#1146 DMC Motor Fan Problem?

[BartJ]

today reunioned with my roadster again. Finally the SC had time to look at the car ! Rear fan was replaced with a new one. No
more warranty unfortunately. 500 euro for the fan , 100 euro labour + VAT.
acceptable after all.
very glad it's fixed !

 

[m0rph]

today reunioned with my roadster again. Finally the SC had time to look at the car ! Rear fan was replaced with a new one. No
more warranty unfortunately. 500 euro for the fan , 100 euro labour + VAT.
acceptable after all.
very glad it's fixed !

Good news. Is that the normal price for the fan?

 

[thefortunes]

I had my PEM fan replaced last winter and it was ~$600 for the fan.

 

[BartJ]

i think they have two models

the standard single motor unit which costs 600 usd or the upgrade to the dual motor blower at 1500 usd.

 

[m0rph]

i think they have two models

the standard single motor unit which costs 600 usd or the upgrade to the dual motor blower at 1500 usd.

I think the single motor is the upgrade one, as we have in our 2.5s. Somewhere during 2.0 production they changed this IIRC. Good to know that at least this wear part is not overpriced.

 

[BartJ]

Error 1146 came back recently.
The servicecenter was not able to correct the error during my recent yearly maintenance. ( even after several days)

So I performed the old trick again :
Cleaned out the 4th connector underneath the PEM. ( connector to the right)
When you remove the rear pem panel in the trunk you can reach this connector without have to remove the PEM.
I cleaned the connecter with a vacuum cleaner - put it back on - and beye beye 1146 error's !

In the mean while I ordered some WD40 electric contact cleaner ( WD-40 Specialist)
, I'll be using this if the error comes back in the future.

 

[bart513]

My Roadster has been sitting at the Syosett SC for at least a month supposedly waiting for transportation to be available to take it to the Brooklyn SC where they have a more experienced Roadster tech. I'm trying to be very patient as I know the people at both places, but am feeling that they have other priorities.

 

[PV-EV]

Error 1146 came back recently.
The servicecenter was not able to correct the error during my recent yearly maintenance. ( even after several days)

So I performed the old trick again :
Cleaned out the 4th connector underneath the PEM. ( connector to the right)
When you remove the rear pem panel in the trunk you can reach this connector without have to remove the PEM.
I cleaned the connecter with a vacuum cleaner - put it back on - and beye beye 1146 error's !

In the mean while I ordered some WD40 electric contact cleaner ( WD-40 Specialist)
, I'll be using this if the error comes back in the future.

The female pins are easily replaceable. Molex 0194200009 available from Digikey (WM17428-ND) for about $2. Do not wait until your connector fails and burns up the mating connector on the PEM.

 

[BartJ]

The female pins are easily replaceable. Molex 0194200009 available from Digikey (WM17428-ND) for about $2. Do not wait until your connector fails and burns up the mating connector on the PEM.

Thanks for tip !
Pins are ordered ! They do worldwide delivery.
Is it easy to open the connector and replace these pins ?

 

[PV-EV]

Thanks for tip !
Pins are ordered ! They do worldwide delivery.
Is it easy to open the connector and replace these pins ?

http://www.molex.com/pdm_docs/as/AS-19417-001.pdf

If I didn't copy the link properly it is on the Digikey page for that part under datasheets, "MX150 assembly instructions" pretty straight forward. I used a small pin for the release and small needle nose pliers.

 

[BartJ]

i replaced the pins today and also the connector (
Digi-Key Part Number WM11223-ND )
I was just able to do it whithout removing the PEM
Hopefully forever rid of the 1144 and 1146 errors.

 

[NigelM]

It's that season apparently. Had this fault show up today for the first time ever, but the annual service was only about 2 months ago so theoretically nothing should be dirty.

Temps all normal: Motor 80C, PEM 50C and Battery 40C on a fast, long, interstate run with 98F outside.

I'll wait to see if there's a recurrence.

 

[dpeilow]

It seems to be an epidemic.

 

[gregd]

It's that season apparently. Had this fault show up today for the first time ever, but the annual service was only about 2 months ago so theoretically nothing should be dirty.

Temps all normal: Motor 80C, PEM 50C and Battery 40C on a fast, long, interstate run with 98F outside.

I'll wait to see if there's a recurrence.

Nothing dirty, it's just that in order to clean out the PEM and motor they had to unplug the fan connector. Every cycle inflicts wear on the apparently under-sized contacts, especially if not tightly mated. The errors will get more frequent as the connector contacts develop more resistance due to heating and oxidation until they fail altogether.

If you are lucky, the connector is simply a bit loose. Either way, I'd recommend it get looked at before the connector on the PEM side fails, which can be much more expensive to fix... An application of a de-oxidation compound has been recommended by others (haven't tried it myself yet).

 

[NigelM]

Nothing dirty, it's just that in order to clean out the PEM and motor they had to unplug the fan connector. Every cycle inflicts wear on the apparently under-sized contacts, especially if not tightly mated. The errors will get more frequent as the connector contacts develop more resistance due to heating and oxidation until they fail altogether.

If you are lucky, the connector is simply a bit loose. Either way, I'd recommend it get looked at before the connector on the PEM side fails, which can be much more expensive to fix... An application of a de-oxidation compound has been recommended by others (haven't tried it myself yet).

Thanks, I didn't have time to read the full thread yesterday.

 

[wiztecy]

It seems to be an epidemic.

...only on the 2.x's from what I can see (at least for now.) and might be tied to the fan upgrade / redesign. Would be interesting to see if any of the 2.0's failed in this manner that are still running the older fan/blower that hasn't been touched / upgraded.

 

[dpeilow]

Last night I switched fans for another one. The original was full of dried grass, twigs and leaves like a bird's nest. The car was in the SC three weeks ago where I said I was getting high temps and an error that morning relating to poor PEM cooling.

The one time I drove it since I was again seeing high PEM temps and motor temps. When I turned the car off after that trip I heard the fan spin down with a squeal like the bearings were shot.

After the new fan was put on last night it was much quieter and the PEM temp was sensible, but after 15 minutes I started to see #1146 errors. I'm now going to have to check the PEM end of the wiring harness for melted plastic.

I think the failure mode is the fans get clogged up, resistance goes up and the fan pulls more current to compensate, which in turn causes the connector to fail.

If there is PEM damage I'll be annoyed because this all seems preventable.

 

[dpeilow]

i replaced the pins today and also the connector (
Digi-Key Part Number WM11223-ND )
I was just able to do it whithout removing the PEM
Hopefully forever rid of the 1144 and 1146 errors.

I'm interested in how you get to the underside of the PEM where the connector is without removing it.

 

[BartJ]

I'm interested in how you get to the underside of the PEM where the connector is without removing it.

Hi , you can stick your hands in between the trunk and the PEM, then stick something in between so the gap remains open. ( an object of 8-10 cm). Now you can unplug the connecter.
Then open the rear panel in the trunk towards the PEM using the 4 screws. Gently pull the cable towards the opened panel and you should be able to instal a new connector on the cable.
Since I did that I never had any pem/motor fan problems anymore.

It was tight , But doable !

Here is a picture I took during the replacement :

 

[dpeilow]

Yesterday I tried again and managed to do a full charge with no errors. This was after I took the car on a short drive to see if there were any faults while driving. There were no faults but I noticed even with the new fan the PEM temps reached 50C so clearly the PEM cooling channels are also blocked.

So maybe it's possible the connection is intermittent and driving it jolted it to get a better connection. I'll keep an eye on this. I'm hoping that the new fan, which is operating without any audible issues, is drawing the correct amount of current and doesn't exasperate the situation.