Bay Area repair shop that can still work on RAV4EV?

[DougL]

You want to send me the router config, please? I assume you use EOIP, the proprietary bridging tunnel on the router? I'll work on the cable. Thx

 

[DougL]

I didn't have time to do the remote diagnostics and then with weeks of rain it didn't happen although I got the network and cable setup.
Earthling Automotive in SF surprised me last week with news they now have a license to the diagnostic software. I had the car towed there and they report:

Connected Tesla Toolbox to drive electronics gateway and checked Alerts back to September 2023.4/03/2024 - 7:38 PM - Speed Sensor Problem DetectedRemoved and inspected speed sensor when checking for coolant in drive unit. Speed sensor is OK. Vehicle electronics are registering correct speed of vehicle.Reset the Gateway electronics.Cleared the EV fault codes in the Toyota EV system monitor.

Removed speed sensor at drive motor and inspected for signs of coolant leaking into drive unit. Did not see any signs of coolant ingress at this time.

Checked body ground connections A1/A2 to Inverter. Grounds OK. Power supply to inverter is present. Checked wiring from speed encoder (speed sensor) and found 0 ohms resistance (good contact) at all four corresponding pins from sensor to D14 (inverter). Checked shield wire connection (pin 18) at inverter for good ground to chassis, 0 ohms (good). Removed HV B+ /B - cover to inverter and did not find any signs of moisture indicating coolant ingress.Performed a drag test of all speed sensor pins at the speed sensor connector. Drag test past.Performed a drag test of all the terminals/pins at the 23 pin connector to the inverter. Drag test past.At this point, we have verified that all external connections to the drive unit / inverter are OK and that the faults that are showing up in the Tesla drive electronics (di_w020 / di_f020) indicate faulty electronics for the speed sensor (internal to drive unit). We verified that the sensor signals from the speed sensor are present and as expected.Can proceed with further diagnostics of drive unit to determine exact cause of failure. However, regardless of cause of failure, recommend replacement of drive unit/inverter.

Recommending replacement of the drive unit / inverter for intermittent internal failures.

 

[asavage]

Nice that they performed a drag test on the sensor harness-to-sensor pins; I don't hear about that often.

Based on no coolant showing on the speed sensor and no coolant on the orange HV cover/caps, you don't appear to have a coolant-related issue (yay!). The speed sensor itself was a relatively high failure item on our LDUs -- though not as failure-prone as the HV contactors -- and if it was mine, with the data you've presented, I'd swap in another speed sensor before doing anything else, as:

1) The stored fault indicates a speed sensor problem;
2) They were known to fail in not-insignificant numbers on the original (not reman) units;
3) It's cheap, and very easy to replace.

It's nice that they did what they did, but speed sensors can and do fail intermittently, go out of spec, only work at low switching rates, etc.

---

You can get the TPD software "free" now (at least a late version of it, that has at least one function missing), so you can do some of your own troubleshooting at the high level anyway. It's not great software for beginners but it's the only tool we have like it, so . . .

And, I can supply the adapter cable pre-made at my cost, if you don't want to build it yourself (and that post lists the cable and OBDII connector shell that I use, if you want to order them yourself).

 

[DougL]

Thanks for the detailed reply. The shop quoted me $7200 to replace the drive unit which really isn't economically prudent even though otherwise the car looks amazing (repainted by Toyota last November for the peeling white paint problem), I'm willing to try the speed sensor replacement or anything else relatively cheap. I made the cable but when I found out Earthlink is fixing the cars again, I just had them do it.

 

[asavage]

. . . I'd swap in another speed sensor before doing anything else, as:

3) It's cheap, and very easy to replace.

https://www.myrav4ev.com/threads/does-anyone-know-the-motor-speed-sensor-part-number.2348/post-30806
The price of that sensor has gone up quite a bit. It's around $300 now, after tax.

 

[ogmm]

Thanks for the detailed reply. The shop quoted me $7200 to replace the drive unit which really isn't economically prudent even though otherwise the car looks amazing (repainted by Toyota last November for the peeling white paint problem), I'm willing to try the speed sensor replacement or anything else relatively cheap. I made the cable but when I found out Earthlink is fixing the cars again, I just had them do it.

I'm having the same codes (di_w020 / di_f020) and the same issue power loss after a couple of minutes of driving. The car ran perfectly for five years until now. Did replacing the sensor worked for you?

 

[DougL]

The shop replaced the sensor and I drove it home about 20 miles this morning with no problems or faults reported. Before the fix, the problem was intermittent but it was usually possible to provoke the "EV warning" dash message by shifting into drive shortly after starting the car. The shop said that after the sensor install they couldn't replicate the problem so I have guarded optimism that it's fixed/improved. It's also possible that by pulling things apart, they reseated a connector or the hard power disconnect helped. Who knows.

 

[longrangeview]

Earthling Automotive in San Francisco was able to run the diagnostics on my 2013 Rav4 EV last week April 24, 2024.

Hopefully they can run them on your car too.

Patrice

 

[longrangeview]

Oh I see your latest post.

It's done!

 

[DougL]

Oh I see your latest post.

It's done!

Does your plate end in 071? We may have been parked together. I heard the other car needs a new DC-DC converter,

 

[longrangeview]

Does your plate end in 071? We may have been parked together. I heard the other car needs a new DC-DC converter,

Yes, my Lic ends in 071.
Leff has the part.
I will buy it and go back to Earthling Auto for them to switch out the converter.
Fingers crossed.
Then I need to sell my EV since I'm not a DIY mechanic type.

 

[ogmm]

I bought 3 encoders(revision C from china, the orignal is revision B) but still getting the speed sensor errors. Checked the wiring from the sensor to the inverter conector and it is ok.

The motor rotates normal but in a random time it stop rotating(before was every 15-30min now is 3 to 8 min) and shows the speed sensor issue, if i shutdown the car and put it in drive it works even with the error showing but again stop working in a few minutes. Also uploaded the gateway firmware trying to fix this.

I'll try to check with the osciloscope the encoder signals just to confirm that the old and new encoders are ok.

What do you think what could be? Any insight will be appreciated.

 

[xyzzy]

I'll try to check with the osciloscope the encoder signals just to confirm that the old and new encoders are ok.

@ogmm did you end up checking the sensors? Wondering if the issue was the Chinese made sensors or a problem with the car.

 

[DougL]

I waited a while to post. The car has 300 miles of mostly short-trip city driving with some highway and I'm happy to report that it appears to be back to normal so far after the speed sensor change. It has a new paint job (arctic white Toyota repaint) so it's looking good too. Thanks to everyone on myrav4ev who gave me advice and offered help. I certainly wouldn't have been able to make progress alone.

 

[hokiematt]

I bought 3 encoders(revision C from china, the orignal is revision B) but still getting the speed sensor errors. Checked the wiring from the sensor to the inverter conector and it is ok.

The motor rotates normal but in a random time it stop rotating(before was every 15-30min now is 3 to 8 min) and shows the speed sensor issue, if i shutdown the car and put it in drive it works even with the error showing but again stop working in a few minutes. Also uploaded the gateway firmware trying to fix this.

I'll try to check with the osciloscope the encoder signals just to confirm that the old and new encoders are ok.

What do you think what could be? Any insight will be appreciated.

Was there coolant on the original sensor when you replaced it? If coolant found its way into the inverter, it may be possible for the speed sensor signal to be corrupted.

 

[ogmm]

i have checked all wiring from the sensor all the way to the inverter board and everything seems to be fine. No coolant found at any part of the motor/inverter. I'm wondering if the HV reset(like Doug said on post #27) could be the fix but since i have took apart all the motor i can not install the HV fuse. @asavage Could you please try to disconnect the 12v battery then disconect the HV fuse, also disconect the low voltage connector from the inverter side, wait for a night and put it back together, and test if the issue still going.

 

[asavage]

See reply to this and your duplicate post here.