Freelander 1 Freelander EV

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12V battery in.



As with everything in this build what looks like 10 mins work takes hours as I discover some consequence of a decision made months or years ago but it's in and nothing bad happened when briefly connected.
I have to admit I'm nervous about connecting the HV again so have been doing lots of small things basically building up to the big reconnection.
This week will be busy so I'm not sure what will be achieved but hopefully we'll get it driving again

Alibro said:

12V battery in.

View attachment 295696

As with everything in this build what looks like 10 mins work takes hours as I discover some consequence of a decision made months or years ago but it's in and nothing bad happened when briefly connected.
I have to admit I'm nervous about connecting the HV again so have been doing lots of small things basically building up to the big reconnection.
This week will be busy so I'm not sure what will be achieved but hopefully we'll get it driving again

Click to expand...

Nice to see it getting there Ali.
If you're nervous about connecting the HV, then connect 2 X 100 Watt incandescent bulbs in series between positive the HV line. This will allow any short circuit current to simply light the bulbs, keeping any incorrect current under ½ an Amp

Nodge68 said:

Nice to see it getting there Ali.
If you're nervous about connecting the HV, then connect 2 X 100 Watt incandescent bulbs in series between positive the HV line. This will allow any short circuit current to simply light the bulbs, keeping any incorrect current under ½ an Amp

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Yes mate, I already have a couple of bulbs mounted to a piece of wood specifically for that purpose and it will be getting used.
One of the issues I have I don't know the polarity for the HV heater so am hoping this method will let me work it out.
I've also recently discovered I hadn't connected the CAN leads correctly so hoping getting that right will help with stability. I had issues before with inverter disconnecting itself.

Today for the first time since removing the engine I connected the battery and turned on the ignition.
I was hoping to get 12V on the fuel pump wire but something was wrong as I got nothing. I presume it is the ECU that drives the relay which powers the fuel pump and since neither the ECU the engine the fuel pump or the fuel tank is there I'm not getting power on this cable. Tomorrow I'll have a look at the wiring diagram and see if I can drive the relay manually. I'd like to maintain the safety cut off switch so that in the case of an accident the power would automatically be cut off to the contactors in the boot. If the cut off is after the relay then simply driving the relay from the ignition might be an option.

The other odd thing was the the rear lights came on as soon as I turned on the ignition. I've no idea if this was happening before
the engine was removed but I guess it wouldn't be a problem as most modern cars have lights on all the time anyway. I just thought it odd that it didn't happen to the test mule

ECU provides the ground to the fuel pump relay yes.

If you do it that way I think you will find when the inertia switch (fuel cut off) breaks the ccu gets a command to unlock doors.

andyfreelandy said:

ECU provides the ground to the fuel pump relay yes.

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So I spent a few minutes looking at the wiring diagram and it looks like the Ignition 12V goes through the inertia switch first before going to Relay R1. As far as I can tell the neutral is a permanent connection as I think I metered it to ground last night but I'll need to double check.
The relay is switched as you say by receiving a neutral from the ECU on a black and purple wire so as the ECU is removed I can try applying a neutral to the relay to see if it works.
The other option is to plug the ECU back in and see what happens as I hadn't ruled out leaving it in the car.

andyfreelandy said:

If you do it that way I think you will find when the inertia switch (fuel cut off) breaks the ccu gets a command to unlock doors.

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I guess the ECU would need to be connected for this to work but if it did then I'd take that as a double win.

The inertia switch status signals to the ccu direct, no ECU involved on my circuit.

andyfreelandy said:

The inertia switch status signals to the ccu direct, no ECU involved on my circuit.

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Makes sense.
I still might refit the ECU as it might make clearing the warning lights easier but probably not.

Alibro said:

ARBID: 0x329 (DME2)
-B0
-B1 - Coolant temp [Temp in C = .75 * hex2dec(byte01) - 48.373]
-B2
-B3
(bit0 == LSb)
bit 7 Cruise 1/0
bit 6 Cruise -
bit 5 Cruise +
bit 6&5 Cruise Resume

-B4 - 00
-B5 - Throttle position Sensor (00-FE).
-B6 - Brake pedal - 00 - OFF, 01 ON.
-B7 - 00

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I have an update for you here https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/auto-1-8.385468/post-5577137

pscan.eu said:

I have an update for you here https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/auto-1-8.385468/post-5577137

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Thanks mate, post updated.

So the weekend started well with some great progress.
Before it died giving me the walk and push of shame.

After several days struggling to get the inverter and VCU to talk nicely together I finally cracked it and saw spinning wheels.
I even went as far as to start tidying up the wiring hoping most of it it would be staying put.


I know I still have a lot of stuff to install and connect up but couldn't resist putting the lids on to see what it would look like, then bolted on the wheels lowered it off the axle stands and drove it out of the garage. .

Sadly it only got 10 feet before cutting out and wouldn't go again.

I'm not sure what the problem is as I've only pushed it back into the garage and stepped away to lick my wounds for a bit. I'll report back later what I think it was.

You'll get there Ali. It's been great following this & teething problems are almost a given on such a big project, give yourself a pat on the back & enjoy a pint of the black stuff , all the best.

It can't be much Ali, as you've proven the system works in the MK1.
You'll work it out.

Nodge68 said:

It can't be much Ali, as you've proven the system works in the MK1.
You'll work it out.

Click to expand...

Andy Warren said:

You'll get there Ali. It's been great following this & teething problems are almost a given on such a big project, give yourself a pat on the back & enjoy a pint of the black stuff , all the best.

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Hopefully you're right, I think the issue is in the loom between the inverter and the motor as when I touched the wiring the motor temp fell back to normal, I'm stripping the wires back to see where the problem is.

Tonight it'll be a glass of the red stuff as we have friends calling round but I'll take you up on that next time I'm over.

So after another few hours at it last night testing and jiggling wires I'm thinking it might be interference rather than a bad connection.
In the test mule I had the vcu in the passenger footwell but now it's under the bonnet stuck to the top of the inverter. Maybe that was a bad idea so I'll lengthen the cables and move it back into the car and see what happens.

If my VCU was in the passenger footwell or under the bonnet, I'd jolly well bolt it back underneath!!

andyfreelandy said:

If my VCU was in the passenger footwell or under the bonnet, I'd jolly well bolt it back underneath!!

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Yes it gets confusing when 2 different components are given the same abbreviation.

andyfreelandy said:

If my VCU was in the passenger footwell or under the bonnet, I'd jolly well bolt it back underneath!!

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LOL, I forgot about that.
VCU is Vehicle Control Unit, not (in this instance) Viscous Coupling Unit.