hard lock steering effects

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Badger
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hard lock steering effects

Postby Badger » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:10 pm

Hello all,
I bought my blingo on ebay almost a year ago and have had many happy miles of motoring. When it rolled off the transporter from lancashire it had 60% percent so i took it straight of to have its mot - no problem but on the way home it shut down whilst on 50% grrr! i towed it home and learned that nicads hate inactivity and that it had been stored by a scrap merchant who was thinking of breaking it for parts. so i charged it and took it out again and ran it down to 0% and gradually during 4-6 weeks the range crept up to 44 miles. before christmas it started to cut out at about 20% and since then this has been getting slowly worse with more recent cutout @ 35% happening more frequently although every now and then i would be surprised with journey ending 0-5% with no problems .however today i had eco light come on at 45%! arghh!(i have just pulled out under bonnet fuse and put it back in, as suggested in some other thread which has turned off the eco light but an alarming drop in remaining power from 45% to 18% has occured in just 3or4 hours whilst parked! :shock: )
so to get to the point here, since just before christmas whenever i turn the wheel to full lock the power needle goes crazy going clockwise past 100% mark to 0% and back again all the lights go out but come back on straight away and whilst a bit unnerving generally doesnt effect performance, although yesterday this same thing happened as i pulled out at a junction and left me needing to restart the 'ignition' which i was not expecting and remembering that this will only happen in park gear found myself putting gear into park whilst still moving to regain control and re-establish 'ignition'as there was a bus fast approaching behind, a series of clicks could then be heard as it obviously was not enjoying being put into park whilst moving (i hope i havnt done any damage) If anyone can shed any light on any of these points i would be very gratefull as citroen seemed to have washed their hands of me ,but thats another story!
you are more possible than you can powerfully imagine.

www.woodrum.co.uk

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:46 pm

Hello Badger

mmmmm well this is a new one on me :shock:

Is the Aux 12volt battery OK ?? I'm wondering if you may have issues with the 12v and thats upsetting the control side of things ???

You will get low range readings during the winter months TBH , I've found its dropped off by about 10-15miles but I live in a very flat area and could imagine anyone living in a hilly area suffering 20+ mile range drop during the winter :shock:

Never a good idea to select the "P" when still moving, doing it once in a while shouldnt do any real harm but if you carry on you will wear the paw out and and it will stop working I suspect.

Back to the range issue are you doing the same journey and having different results ?? the energy meter is pretty could over the same journey day in day out, but if you suddenly do something different it can get upset.

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!

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Badger
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Postby Badger » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:56 pm

Hello Chris ,
I have suspected some problem with the aux batt as sometimes the key turn does nothing for a few seconds until the topup for the batt kicks in then it is fine again but since i am strictly a wood man i have little knowledge of multimeters etc , I shall check this out further but am a little confused as to the exact procedure of resetting the system after changing the 12v as mentioned in the rough translation on the blingo enthusiast site , if you know of any clearer reference to this procedure twould be good.
you are more possible than you can powerfully imagine.



www.woodrum.co.uk

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:04 am

If you plan to disconnect the 12v aux batt the first thing you MUST do is to remove one of the traction pack fuses.
The easy one to get to is the one thats just by the 12v aux batt, pull either one as that will remove the main power from the controller, then you can remove the 12v aux connections without fear of doing any damage or having problems.
The 12v batt should have atleast 12.5v off charge and 13.8v with the ignition on.

Without actually being able to see the vehicle I'd suggest changing the 12volt first, they arnt that expensive and follow the remove the main pack fuse first rule and swap it out and see what happens ??

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!

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timpootle
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Postby timpootle » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:43 am

Holding full lock is a big draw from the aux battery. I don't know why, but I can hear the vacuum pump slow and see the lights dim when I do it.

My advice would be to avoid full lock- wind it on all the way, but then back off immediately. That's what I do.

Your range is problem is consistent with a flat aux battery, from what I have read here and on www.berlingo-e.co.uk. Thankfully I have not encountered it myself. The DC-DC converter seems to work very hard to compensate, drawing power from the traction pack.

I am more worried about your parking pawl. Is it all OK now? Does it engage and disengage smoothly, and has the clicking disappeared?
Tim Crumpton

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:28 am

timpootle wrote:I am more worried about your parking pawl. Is it all OK now? Does it engage and disengage smoothly, and has the clicking disappeared?


Tim I think Badge means the clicking was because he engaged "Park" whilst the vehicle was still moving, and the clicking is the paw riding over the indents, similar to if you apply "park" on an auto box whilst the vehicle is still moving.

You should really NEVER engage "PARK" with the vehicle still moving, you can "get away" with it a couple of times but you run the risk of damaging the paw and then losing the transmission brake.

As you say sounds like a 12aux battery fault

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!

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Badger
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Postby Badger » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:52 am

Thank you both this is very helpfull ,yes the parking pawl is fine and as ever i need to make sure hand brake goes on before selecting'p' as otherwise the vehicle rolls a couple of inches and then becomes really hard to pull out of park . Apart from this it still engages and disengages fine (what does the pawl bit mean/stand for)
So now i cant wait to get a new 12v batt i assume any regular car 12v batt will do or is their any recommended for EV's :D
you are more possible than you can powerfully imagine.



www.woodrum.co.uk

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timpootle
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Postby timpootle » Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:40 pm

Badger wrote:what does the pawl bit mean?


Aha! A victim!

The pawl is the cam which engages on a toothed wheel in the transmission, preventing it from moving. Marked on this drawing as 'doight de verrouillage'.

Image

This drawing is one I linked to in another recent post, 'Cutaway drawings'.

I am glad to hear that your car is undamaged. The more I learn, the more impressed I am with its design.
Tim Crumpton

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timpootle
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Postby timpootle » Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:44 pm

Badger wrote: So now i cant wait to get a new 12v batt i assume any regular car 12v batt will do or is their any recommended for EV's


Not EV specifically, but take care when buying your battery that it actually fits in the hole. A friend did this job just last month, and asked the shop for the cheapest battery they had for a Berlingo. Turned out it was physically too big, and he had to go back to them and swap it.
Tim Crumpton

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:28 pm

Yes the hole it fits in is a bit tight, best option is to either take the old one out and take it with you or drive to the supplier and open the bonnet (stand back for gasps of amazement) and ask them for one that will fit in that space with the correct terminal arrangement etc.

I would go with the latter and look for a local motor factors, its always great to see folks faces when you lift the bonnet and they see that theres no engine :lol:

Be warned as I dont think its a standard berlingo battery :wink: hence why Tims mate ended up with one that was to big


ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!


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