[DaveEV]

I am wondering if anyone knows the wiring on the Leaf drive selector? It has 10 of 12 pins in connector filled. I'd really like to reuse it in Miata1EV!

I imagine there is a 12v switched supply and a ground wire. It uses fairly unique switches for D, N, and R, and probably a momentary switch for P. The N switch is probably closed prior to closing the D or R switch, and remains closed until after the D or R switch opens.

But, maybe it's 5v? maybe both 12v and 5v? Why are there so many wires?!? With an IC board in there, I'm reluctant to just start throwing voltages at random wires... Anyone with more electrical testing experience have suggestions? or has found what I can't, an actual diagram for this?

 

[remy_martian]

Did you look here?

Leaf shifter

Does anyone have the wiring diagram for the Leaf shifter. It seems it is not in my service manual. In particular, I want to know how to use it in the truck (no leaf wiring harness), just direct to Pauls board, if possible. I get an open circuit on all the wires even when I move the shift lever.

www.diyelectriccar.com

 

[kennybobby]

In a Laef you don't want to push the P button while the car is rolling.

 

[DaveEV]

Did you look here?

Leaf shifter

Does anyone have the wiring diagram for the Leaf shifter. It seems it is not in my service manual. In particular, I want to know how to use it in the truck (no leaf wiring harness), just direct to Pauls board, if possible. I get an open circuit on all the wires even when I move the shift lever.

www.diyelectriccar.com

I knew it had to be somewhere. I scrolled through pages of results here and Google but somehow didn't find that! Thank you! If I can't figure it out from there, I'm doing something wrong

 

[monabuild]

Shifter shenanigans.

Since I was stuck with the axles I went to do wiring.

I could just put momentary switches for the shifter but... I wanted to see if I really could use the leaf shifter with my shift knob.

So what I found was of the 12 wires, 2 powered by 12v, 2 grounded. The remaining were pairs for Parking, Drive, Neutral, Reverse. When each pair is engaged, say I shift to Drive, there will be resistance between the pair of about 52 ohms.

In a sense there is continuity but will be considered activation of a switch for the resolve-ev, I don't know. In the worst case, I could just make it trigger a little relay and that would work similarly. Another interesting detail is that Neutral, isn't really in the Neutral position. For those familiar with the Leaf shifter, Neutral is shifting straight left and returning to default position. However the wiring registers Default position, not Neutral position. So Neutral circuit essentially is triggered when the shifter deactivates Default position but doesn't shift into Drive or Reverse. In other words I don't see myself using it because one must trigger neutral before triggering D or R.

In the wiring diagram below:
D = Drive
R = Reverse
C = Center default position (Neutral?)
+ = 12V
- = Ground
View attachment 126250
Oh yeah and the motor is fully mounted

I found this in a another thread maybe it will be helpful towards figuring out the shifter

 

[windraver]

lol, I ended up hacking the shifter up and only using the mechanical portion and making my own board.

The screenshot/attachment in the quote did have me marking which wires do what though so you should be fine playing with it. 12v is usually the standard but note there is some resistance. It didn't work with the Resolve EV controller but I don't think you're using that so maybe it'll work out for you. (there are several posts so if you go through my build you'll find I played with that shifter a lot.

 

[DaveEV]

Thanks all for the tips! I think my shifter must be a little different I only have one plug with 9 wires. They seem to correspond to one of the refs from the thread Remy referred to. Or do I need to do a little disassembly. Hmmm, I'll take a look at @windraver 's build. So far I've been using 5V and pretty sure I've matched the following switches to ground (ESS=Electric Shift Sensor, PS = Parking Switch):

Purple - ESS3 or ESS6
Red - PS1
Green/Org
Brown - Ground
Yellow
Green - PS2
Yellow/Blk
Blue/White
Blue/Red - ESS3 or ESS6

 

[windraver]

Thanks all for the tips! I think my shifter must be a little different I only have one plug with 9 wires. They seem to correspond to one of the refs from the thread Remy referred to. Or do I need to do a little disassembly. Hmmm, I'll take a look at @windraver 's build. So far I've been using 5V and pretty sure I've matched the following switches to ground (ESS=Electric Shift Sensor, PS = Parking Switch):

Purple - ESS3 or ESS6
Red - PS1
Green/Org
Brown - Ground
Yellow
Green - PS2
Yellow/Blk
Blue/White
Blue/Red - ESS3 or ESS6

was your shifter from a 2011?

I get my wiring diagrams here:

Do it Yourself Automobile Repair Manuals - Mitchell 1 DIY

www.eautorepair.net

It's an annoying subscription but you can print the entire thing to PDF so you'll always have a copy. It was worth it for me since I like to rewire stuff

 

[DaveEV]

was your shifter from a 2011?

Maybe... I thought I grabbed it from the same car as the drive stack, which is definitely not 2011. Thanks for the wiring diagram source. I'll probably find it useful

I ended up following your lead and abandoning the shifter circuitboard. I had some momentary switches I was going to use for my test box, but I think they will do here. I'm a little concerned about the mounting, but seems firm for now.

I plan to wire these switches through the P-Switch Normal Close output. Not sure if/how I'll use the Normal Open.

I may take this challenge over to OpenInverter.org and see if anyone would want to design a circuit board that could be a drop-in swap based on what you did with the reed switches.

 

[windraver]

That looks pretty clever. I was trying to avoid "mechanical" switches (which would more likely break from physical wear and tear) hence why I used magnetic reed switches. The original circuit board probably uses hall sensors which is actually much better and thus if we instead built a circuit to interpret the original output from the shifter and output what was needed for the Resolve EV or the open inverter, then it'd be even better.

Looking at this image again:

You could in theory setup something simple to interpret that when you shift to Drive, wires/pin 11 and 5 should connect with a small amount of resistance. It isn't enough to be considered open hence why the Resolve EV won't register it and it also isn't enough to trigger a relay but its something you can code for if you have experience in something like Adruino. I do remember that I provided 1, 7, 12, 6 pins 12 volts if that helps. In the end, I wanted to mimic the simplicity of a switch and reed switches were what I thought to do while I was messing around with the shifter.

Side note I looked into teardowns of the Logitech Shifter Game Controller and they use hall sensors.

In the end, it depends what look and feel you're seeking. If you want to keep the Miata shifter, there might be other "tricks" to "push/trigger" buttons without having to tear into the leaf shifter.

 

[windraver]

Here are the insides:

This was me making a note of how the L shaped magnet triggered what sensors.

 

[DaveEV]

I was trying to avoid "mechanical" switches (which would more likely break from physical wear and tear) hence why I used magnetic reed switches.

Yes, also a concern... I hope the plastic provides just enough give to reduce wear but not deform. I obviously removed the white piece with the circuit board. I'll save it for later update to circuits or circuit board if I need it.

 

[remy_martian]

I'd have glued or fastened (they have some nice disc ones for kitchen cabinet doors that take a countersunk screw in the middle) a magnet to the plastic paddle that sticks out from the moving stick, then put a reed switch where your mechanical momentary switches are.

Having the plastic banging and rubbing against the toggle, and being exposed to interior heat in summer and UV...

Just an idea. Your way will work for a while, maybe long enough.

 

[monabuild]

i was thinking something like this might be a decent option if the leaf shifter wouldn't work for my Resolve ev controller..
Shifter for kids power wheel

 

[remy_martian]

That device's failure is supposed to mean that dad or mom drags the car back into the garage.

If dad or mom is around, and you don't go more than 50m from home, I suppose you might use it in a real car.

One hit or leaning against it, while reaching for the glovebox, would likely break that.

Whether a shifter is considered a safety item is up for debate. They can be deadly if you depend on a pawl being engaged:

Anton Yelchin: Jeep that killed Star Trek actor was recalled for rollaway risk | Anton Yelchin | The Guardian

SUV that rolled down driveway and killed him was recalled because gear shifters confused drivers, causing the vehicles to roll away unexpectedly, records show

amp.theguardian.com

 

[windraver]

With Resolve EV controller, the brakes must be engaged in order to shift. Shifting is really just electronic hence why momentary buttons to connect two wires work. It's also why reed switches or even a paper clip can shift to drive, reverse, or neutral. Parking, like any manual transmission vehicle, is fully dependent on the existing parking/emergency brake. During my initial testing phase, I was tapping wires to shift gears 😅 .

So from a failure perspective, it only gets "harder" to shift into drive, or reverse. And it's not a real automatic vehicle as throttle is required for power to wheels. The vehicle will not creep/roll (unless on a hill).

That said, any momentary switch will work. Preferably it's sturdy and able to last in a car.

I've rebuilt a power wheel (total RC car and power upgrade) and the shifter isn't momentary but instead its an actual switch to a reverse or forward circuit. It probably won't work for our application.

We've moved into over engineering this because we like our shifters 😅

 

[monabuild]

fair well guess its time for me to build something instead. Some momentary micro switches might have to be my solution. or some sad old buttons

 

[windraver]

fair well guess its time for me to build something instead. Some momentary micro switches might have to be my solution. or some sad old buttons

If you really want a shifter, the Leaf Shifter gives a good foundation and starting point. As you can see in my build, I used reed switches, which are magnet activated switches. Since there is no physical contact, I believe it is more resilient to wear and tear, and the existing springs in the shifter will pull the magnet back to a neutral position this releasing the reed switch and making it a momentary switch.

From a reliability perspective, I would only install 2 reed switches, one for drive and another for reverse. I kept Neutral separated. There isn't much room to avoid actuating neutral when you wanted drive or reverse.

 

[DaveEV]

I haven't played with reed switches, but I like @remy_martian's idea of combining @windraver's use of those with my location. It might be time to find some old kitchen magnets and door alarms

 

[remy_martian]

Reed Switch - COM-08642 - SparkFun Electronics for some ideas.

They have hookup guides etc.

Lots of sources and they're a lot cheaper than switches...