Cannot charge

[10basetom]

This just started happening: I plug the EVSE cable in, the lights slowly blink like it's charging normally, then after about 12 seconds both lights blink 19 times and charging prematurely stops with a "charging stopped by system malfunction" error in the dashboard.

Before bringing it in to the dealership, I was wondering if there is something I can try to fix this. This error occurs regardless of whether I plug in the original 120V cable or the aftermarket 240V cable.

UPDATE:

If you are experiencing this same issue with your Rav4 EV, then try steps 1-6 of the "Tony Test" first. This could save you anywhere between $850 and $3500+ if the dealership misdiagnoses the root cause and ends up replacing a component that didn't need replacing.

 

[user 340]

This just started happening: I plug the charging cable in, the lights blink like it's about to start charging, then after about 5s the lights (and charging) turn off with an error in the dashboard that says "charging turned off because of system error".

Before bringing it in to the dealership, I was wondering if there is something I can try to fix this. This error occurs regardless of whether I plug in the original 120V cable or the aftermarket 240V cable.

Unfortunately this is the classic symptom of a failed on-board charger. Toyota wants a pretty penny for a replacement, but that isn't an issue if you have valid extended warranty. Tony Williams / Quick Charge Power may be able to provide a lower cost repair or replacement if your warranty has expired. In any case, it would be good to confirm that this is the issue by having a dealer (or perhaps QCP) read the error code on the car's bus.

Good luck, and let us know how things turn out!

 

[10basetom]

Unfortunately this is the classic symptom of a failed on-board charger. Toyota wants a pretty penny for a replacement, but that isn't an issue if you have valid extended warranty. Tony Williams / Quick Charge Power may be able to provide a lower cost repair or replacement if your warranty has expired. In any case, it would be good to confirm that this is the issue by having a dealer (or perhaps QCP) read the error code on the car's bus.

Good luck, and let us know how things turn out!

Thanks, I just dropped it off at Tustin Toyota...already dropped $160 to diagnose it. The charging assembly is $3500, so let's hope it's not that. I should know in about a day or so. This is my first time paying for servicing after 72k miles, but I suspect it won't be the last.

I'll update here when I know more.

P.S. Tony is an option, but I'd need to get car towed from OC to SD since it's only got 49 miles of range.

 

[alflash]

... I just dropped it off at Tustin Toyota...already dropped $160 to diagnose it. The charging assembly is $3500, so let's hope it's not that...

Documented/factual diagnostic results, for example, Tesla electric propulsion control systems fault codes (aka alert codes*) and the results of additional Checks?

Judging by the price, I assume that only Toyota systems were diagnosed...

* For example, code CHG_f028

http://alflash.com.ua/2019/to_rav4ev/_f028.png

or code CHG_f078
https://youtu.be/-TQCu5Tqm6c?t=9

 

[10basetom]

UPDATE: Luckily Tustin Toyota still had an EV specialist on hand to do a proper diagnosis. Good news: the fault likely isn't with the onboard charging assembly ($3500 excluding labor). The not-so-good news: there is an intermittent electrical problem with the charging port, which needs to be replaced, and the total cost including labor is $850.

 

[hbrav]

Ours is a 2012 we live in Huntington Beach and the RAV has 68K miles. We still get good range on a charge like 100 to 120. The car died on my wife fortunately I was able to figure out it was the speed sensor on the motor and bought one from Tony it fixed the problem. I'm hoping other things don't start going wrong

If your nearby I'd be happy to help out with any other problems you run into or maybe you can help us out if ours goes south. Or we go to Tony!

Steve

 

[10basetom]

Ours is a 2012 we live in Huntington Beach and the RAV has 68K miles. We still get good range on a charge like 100 to 120. The car died on my wife fortunately I was able to figure out it was the speed sensor on the motor and bought one from Tony it fixed the problem. I'm hoping other things don't start going wrong

If your nearby I'd be happy to help out with any other problems you run into or maybe you can help us out if ours goes south. Or we go to Tony!

Steve

Awesome, thanks in advance, Steve! We're in Mission Viejo, so not too far. Rav4 EVs are rare and getting rarer, so we're blessed to have this forum.

 

[hokiematt]

UPDATE: Luckily Tustin Toyota still had an EV specialist on hand to do a proper diagnosis. Good news: the fault likely isn't with the onboard charging assembly ($3500 excluding labor). The not-so-good news: there is an intermittent electrical problem with the charging port, which needs to be replaced, and the total cost including labor is $850.

Just wondering: did the EV tech note any fault codes or specific behavior on the Tesla side? I'm curious how he determined it was the charge port and not the charger, might help others with similar symptoms..

 

[10basetom]

Just wondering: did the EV tech note any fault codes or specific behavior on the Tesla side? I'm curious how he determined it was the charge port and not the charger, might help others with similar symptoms..

The EV specialist wasn't working that day, so everything I was told was conveyed to me by the service manager who read it off his notes. He didn't mention any specific codes (hopefully I'll know more once I get the paperwork/receipt), but he did say the EV specialist was 99% sure it was the charging port because in the rare cases when all the pins did make a proper connection, the battery was charging properly. It seems the pins inside the charging port started to malfunction through seven years of wear and tear. Another thought that entered my mind, though highly unlikely, is that the aftermarket 240V charger connector I bought was responsible for this since it's kind of a tight fit compared to the stock 120V connector.

 

[asavage]

Other than the issue with certain early Blink EVSE J1772 nozzles frying sockets, I don't recall anybody having an issue with the RAV4 EV's inlet connector . . . but lots & lots of us have had failed onboard chargers. That's why yours is an important data point, if replacing yours eliminates that error message in the long term.

 

[10basetom]

Other than the issue with certain early Blink EVSE J1772 nozzles frying sockets, I don't recall anybody having an issue with the RAV4 EV's inlet connector . . . but lots & lots of us have had failed onboard chargers. That's why yours is an important data point, if replacing yours eliminates that error message in the long term.

I'll be sure to report back once I get my car back in working order. It's been almost a week and the car is still in the shop (they did mention the Tesla part will take time to arrive).

 

[10basetom]

Hey guys, I finally got the car back today. As seen in attached pic, the part itself was $310; it was mostly the labor involved in taking the car apart to replace that part that made it total $850.

The first thing I did when I reached home was plug in my 240V charger to see if the problem was still there. At first I got a scare because it exhibited the exact same issue (charged for about 10s and turned off by system malfunction error). Next I tried turning the car on and off a couple times, disabled extended charge mode, unplugged charger from wall, plugged it in a minute later, then plugged the other end into the car again. This time it started charging like normal.

I've since disconnected it and will try once more tonight.

 

[asavage]

Thanks for that invoice scan.

Looks like they claim that your 120v EVSE causes an "HV Warning Light to come on". Hmmmm. Good trick, that.

I find it somewhat difficult to connect a problem with the J1772 receptacle and associated wiring, with "Vehicle died while driving". Did that happen? I don't see that you mentioned that symptom upthread.

But, hey, if it works, then it's fixed. Good data point.

 

[10basetom]

Thanks for that invoice scan.

Looks like they claim that your 120v EVSE causes an "HV Warning Light to come on". Hmmmm. Good trick, that.

I find it somewhat difficult to connect a problem with the J1772 receptacle and associated wiring, with "Vehicle died while driving". Did that happen? I don't see that you mentioned that symptom upthread.

But, hey, if it works, then it's fixed. Good data point.

Yeah not sure why they included that info. What happened was the first time I encountered the charging malfunction I thought it was simply because I forgot to plug the car in overnight since when I drove it later in the afternoon the range only showed ~55 miles (only in hindsight I realized that I did plug it in overnight but it never charged). On the way home the car ran out of power within 0.5 miles from home (fortunately I was able to park it in a residential area right when turtle icon appeared). I was able to walk home and had it towed the next morning. Somehow charging worked on a completely dead battery that day. However, the next time I tried to charge it I encountered the charging issue again and that's when I brought it to the dealership.

 

[alflash]

10basetom, Thanks for the information.
Let's hope a car was completely fixed.

For reference.
https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota__RAV4/INLET-SUB-ASSEMBLY---EV-CHARGER-WITH-CABLE/63355360/G90810R013.html

 

[10basetom]

10basetom, Thanks for the information.
Let's hope a car was completely fixed.

For reference.
https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota__RAV4/INLET-SUB-ASSEMBLY---EV-CHARGER-WITH-CABLE/63355360/G90810R013.html

Cool, thanks for the link! I plugged car in yesterday night and it was charging normally again, thank goodness. I hope it stays this way.

 

[10basetom]

UPDATE: After driving the car down to 20mi range, I tried to plug it in this morning and faced the same issue as before. This leads me to think the charging assembly is at fault and I may have wasted almost $900 to replace a component that didn't need replacing because of a misdiagnosis by the technician. As a last ditch effort, I will order another charging cable. Will update progress here...

 

[alflash]

1. Now you again have situation, if plug the charging cable in, the lights Blink like it's about to start charging, then after about 5s the lights (and charging) turn off with an error in the dashboard that says "charging turned off because of system error"? For example as shown in https://youtu.be/qGblXayXXL4?t=23

2. Have the Charger Assembly fuses been checked previously?

3. Take a look to Tech26's story with a happy ending http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1196&p=29147#p29147

4. Is it possible to get a refund for paying for unnecessary / useless work?

 

[asavage]

Unfortunately, tech26 didn't post the pictures for that fuse replacement where we can see them. I reached out to him via email a while back, hoping to get those pics, no dice.

My experience with electronics fuses is that they very rarely blow for no reason

The RAV4 EV onboard chrger is fairly expensive when they come up for sale used (I think I saw one on eBay last week for $1500). I have it on good authority that the Model S Gen 1 onboard chrger can be substituted, but its firmware must be re-flashed to work with the RAV4 EV, and it's hard to do that "in the wild".

Model S Gen 1 chrgers are all over eBay at $300 and up.

The Model S Gen 2 chrgers are said to be more reliable, but are apparently not backward compatible with Gen 1, and now that there's an affordable aftermarket CAN interface that works with the Gen 2 chrgers, their used value is rising, as they can be used as an inexpensive high-quality chrger for solar banks, EV conversions, etc.

 

[10basetom]

Thank very much for the information, guys. I'm not sure what my course of action is long-term, but Tustin Toyota has agreed to let me try to use their charger on Monday to see if it works. The first thing I requested when I had the car serviced was for them to test for blown fuses, and they assured me it's not the fuses. According to the technician the car wouldn't even charge at their charging station when I brought it in until they replaced the charging connector, so I'm curious whether it will charge again when I bring it in. If it doesn't charge, then I will try to see if I can get a refund; if it charges fine, then I will order a new charger to see if that fixes it.

What 240V charger do you guys recommend (up to 32A)?