Post-charging fan problem?

[MrDRMorgan]

Car finished charging a few minutes ago. Fan still running, garage really hot. Outside temp is 85F. I've opened the garage door to cool it down and see if that gets the fan to stop.

Regarding my charger being faulty - I assume you mean my wall unit? - I doubt it. Only because I previously used it for 2.5 years with my Focus Electric. I did have a problem with it for a while, but it was a faulty cable that sometimes let the car start charging and sometimes didn't. I sent it back and they replaced the cable. No problems in the 2 years since. Anything is possible, but since I'm not the first to have the running fan issue, my money is on the car being at fault.

If I can cool the garage and the fan stops, well, I don't know. I don't think it should stay running and heating the enclosed space by default. Doesn't anyone else keep their car in an enclosed garage?

Did you happen to look through the front grill to see if the shutter was open or closed?

I keep both my 2014 Spark EV and 2015 Spark EV in a closed garage although, in hot weather and while I am awake, I keep the garage door raised about 8 inches. Lately, garage temps in the early evening have been running 90 to 100 deg. F at the car level.

 

[AbelGoddard]

Forgot to say, yes I again checked the vent louvers and they were open. I sat outside for the last hour plus, garage cooled down, fan never stopped running. I came in and unplugged it and the fan cut off. I plugged in again and will check in a little while to see if the fan comes back on.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Forgot to say, yes I again checked the vent louvers and they were open. I sat outside for the last hour plus, garage cooled down, fan never stopped running. I came in and unplugged it and the fan cut off. I plugged in again and will check in a little while to see if the fan comes back on.

What type of EVSE are you using to charge the car?

 

[AbelGoddard]

Juicebox

 

[NORTON]

I also have a home built Juicebox from back when they offered kits. I added a kWh meter to it.

Just to clarify, an EVSE is just a Big Ass relay in a box. It's either On or OFF.

There is a pilot signal it generates to tell the car it's rated max current. I set mine to 3.3 kW because of the J1172 cord I bought from amazon.
An EVSE also has GFIC system for safety.

I don't think there is any way for an EVSE to make an EV act the way this one is doing.

>When the fans are running, are they actually blowing away heat?
>Is the dash light flashing, signalling completed charge?
>Where can this heat be coming from?
>And how much power is being consumed all night long while the fans are running, (and removing heat?) ?

One worst case is the TMS is all messed up and it is running the AC compressor and running the battery heater at the same time.
That scenario would produce heat all night long after the battery has topped up.

Hey !! Try a Hard Reboot. Remove the negative 12V battery terminal under the hood. Leave it disconnected for ~ 5 minutes.
At the most you might lose your radio presets....

Good luck !

 

[AbelGoddard]

Thanks I will try that.

Disclaimer: this is me guessing at stuff.

To me, it seems like something is not telling the the fan to stop, because it doesn't seem like the computer knows that the battery is full. I base that theory off of the fact that I don't get the text that the car is fully charged until after I start the car. Last night, after the car finished charging, I went and unplugged it. The car sat the rest of the night (a few hours, really, since I woke up around 3 and did it), but the text came after I got in and started it and was backing out of the garage to go to work. Same thing every day.

I haven't called the dealer yet. The one I will need to go to is not super convenient for me.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Thanks I will try that.

Disclaimer: this is me guessing at stuff.

To me, it seems like something is not telling the the fan to stop, because it doesn't seem like the computer knows that the battery is full. I base that theory off of the fact that I don't get the text that the car is fully charged until after I start the car. Last night, after the car finished charging, I went and unplugged it. The car sat the rest of the night (a few hours, really, since I woke up around 3 and did it), but the text came after I got in and started it and was backing out of the garage to go to work. Same thing every day.

I haven't called the dealer yet. The one I will need to go to is not super convenient for me.

With respect to the "Charging Complete" message - I do not think it means much. After spending all night connected to my L2 EVSE, I disconnected my 2015 Spark EV at around 8am this morning. After charging, the car was not powered on until my wife left at 2:20pm to run some errands. I just received the "Charging Complete" notification in my email at 2:20pm.

 

[AbelGoddard]

But that's what I'm saying - that non-notification isn't good. Something isn't working right if the notification isn't happening when the battery is actually topped off and instead only happens when the car is started.

 

[NORTON]

But that's what I'm saying - that non-notification isn't good. Something isn't working right ...

I agree, part of the puzzle. Who knows, maybe the reboot might reset a bunch of SW.
Might not.

Then,, good luck getting a dealership to understand what you are experiencing and take it like it's a serious problem.
I got the feeling with my Volt that it's a matter of pride with some techs not to call the Mother Ship for Tech Support,,, even though these are complex EV's and the techs can't be expected to be experts on all the issues they can have....

Oh well, I'm really happy my Spark EV has been rock solid !!!
I get my charge complete txt everyday, like clock work from my car! It makes me fell wanted!

 

[67goat]

But that's what I'm saying - that non-notification isn't good. Something isn't working right if the notification isn't happening when the battery is actually topped off and instead only happens when the car is started.

I'm not sure that the notification indicates anything other than the link between the car and OnStar is flakey at best. After a few months, I stopped getting notifications until I started the car. Every couple months, I start getting the notifications on time, but only for a few days and then it is back to the delayed notice. It has never affected the actual charge or the fan though.

 

[AbelGoddard]

Down to 80% battery.

I unplugged at 9am this morning and let the car sit in my garage. Over the last 3 hours, apparently the car thought it was too hot and turned on the fan and I lost 20% battery. I'm heading to the dealer in a few minutes.

 

[NORTON]

Technically, it turned on the TMS, which is: AC compressor, coolant pump and the fans.
And in the winter TMS is: Coolant heater, coolant pump.

Technically, a Spark EV does not 'cool itself' when not plugged in, afaik.

Your car sounds weird... Good luck.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Technically, it turned on the TMS, which is: AC compressor, coolant pump and the fans.
And in the winter TMS is: Coolant heater, coolant pump.

Technically, a Spark EV does not 'cool itself' when not plugged in, afaik.

Your car sounds weird... Good luck.

I think - needs a bit more testing to be sure - that the charge mode must be set to IMMEDIATE in order to have TMS immediately active. Otherwise, if the charge mode is set to DELAYED, nothing will happen, including TMS, until the calculated start time is reached and charging is activated.

 

[67goat]

Technically, it turned on the TMS, which is: AC compressor, coolant pump and the fans.
And in the winter TMS is: Coolant heater, coolant pump.

Technically, a Spark EV does not 'cool itself' when not plugged in, afaik.

Your car sounds weird... Good luck.

I think - needs a bit more testing to be sure - that the charge mode must be set to IMMEDIATE in order to have TMS immediately active. Otherwise, if the charge mode is set to DELAYED, nothing will happen, including TMS, until the calculated start time is reached and charging is activated.

I haven't done delayed testing, so I don't know what status the light is in during that mode. But the manual says TMS will come on if the status light is yellow, solid green, or blinking.

 

[NORTON]

......I'm heading to the dealer in a few minutes.

Abel,
What's the good word?
Did they come up with some hard fix for your Spark EV?

 

[AbelGoddard]

I haven't been able to get it in to the dealer. I called my closest dealer yesterday but even though they could work on it in theory, they want me to drop it off and then they can get to it in 3-4 days AFTER I drop it off. But they don't have a loaner available and that just seems ridiculous to me that anyone can just randomly drop off their car and not have it for a week. Even setting an appointment was no good - the appointment wouldn't guarantee that they could work on it or have a loaner available. So I'm calling the next dealer today to see what happens. I think that ultimately the car is OK, so I'm not super worried about getting it in and fixed immediately.

 

[Trytohelpyou]

Sup. 2016 spark just got the full charge at 5pm. Didn't text me until I unplugged it 4 hours later. Pump was whirring loudly. Hand near good latch was warm 2 hours after, so I popped it and man was it hot under that hood. All components hot. Heat exchanger hot. I turned it on while plugged in, finally started chilling heat exchanger. Turned off the car. Left it plugged in. Checked a few hours later, when I ultimately unplugged it, hot under hood again. Alarmingly hot. Never did that before. Wanted to add my experience here. Definitely cycling hot coolant to battery. Ambient temps below 90. And YES the battery would cool itself in hot weather prior, I would pop hood on a hot day and notice heat exchanger very cool with low pump noise, unplugged or plugged in. So .... What's going on? Not sure..... Will add another post if I ever figure this out.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Sup. 2016 spark just got the full charge at 5pm. Didn't text me until I unplugged it 4 hours later. Pump was whirring loudly. Hand near good latch was warm 2 hours after, so I popped it and man was it hot under that hood. All components hot. Heat exchanger hot. I turned it on while plugged in, finally started chilling heat exchanger. Turned off the car. Left it plugged in. Checked a few hours later, when I ultimately unplugged it, hot under hood again. Alarmingly hot. Never did that before. Wanted to add my experience here. Definitely cycling hot coolant to battery. Ambient temps below 90. And YES the battery would cool itself in hot weather prior, I would pop hood on a hot day and notice heat exchanger very cool with low pump noise, unplugged or plugged in. So .... What's going on? Not sure..... Will add another post if I ever figure this out.

This is one where it would be nice to measure the battery temperature and battery coolant temperature. First I would check the coolant reservoirs to make sure they were filled to specification. Second, I would measure the battery coolant temperature and battery temperature. This can be done using TorquePro coupled with an OBD2 adapter and using the Bolt PIDs. There is a PID for battery coolant temperature and another PID for battery temperature. I am not exactly sure how the front air-dam shutter works but it seems reasonable that it should be open when the fan is running and under the hood is hot.