Charging has stopped due to system malfunction message?

[swogee]

Well after a fairly reliable 69K miles, our RAV4 EV seems to be exhibiting signs of its first possible major problem.

On Sunday morning I was attempting to use a charging station at the Home Depot in SLO which is a Clipper Creek 7.2kW unit. After plugging the RAV4 in it would start charging normally then after about 30 seconds it would stop charging. I tried unplugging and reinserting the plug with no luck a couple more times. The RAV4 would stop charging each time after it was plugged in. It would show a message along lines of "charging has stopped due to system malfunction". Since there were two stations, I also tried using the other Clipper Creek unit and it also would start charging and then stop. I drove home and then plugged into a JESLA EVSE connected to a NEMA 14-50 outlet and again it promptly stopped charging. I tried a 12V reset of the system (disconnecting the ground at the 12V battery for 30 seconds) as a long shot to see if that would fix the problem with no luck. As a final test I plugged the RAV4 into the included 120V Toyota/Panasonic charging cord and it then started charging without stopping.

Fast forward to about 14 hours later and I decide to try using the JESLA again (@ 10 kW) to charge the RAV4 and it now seems to work properly so it charges without stopping.

Additional info: the RAV4 is set to start charging right when the plug is inserted and there is a JDEMO that can be used as backup.

This is the first time I have been unable to get the RAV4 to charge when plugging it into to a L2 EVSE. I think the charger is starting to go bad. Any thoughts or ideas? I can continue to monitor the RAV4 for additional charger failures, but if it is intermittent it will be hard for the dealer to diagnose. The dealer we take our RAV4 to is Santa Maria Toyota and I'm not sure if they are JDEMO friendly. We haven't heard any complaints about the JDEMO from them in the past, but the service has been fairly routine until now. If the same problem occurs on a trip it would be inconvenient to charge the RAV4 with no L2 charging ability.

 

[eplantz]

have you ever replaced the 12V battery (still have the original)??

 

[TonyWilliams]

Classic symptoms for failing onboard charger.

 

[swogee]

The 12V battery was replaced with an Optima Yellow top in December 2015.

I figure the onboard charger is on its way out at this point. However if it is intermittent the dealer may not be able to diagnose the problem.

Does the JDEMO needs to be moved out of the way to get to the charger? I guess I'll print the instructions and include them with the service request just in case.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The 12V battery was replaced with an Optima Yellow top in December 2015.

I figure the onboard charger is on its way out at this point. However if it is intermittent the dealer may not be able to diagnose the problem.

Does the JDEMO needs to be moved out of the way to get to the charger? I guess I'll print the instructions and include them with the service request just in case.

This is not specifically for the onboard charger, but very similar.

JdeMO Supplement - Cabin Heater removal:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2t32jg2u7w3d968/ToyotaRav4EVJdeMOsupplementForCabinHeaterRemoval.pdf?dl=0

 

[user 340]

Good luck with this. My car had similar issues last summer, but it was a hard failure and not intermittent. My dealer (Toyota Palo Alto) quickly diagnosed the failed internal charger with the Tesla error code / alert CHG_f078. That was the easy part. Toyota would not authorize warranty replacement until the JdeMO was completely removed, but you may be luckier than me. Please keep us posted.

 

[Altan]

I had same Tesla error code CHG_f078. Did you end up replacing charger unit? How much did it cost?

 

[user 340]

I had same Tesla error code CHG_f078. Did you end up replacing charger unit? How much did it cost?

Yes, Toyota eventually replaced the charger after I had the JdeMO removed. Fortunately it was covered by the 5 yr / 60,000 mi drivetrain warranty. I don't see a retail price listed on my invoice. I hope that you can get yours down to a reasonable cost!

 

[Syrinx]

I had this problem fixed last month - see http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2211

The code was CHGF078, and the costs were as follows:

$3439.18 - Chargr Assy
$28.96 - G48 Coolant
$35.10 - Super Long Life Coolant
$554.40 - Labor

This was covered by the extended warranty. Carson Toyota charged me $300 to work around the JDeMO, but restored it to full functionality upon replacement.

 

[slorav4]

Haven't used the HomeDepot Charger on our Rav4 yet, but I've always had extremely slow (Level1) charging speeds on both of those on my Chevy Volt. I usually just park over at Target to use their's and walk across the street.