Renault Zoe ZE50 - repair update

[@pippaengroda]

Really cool seeing you working on these! I have a ze50 with CCS, that it out of warranty in november. Being an engineer and all round geek i really want to play with it. and i intend on keeping it rolling for a long time and many miles. Its still showing 95% SOH on the battery. Its also myfirst electric car and first non-saab ^^ have done loads of stuff on them like making my own bluetooth interface and getting text up on the displays. and also rebuilt engines and gearboxes and done tuning and so on. But for the Zoe i have pretty much no clue. Really fun getting to know the ins and outs of them :)

[@AndrewEbling]

Keep 'em coming! 👍 Where do you learn your EV wizardry? I had no ideas manufacturers were VIN locking components like this, or locking down what you can do with OBD.

[@kjelllindberg6987]

What is the most efficient way to tap off the coolant? I did remove the outlet from the coolant pump, but I do not think that is the most efficient way to do it. Also, what is the huge fan on top of the motor doing? And why is its air outlet going down under the car? (I do not even know if it is a fan...)

[@garyc4450]

Hi I take a pipe off the coolant pump but keep the header tank cap on as otherwise it gushes out everywhere. Haven’t found a cleaner way so far. The fan on top is for motor cooling - it’s an air cooled motor. It goes in at the reduction gear end, through the motor and is vented out behind the motor with another duct angled down through a hole in the undertray. Cheers.

[@kjelllindberg6987]

@@garyc4450 Thanks, I did it almost the correct way then (made a mess). Thanks for the fan knowledge. I actually assumed that it was a coolant-cooled motor. Now it makes much more sense. Another thing is the reverse camera is malfunctioning, have you taken it apart or could you show us how it should be done? Mine is working at random. My idea is that a capacitor or a voltage regulator is off and needs to be replaced. But I prefer to know how to remove it and reinstall it before I start to play with it... Another thing I am curious about is your experience with your wife's ZE40. Regarding the ball joints that connect the lower control arm to the wheel hub. This was the second time I had to replace them on our ZE40... It is the same part number as in the 660kg lighter Clio... On the ZE50 they are "bigger" and last.

[@LakesGeek]

I read something about how you can bypass the secure gateway by just using a hidden OBD2 that is somewhere near the fuse box, rather than the visible one by the accelerator pedal... this might've only been for some stuff but I read about it when there was some "hack" for enabling wireless Android Auto / Wireless Carplay. I assume you know wayyyy more than me on anything like that, but just in case it's anything new.

[@garyc4450]

Hi, well the car is still talking CAN behind the gateway so you’ve just got to get on the other side of the fence - one of the ECUs between the obd port and part of the CAN network is the gateway, effectively relaying messages and it’s also playing security guard. I’ve seen some Tesla diagnostic tools where you have to undo a wiring plug and add an adapter to allow you to connect a dongle then use a phone app to get information from the car. It’s clever and can be really useful but sometimes is a bit limited. I have respect for anyone who works out those kind of things. Cheers

[@LakesGeek]

@@garyc4450 yeah I thought for a moment about doing it for the wireless android auto (the ph1 android auto was "fairly easy" for me) but the one Russian site I saw with instructions said along the lines of "being careful with this or you'll burn the whole thing" and I thought better of it :D

[@garyc4450]

😁