08 Lexus GS450H swap - Lexi Clone

[windydrew]

Here's what I hope it's the beginning of a fairly quick conversion of my recently purchased 08 Lexus GS450H with a dead hybrid battery for $1500. I'll get it home today and start pulling the engine immediately. I have ordered the VCU so that will be my first part in waiting on, I already have a 13 Chevy Volt battery from a previous project (Nissan Leaf powered grasshopper mower) that I'll use initially until I get the funds together to purchase around 40 kWh of batteries to fit in this car. The plan is majority of the batteries to go in the front with a few mounted in the place of the hybrid battery.

Lexus GS450H

[jnsaff]

You might want to do some CAN capturing before you start ripping everything out as it could save you a lot of time later trying to figure out messages that need to be there for some systems to work but the systems generating are already gone.

Also, never hurts to have a plan before doing something destructive.

[Kevin Sharpe]

You might want to do some CAN capturing before you start ripping everything out as it could save you a lot of time later trying to figure out messages that need to be there for some systems to work but the systems generating are already gone.

Also, never hurts to have a plan before doing something destructive.

This is good advice

For CAN analysis we use SavvyCAN (here) and the EVTV ESP32 CANDue (here). If you don't know how to use these tools we'll have an online course announced in the near future.

[windydrew]

The CANDue is out of stock, how about using the following?
https://www.macchina.cc/m2-introduction

[Kevin Sharpe]

The CANDue is out of stock, how about using the following?
https://www.macchina.cc/m2-introduction

I've never used the M2 hardware but Collin Kidder was clearly supportive in 2018 (see this link and the video);

https://forum.macchina.cc/t/savvycan-update-again/695

If you have software skills then it's probably worth buying the M2 hardware and experimenting. If you are more of an end user then I suspect this will be difficult. iirc Arber was using the M2 at one time so maybe you can ask him in a PM if he doesn't see this post.

I recommend you try and get an eta on the CANDue from EVTV before doing anything else. If supply is a problem then we'll need to look at an alternative which is a pain

[arber333]

Hi

Yes i use M2 with OBD port. I only consider it as I/O tool together with Savvycan software. It helps me read CAN bus in a car....
Maybe you could use "under the hood" version as uC. In the back there is a string of I/Os. With it you get a neat connector that you can use to connect somewhere.
It is actually ARM chip that you can use the way Johannes uses his STM32 board. If i would use this board I would definitely make an adapter board with pullups and dividers or optocouplers for the car to connect to and then mount the M2 on it.

I noticed it also has xbee module setup that you can use for bluetooth and wifi interface...

[windydrew]

Ok, biggest problem now is the car won't start/drive because of major hybrid faults. I have a Toyota interface cable that has given me hybrid module faults and battery faults. So I don't know if I'll be able to get anything useful out of the can system unless I can spoof it into working with the mentioned systems. What do you think?

[Dilbert]

Clear the faults, they might not come back straight away.

[Kevin Sharpe]

What do you think?

You really do need CAN logs even if the car is not fully functional today. Your car will be different from our development car and you will need the CAN logs to modify the VCU firmware to get your systems working again. We'll know much more in August when we start working on the car.

[windydrew]

Well, the faults won't clear and I'm wondering now if there aren't multiple modules out. I'm almost thinking of taking on an easier project and just pulling the motor and inverter out of this thing. The car is in ok shape, but there are missing parts that will be fairly expensive. Needs a hood, back seat, and steering wheel airbag. Not many of these around that I can nab parts from cheaply. I think a simple donor car would be better. Maybe a smaller 4 seater rwd car from the 90s would be best. This may be beyond my capabilities and budget to get swapped and be reliable.

My last ditch effort is to take the bus bars off the batteries and clean them. Pack is getting 0VDC but has at least 5V on every cell.

[Dilbert]

Has one of the 3 relays in the pack failed? Or the precharge resistor?

Obviously pull the hybrid plug but you should be able to test these pretty easy.

Or do you mean there is zero volts going to the relays? Is the hybrid safety plug in?

Should be easy enough to find if there is zero volts. If the main pack isn’t coming up then the dc to dc won’t start and your 12v battery is probably very low.

[windydrew]

Wires from the pack show 0v going into the relay module with the disconnect installed. That's why I think it's corrosion or something. I'll find out today.

[rikohm]

The schematic's i found indicate a fuse in/or around the service pluggdisconnect.. Have never touched a lexus my self, but my prius, gen 0 has it inside the service plug disconnect socket on the battery pack if i remember correctly.

[windydrew]

That's the first thing I checked, there's continuity inside the service plug. I'm still investigating. The hybrid pack has many batteries below 6v. I'm wondering if I can recharge them to get this thing working again. I have a charger that I can set to pack voltage. What voltage and current should I set it to do I can slowly charge this thing up to full voltage? I plan on reassembling the busbars today and hooking it up to the charger for the weekend to sort of trickle charge it. Then I'll try reinstalling the pack.

[xp677]

I'd charge it with 288V at a suitable rating for Ni-MH. It's a 1.9kwH battery, so each cell is rated to 6.6A, I don't know the recommended charge current for Ni-MH so would go with 1C, so set it to 6.6A.

At your own risk.

PS those batteries are likely trash.

[windydrew]

So I basically gave up on getting the Lexus running a few months ago, mostly because the system isn't working like it should and I can't get any life out of anything. I have the car in storage now waiting for something to change. I still haven't received my board from Damian, apparently there was a mixup on the website. He says he'll get it to me pronto. I'd like to try using the board on the completely assembled car just to make sure the inverter/motor still works. Thanks

[Kevin Sharpe]

So I basically gave up on getting the Lexus running a few months ago, mostly because the system isn't working like it should and I can't get any life out of anything.

The LEXI conversion has been postponed from August until October because of the COVID-19 induced delays to the course schedule. Hopefully we'll have something to report once we get back to the workshop.

[windydrew]

Did this ever happen?