Racerx944

I believe VIA sold their inventory of the Vtrux parts inventory and is no longer supporting this platform. a battery recycler bought 100s of these new A123 5.05KWH modules and resold them to someone else. I snagged a few of used modules they had and verified they came from VIA as it had stickers from VIA on them. I also know someone who bought 4 of their inverter/chargers for other vehicles to export power in AC 240V and 120V. I don't know if you fixed the problem but I am posting for future readers to keep their truck on the road. "All have voltage" is not specific enough. The larger (4x) modules are 26S3P in configuration and @ 3.3V nominal voltage, they should be around 85.5V each. The single 12S3P smaller odule should be at about 39 to 40V. One of my Vtrux had 2 bad modules causing it to not start or charge. I pulled the pack out of another running Vtrux I have and it ran and drove so the battery is definitely the problem. If you have proper voltage in all modules, I would replace the contactors. You don't have to go with the VIA original as long as you can find the same or higher spec contactors for the EV. The pack is very easy to remove, especially if you have a EV repair shop. With a car lift and a lift table, I was able to drop the pack in 30 minutes (with the clips for the HV connectors being the most time consuming as I didn't want to break them. In other words, it is not difficult to drop the pack to inspect components inside as these trucks are a specialty vehicle. The lid will require 2 people as it needs to be lifted from the back side first, slid forward an inch, and the front side will clear the connectors/coolant hose inlet. Once the lid is open, it only takes a few minutes to get to the contactors and test/remove/replace them.

More screens on the display from the van and the red "panic button" by the parking brakes:

That display is original from VIA Motors. Same with the iPad. I bought out the solar inventory out of one of the biggest solar installers in San Diego when they went bankrupt so I am sitting on about 150KWH worth of used LG Chem RESU batteries. I am planning to experiment with an external battery pack that is charged separate from the truck so I don't have to mess with the vehicle electronics. I want to "tap" into the DC input to the DC/AC inverter/charger , which I believe powers the motor controller downstream. If I can't find a 112S BMS (doubtful), I am just going to balance the pack manually initially and use it without a BMS. I figure the motor controller will limit how much power it pulls from the battery pack. I will have to use LED voltage display on each of the 7S battery blocks (16 blocks of 7S each) to get 396V to make sure the battery doesn't go out of balance.

I jumped on that deal right away. Look around for a replacement. It will cost you twice the amount. Even if you have the motor rewound, I was quoted $395 for the rebuild on that pump and I doubt it will be the same as a new one. I used the EVSE from a 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt. The EVSE will accept both 120V input or 240V input to charge at level 2 so I made an extension cord that puts out 240V with a 120V female receptacle into the Volt EVSE to charge it at level 2 (I believe @ 3.3KW). Everything at my house is powered by solar panels and Li Ion battery including the car charging.

I hope the dealer will give you a good price though I would imagine it won't be cheap since not many people want to work with HV traction batteries. I have to charge the battery in the van somehow. It is one of the very early prototype of their prototype fleet. It has an iPad in the dash and only has 2400 miles with original tires from 2013. If I can't figure out how to get it to run, I will probably convert it to gas and take the EV parts to use in another conversion to all electric using only batteries without an ICE. If I have to take apart the battery pack, I will post pix.

Pretty strange they charged you for a contactor and EDM. I figure that the contactor would be in the EDM. Now you just have to get a quote for installation. Suggestion is to take personal info out of the invoice. Maybe I am just more paranoid.

How much did they quote you on replacing the contactor and have you contemplated doing it yourself?

I didn't end up with his truck. I read his post and how he fixed his problem which he indicated was "common" for our trucks. The contactors are likely not difficult to replace other than lowering the battery pack and opening the pack without shocking yourself. If I had to replace mine, I would do it myself. The document you provided about the A123 battery pack shows an Electrical Distribution Module (EDM) and this is what a contactor looks like (round with posts on top).

I will need to likely drop the battery pack in the van as it seems to be completely dead. If it is anything like the Chevy Volt, it probably wouldn't be too bad. Someone replaced the 100A contactor with a 200A one from what I have read. It is dangerous though as live wires are involved. If you get any info on the internals of the battery pack, please post them as I would love to decipher with certainty instead of extrapolating information.

Are you charging level 1 @120V or level 2 @ 240V? I have found that the grounding to neutral on the 120V has to be good or it won't charge. If you don't have a proper ground on your EVSE cable (example: using a 2 wire extension cable without the 3rd wire for ground or the neutral for your wall socket is not bonded to ground in your breaker panel of the house, it won't charge). I believe the 240V on a typical level 2 charger has to have a L1 to L2 voltage of 240V and L1 OR L2 to neutral has to be 102V. This type of conditions can cause intermittent charging problems.

So far, I believe this is the best thread on the internet about these trucks. I have both the truck and van version of VIA motors conversion. The pump you are talking about is likely not cleanable to make it work again easily. This is my pump I just replaced and it was burnt to a crisp. It is a Meziere wpx702 and they still make it though it costs $1000+ typically. VIA sold me mine for $540 and shipping which cost $570 total shipped to my door 3 days later. It is the best deal going and Travis is a great guy. It has 4 hoses with automatic transmission fluid going to it. Be ready to take a swim in ATF if you are replacing this unit. You will need a crimping type of pliar for one of the hose clamps as it is a crimp on type or you can buy a screw on one to replace it. When this pump is not working, no coolant goes to the traction motor or the generator and my guess from reading the motor document, it "demagnetizes" at a certain temperature probably for self protection so the ICE engine has no load and revs to redline and not able to charge the battery pack. I want to find a way to attach an external lithium ion battery pack to add to the capacity of the factory pack and maybe even eliminate the ICE motor altogether. If anybody have suggestions, I would appreciate it. Based on the information I believe, the truck uses A123 Lithium Iron Phosphate type of battery that has 3.3V nominal voltage per cell and they are 120 in series (3.3V x 102) to make 396V nominal battery packs. I figure an equivalent voltage of 3.7V lithium ion batteries will take 107 in series x 3.7V to get 395.9V nominal voltage. I believe these trucks are good for gearheads with a good mixture of "nerd" in them to own but not for everybody. I have been working on ICE vehicles for decades and taken apart a few EVs and hybrids (Prius, Volts, and these VIA converts) while repairing some that were worthy.