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Einstein (my 2021 AWD Pro S) just had a (self-inflicted) stroke

2246 Views 23 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Mike Bouck, 4 mo ago

Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago (Edited)

I guess I wasn't able to dodge the gremlin gods forever. Sigh. Car lit-up like a Christmas tree and the 12V died soon thereafter. Thankfully this happened in my driveway but the worst part is I couldn't disengage the e-brake so had to dolly tow it 7 miles to the dealer. Tried disconnecting/reconnecting the 12V as well as providing external 12V to the battery posts. No dice. Just heard from the service tech that they can't even wake the car up. Seems like it's bricked. They have a call into the factory tech. Of course this car was running venerable 2.1 with the old 12V battery. Updates to follow...

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Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #2 · 4 mo ago

Note - if you can't engage neutral then you can't enable roll mode which you need to get onto a flat-bed tow truck. In this scenario you MUST dolly tow it with a wheel-lift tow truck:

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eb2143

· #3 · 4 mo ago

Sorry to hear. wouldn't it be worth popping on portable jump pack or battery tender to at least try to energize 12V system enough to wake up and put in neutral?

Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #4 · 4 mo ago

eb2143 said:
Sorry to hear. wouldn't it be worth popping on portable jump pack or battery tender to at least try to energize 12V system enough to wake up and put in neutral?

Tried that - didn't help. Even tried disconnecting the 12V entirely and reconnecting to reboot the computers. By the time the tech looked at it the next day the car was bricked and he couldn't even wake it up by connecting the 12V to an external source. Einstein is one sick puppy at the moment. If the car isn't even waking up with external 12V provided then a fuse is blown or ICAS is probably smoked or something...

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AttyID4

· #5 · 4 mo ago

The same thing happened to me, the car is been in service for over 6 weeks now, started the buyback process. I hope you are lucky and get a faster fix.

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VW Dave

· #6 · 4 mo ago

Has anyone found the part number for the new 12V battery and proactively replaced it without dealer help? Or is there something so special about that battery that only a dealer can do it? Will the replacement behave correctly with the v2.1 software?

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Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #7 · 4 mo ago

VW Dave said:
Has anyone found the part number for the new 12V battery and proactively replaced it without dealer help? Or is there something so special about that battery that only a dealer can do it? Will the replacement behave correctly with the v2.1 software?

I suggested to the dealer tech that maybe they could install the new 12V or at the very least swap it out for a fully-energized old 12V. Haven't heard anything yet. My suspicion, however, is that the car's charger needs an update to support the new 12V (or at the very least new config data so it knows what kind-of battery it's charging).

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Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #8 · 4 mo ago

AttyID4 said:
The same thing happened to me, the car is been in service for over 6 weeks now, started the buyback process. I hope you are lucky and get a faster fix.

Oh man that sucks. Are you getting a 2023 Chattanooga build as a replacement or are you done altogether?

Einar98281

· #9 · 4 mo ago

VW Dave said:
Has anyone found the part number for the new 12V battery ...

The 'New" EFB+ battery has this PN printed on the sticker: 1S0915105B

https://www.vwidtalk.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.vwidtalk.com/attachments/1673800365437-png.20206/

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VW TECHNICIAN

· #10 · 4 mo ago

12V battery new chemistry is EFB+ , if will need 12V battery adaptation and change in 12V battery coding side.

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d287

· #11 · 4 mo ago

VW TECHNICIAN said:
12V battery new chemistry is EFB+ , if will need 12V battery adaptation and change in 12V battery coding side.

In my Golf, the adaptation is relatively simple - just use VCDS or OBDeleven to change the battery brand, model number, capacity and chemistry. Is it the same on MEB cars, or is it more complicated?

I know lots of folks who run AGM batteries on their Golfs, and I imagine if the coding is the same, we could do that on the ID.4 as well?

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d287

· #12 · 4 mo ago

For those curious at home, here's a video detailing the process on the MEB ICE cars...

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Mrau

· #13 · 4 mo ago (Edited)

d287 said:
the adaptation is relatively simple - just use VCDS or OBDeleven

That battery adaptation has been removed from OBDeleven for the ID4. It was there a few weeks ago, but now says unavailable. Can't even view the current setting.

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VW TECHNICIAN

· #14 · 4 mo ago

d287 said:
In my Golf, the adaptation is relatively simple - just use VCDS or OBDeleven to change the battery brand, model number, capacity and chemistry. Is it the same on MEB cars, or is it more complicated?

I know lots of folks who run AGM batteries on their Golfs, and I imagine if the coding is the same, we could do that on the ID.4 as well?

Yes quite simple if you are familiar with obdeleven
Example

VW TECHNICIAN

· #15 · 4 mo ago

Here is example

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eb2143

· #16 · 4 mo ago

Mike Bouck said:
Tried that - didn't help. Even tried disconnecting the 12V entirely and reconnecting to reboot the computers. By the time the tech looked at it the next day the car was bricked and he couldn't even wake it up by connecting the 12V to an external source. Einstein is one sick puppy at the moment. If the car isn't even waking up with external 12V provided then a fuse is blown or ICAS is probably smoked or something...

Wow, keep us posted. They gave you a loaner?

You don't happen to know your 12V state of health / voltage in the weeks beforehand from CarScanner or OBDeleven do you?

Higgs_Moron

· #17 · 4 mo ago

I remember I had to register the new battery using BimmerCode Android app using an OBD reader in my 2014 BMW X1. Dunno if id4 has a similar process.

Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #18 · 4 mo ago

Pl

eb2143 said:
Wow, keep us posted. They gave you a loaner?

You don't happen to know your 12V state of health / voltage in the weeks beforehand from CarScanner or OBDeleven do you?

I don't have a loaner yet - they need to determine the scope of the problem (and likely repair time) at which point they'll probably put me into a rental if it will be a long wait. I'm 7 miles from the dealer and they arranged a Lyft ride home in the interim (I work from home and have another car so it's fine for the moment). The service agent was telling me VWoA cut way back on loaners - not sure why.

I wasn't able to get the SOH of the 12V but it appeared to me the car wasn't charging the battery - makes sense if the HV system was disengaged (also explains why I couldn't release the e-brake). I do know it was around 11.7 volts when I connected my battery charger to the designated posts. I trickle-charged it for about an hour which got the voltage up to about 12.5V but once I removed the charger it was quickly drained again.

Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #19 · 4 mo ago

Update:

Factory engineer asked dealer tech to replace battery but that had no effect (car still dead). Current action item is to pin-out some cable harnesses. In the meantime I'm waiting to hear from the dealer about getting a rental/loaner (they're apparently consulting dealer management).

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Mike Bouck

Discussion Starter · #20 · 4 mo ago

Update:

There's a mostly happy-ending to this story - TLDR is I have my car back and everything is working normally. The good news for all of us is that this was user error due to a fuse I re-inserted into the wrong (empty) socket when I was debugging why my USB-C ports were not supplying power (also fixed). I forgot I had checked SC20 (telephone) to see if it was blown (it wasn't). However - I also went on to check SC48 which is labeled as "USB Charging Socket 1" on the fuse location schematic. This fuse was also not blown. However, I re-inserted it into the wrong empty socket on the fuse panel; there are several empty sockets on either side of this fuse location. Apparently the fuse panels are shelf-stock inventory which were re-purposed for the MEB vehicles and aren't ideal as there are MANY empty fuse sockets on the panels. Once the correct socket was populated with the fuse the system rebooted OK. The tech then cleared all the codes and ran some qualification tests on the car.

Learnings:

Don't remove a fuse just to determine if it's blown. Instead you can simply shine a bright light on the fuse panel and look through the translucent tops of the fuses to see if they are blown without removing the fuse itself. This is especially important on MEB cars as removing the wrong fuse can brick/reset the ECUs which will require a dealer visit. Especially don't EVER remove the fireman fuses (marked with a flag sticker). If you are unlucky it will blow the pyro fuse in the HV battery pack and to replace that fuse is non-trivial (read $$$$).
SC48 doesn't appear to have anything to do with the USB-C ports (despite its confusing labeling). What it does control, however, is the power to the engine control ECU which is why I couldn't disengage the e-brake or get it into gear. It also controls power to the HV to 12V DC-DC converter which is why my 12V died.

At least my USB-C ports are working now...

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