precharge, then the VCM clicks the high V contactor and turns solid green on the light. and then the voltage starts to drop off slowly while the green light is still lit. then when i reset the 12v toggle it starts over....

so i have to learn more about how to make this pack work. i dont want to open it up if i can help it. but am willing to do whatever it takes!

so, volts dropping after the main contactor "sounds like it closes".. this is definitely my problem.

Jody Willcock

winner winner, now i will have some chicken dinner! wired the main(-) relay to the ignition toggle and it retains voltage after precharge. runs smooth!

it will rev up in forward and slow down when i release the pedal. the brake switch works and stops the motor when in forward.

however, when in reverse i release the pedal and the motor keeps spinning at constant speed. even if i press the brake switch.. it keeps spinning at a constant speed like cruize control. only way to stop it is to switch it off.

it works as you would predict in forward gear. but reverse wont stop.

so i will research that now and the Leaf BMS. while i rig this motor into place!!!

thanx for your help, i now have a running bench test!

shnitzel

im about to start the next stage of my project. had to "put out some fires" at work for a bit. now im back to my stuff!

i want to mount the leaf motor and inverter on its side. with the cooling lines all facing up. i dont see any reason why not. anyone see why not???

i have my coupler to mount the driveshaft directly to the motor almost done. if this all works out on the first little test drive i'll invest in the lower 7.4 : 1 gears that are available for the 9" ford differential.

i have enough battery charge to get around the town a few times no problem. so ill get a few test runs up and down the block done with the charge i have (about 90% im guessing)

i still dont have a working charger. i will figure that out last after i get it rolling on its own.

so my last question is about the BMS again.... does the bms not balance the cells when the battery is not connected to the car? what functions if any does the bms do when not connected to the canbus? would it balance during charging? when sitting in storage? or not at all?

thats my progress and questions for today.

shnitzel

exactly brian. i see no reason why not mount on its side. thats the plan then!

i got the driveshaft coupler almost finished. local machinist charged me $20 to make the fiat clutch center fit into my driveshaft end. that may be the only real custom part i need to build!!!!! im loving how easy these electric conversions are.. i may NEVER build another gas car..... ive done lots of turbo cars... sooooooo much work....

i havent done anything really photo worthy since the last photos. when i get the motor mounted ill do more photos. i dont use / own cameras or phones, so its a special day when i use a camera! ha ha ha.

so my last real unknown is the leaf bms. as youve told me i probably wont make it useful... but im having a hard time understanding that its not functioning anyhow...

shnitzel

good to know that the bms is possible. i have glanced at openinverter but havnt signed up yet. i also see uksouthwestev has the leaf dc-dc converter and charger running now. so im hoping to follow his lead!

for progress:::

all the stock stuff is out. even the 165lb cast steel weight hiding over the gas tank. thats more than the motor and inverter right there! ha ha ha

i have pulled the battery up into place between the front wheel wells. its a little high but i plan to take my 3/4" plywood shim out. then hopefully the seats sit well enough over the battery with room for me under the steering wheel.

the motor / inverter stack doesnt fit nice so im just mounting the motor seperately from the inverter. i bandsawed the extra aluminum off the motor giving me access to a flush front mounting surface. i am going to trim the tranny crossmember some to fit the motor right where it needs to be. i dont want to modify the driveshaft. im just running it stock which is very short. this hopefully will help me through the high rpm wiggles

i pressed in new heavy duty u-joints into the driveshaft. its all greased and ready.

the fiat clutch center has been machined to press fit inside the ford driveshaft splines. i still have to drill and tap the motor shaft for a big bolt. i hope the steel is manageable. if it survives a few trips up and down the block i will locktight the hell out of it splines and all and hope it stay in place.

getting the motor mounted in place with the driveshaft installed should be easy from here.

so here are my new questions / concerns. i have separated my motor from controller now. am i best to source a 2010-2012 motor wire harness for it? would the 2010 3-phase wiring seal to the 2013 motor? or should i just build some short copper busbars to stick into the motor and connect the 3-phase wiring to?

i also need another round connector for the 2016 battery. i need to source one of those to permanently wire this thing. any idea what its called or where to find it? its the one where i tap into the precharge and relay circuits on the traction battery.

if i can get the motor wired to the inverter and the circular battery plug ill be rotating tires soon!

shnitzel

I made a couple little videos to catch you guys up. the first is a basic overview. and then i linked a "channel" where i will keep posting as i progress.

to date everything is in position and the motor is mounted in place. still some bracketry to build before a test drive. but im progressing!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


hope you enjoy!

shnitzel