Hi all, first post here, I'm new to Hybrids but not auto work and high voltage wiring (years of CNC machine tool repair experience).

Quick background: Recently bought an 09 FEH, build date 05/09. It had sat for about 3 years but ran and drove fine. (I didn't know that this was bad at the time, but that's a longer story) 64,000 miles. My son drove the car for two weeks, 15 minute work commute exclusively. He then parked the car for a week, then no crank, no start. I believe my son didn't run the car long enough to fully charge/condition the HV battery. Forscan showed the voltage at a tick below 300VDC, SoC was near 2%, and it said the batteries were good. I have the codes somewhere, will post later.

I pull the HV battery intending to follow the several excellent threads on charging it. I had a 430VDC LED power supply (Meanwell HLG-120H-C350A) ready to go. I removed the battery covers and surprise! there's a jump starter there that I didn't expect to see on an '09; so I have either a unicorn or the battery's been swapped (P/N 5M64-10B759-AP, don't know if there's a date code). There are no wires from the jump starter to the rest of the car; the forward edge has an unused connector. There was, of course, no magic button in the driver's footwell area.

At the rear edge of the jump starter are two orange-wrapped wires. I removed the connectors and I have 300VDC at them, with the safety switch installed in the UNLOCK position. Remove the orange switch and no voltage.

I see my choices as:
- continue disassembly and connect my power supply at the relay terminals, or
- connect my power supply to the two wires that attached to the jump starter, (my favorite idea right now) or
- connect 12VDC (probably battery charger) to the unused connector at the jump starter forward edge, and let it do it's thing. I don't favor this since I don't have wiring diagrams to determine what the consequences are.

I need your thoughts - I assume the 430VDC is OK to charge with, it was a unit that someone, somewhere recommended.

TIA, more data coming as I get time.

Ron

 

So you're telling us this car sat for three full years and you just jumped in it, started it right up and drove it? That's impossible.

 

No, the seller did *something*...not sure; he was a little vague. When I test drove it, I key started it and went for a few miles OK. My son then drove it as mentioned. Maybe the PO had a different battery put in. There are scratches under the tray that I didn't put there and wouldn't have come from it being normally installed.

 

It sounds like the seller swapped the battery with one from an earlier year to get it sold and leave you hanging afterward. This can probably be fixed. At least it's showing 300 volts. Make sure you have a GOOD 12V battery in it too. I'm leaning toward Choice #1, because I do not know if Choice #2 or Choice #3 will work. We know #1 works. I hope S Keith agrees or has some additional input. I feel badly for you. Your seller screwed you.

 

Maybe that's why it was $3200. Too good to be true.

 

There are factory shop manual on the hybrid system on ebay for reasonable prices.

 

just as a note, the in cabin switch on the models of 08 and earlier was in the side of the dash, in the corner. Open the door and it is about belt
buckle high.
that is definitely a battery from 05 to 08 that was put in there.
i favor #2 since it is the easiest (but I defer because i cannot offer an opinion based on expertise).
those charger are hard to find since to buy one off of ebay (say) they are tooo high dollar. Most are home built as I did mine.
It should have diodes and a fuse in the circuit.

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

I chose to charge from the wires that connect to the jump starter. I removed the BCM to be safe. Currently the HV battery is recharging with the power supply mentioned above. Diode and fuse in place. Voltage rising steadily, currently ~350VDC after 4 hours. Vechicle started OK and appears to be roadworthy. Remaining codes:
PCM: P1000:00-2B
APIM: U0100:00-2B
GEM/SJB: B2872-E0

Lacking a manual (it's on order) to determine how to wire a button to the jump starter, I will connect some wires to the relay tomorrow so I can apply the LED charger in the future.