Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Topics concerning the Toyota and Lexus inverter drop in boards
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Bryson »

Interesting! Mine sounded awful when I spun it up to 12k in low gear. Maybe I need to check something out.

Do you have any info on what the solenoids are doing during the shift? It’s a little rough when you just switch gears by commanding a hard on/off
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Ok... can't get the ISA shunt to initialize. Have triple checked wiring and continuity and resistor. Have watched the videos. I can load the test sketch to the VCU and see the menu, etc, but when I type "i", it tries 10 times to initialize and goes back to a data scroll. I'm in pins 18 and 19 on Connector A. I've got 12 volts going in to the shunt. Verified the 12 volts at the shunt. Verified variable voltage at the VCU connector (between mA and about 1.5v). I get no amps or kw on the web interface. Thoughts?
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Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Bryson »

Did you try selecting the other can channel in the initialize/test sketch?
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Bryson wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 1:54 am Did you try selecting the other can channel in the initialize/test sketch?
I just tried switching between them and that didn't work, but I was messing with other commands in the menu and I think it initialized. At lease it one did the "initializing" line twice like in the video. Now when I still have the shunt test loaded on the VCU, I see the correct voltage in the serial data. Still nothing on the webpage when I reload the software. It's possible I have something wrong there since I've spliced in the ISA part of the code to the V3 code. Also, I'm still on a test bench power source of 60v and ~5amps. I'm wondering if 5 amps is too low to show up on the webpage dials.

Scratch all that. Now I get nothing but zeros in the serial monitor and suddenly I can't even use some of the menu functions in the ISA test. :(
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Bryson »

A bad crimp or cold solder joint maybe? That sounds super odd that it worked for a little bit.

You can try swapping it to the other CAN pins and initializing the ISA on the other CAN, that would rule out a cold solder joint on the board.
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

ISA shunt issue SOLVED:

Like many things, this was so simple (and DUH!!) but like many who aren't true coders.... it just took a while (and reading through the code line by line several times).

in the V3_User file under void handle_wifi(), you have to change this section:

//Serial2.print(Sensor.Amperes);//current derived from ISA shunt
Serial2.print(0);
Serial2.print(",p");//total motor power
//Serial2.print(Sensor.KW);//Power value derived from ISA Shunt

Simply remove the two forward slashes in front of the Serial2.print lines, to this:

Serial2.print(Sensor.Amperes);//current derived from ISA shunt
Serial2.print(0);
Serial2.print(",p");//total motor power
Serial2.print(Sensor.KW);//Power value derived from ISA Shunt

Damien turned those functions off for the web interface in V3_User because it doesn't include the ISA code. Seriously, I spent several hours trying to figure out the issue and it was that easy. I now derive my voltage from Sensor.Voltage and use that to control my HV contactor output. Web interface is fully functional now. See link:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CReJfhCsA13 ... _copy_link
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by TonyV »

Excellent!
Thanks from a non-coder!
I'll figure this out sooner or later
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by evMacGyver »

There is no much talk about FET output unintentional activation during VCU power-up or flashing of uC, but it cannot be only me having this problem?

In "old days" additional weak pull down resistor on every FET gate was used to prevent High-Z condition problems, which I think this is, but I don't see resistors used on any VCU boards?
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by arturk »

I have reported it long time ago here:
viewtopic.php?p=4244#p4244
Unfortunately it never was implemented on production boards.
1998 Jaguar XJR, GS450h drivetrain, 48kWh/96s BMW battery
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by nkiernan »

Bassmobile wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 10:44 pm So it seems there is a lot of confusion about using CAMRY inverters for this platform. My assumption is that users who have failed to get good results with the inverter are using the G9200-33020, from a 2007-2011 Camry NAFTA vehicle. This is the inverter that is recommended at the time of this writing in the Wiki. This should probably removed form the wiki, so other don't end up wasting time and money on an inverter that won't work.
Just coming back on a previous discussion re Camry inverters. Previously I had issues running a 2007-2011 G9200-33030 inverter with the V2 VCU. Recently connected it back up (two parallel systems are a GS450H gbox + inverter, GS450H gbox + Camry inverter) and surprisingly all works 100% now and both setups run identical using the same VCU. Only change is using a BMW pedal for both rather than a Transit pedal on the Camry setup. But I suspect it was one of my wiring connections that was the original issue.
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Togsodar »

Hi guys, does anyone know the pin outs for the resolver connectors, specifically which ones I need for the vcu?

Also is the shunt required for testing or just when using in a system with batteries.

Because this gearbox is too big for my project, I was going to try to get it working on the bench and then sell it as an ongoing project with a majority of the fab and electric work completed.
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Togsodar wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:15 am Hi guys, does anyone know the pin outs for the resolver connectors, specifically which ones I need for the vcu?

Also is the shunt required for testing or just when using in a system with batteries.

Because this gearbox is too big for my project, I was going to try to get it working on the bench and then sell it as an ongoing project with a majority of the fab and electric work completed.
There is a good wiring diagram with pinouts for all the connectors on page 11 of this thread by Robbertjanzen. You do not need the shunt to get the motor spinning. It's only needed for the web interface to give you amps and power (turned off in V3_User) and to accurately control the main contactor after pre-charge section of the software (this isn't in V3_User).
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2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
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Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by xp677 »

Togsodar wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:15 am Hi guys, does anyone know the pin outs for the resolver connectors, specifically which ones I need for the vcu?
It's in the wiki

https://openinverter.org/wiki/Lexus_GS450h_Inverter

The resolvers connect to the inverter, not the VCU. You need to connect all 12 wires in the correct order and provide suitable shielding as shown in the wiring diagram.

https://openinverter.org/wiki/File:Inverter.png
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by kevpatts »

nkiernan wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:57 pm
Bassmobile wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 10:44 pm So it seems there is a lot of confusion about using CAMRY inverters for this platform. My assumption is that users who have failed to get good results with the inverter are using the G9200-33020, from a 2007-2011 Camry NAFTA vehicle. This is the inverter that is recommended at the time of this writing in the Wiki. This should probably removed form the wiki, so other don't end up wasting time and money on an inverter that won't work.
Just coming back on a previous discussion re Camry inverters. Previously I had issues running a 2007-2011 G9200-33030 inverter with the V2 VCU. Recently connected it back up (two parallel systems are a GS450H gbox + inverter, GS450H gbox + Camry inverter) and surprisingly all works 100% now and both setups run identical using the same VCU. Only change is using a BMW pedal for both rather than a Transit pedal on the Camry setup. But I suspect it was one of my wiring connections that was the original issue.

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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Jack Bauer wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:18 am Ok lets just all slow down a bit here before we go off bringing even more variables into the mix. What annoys me here is that we have the folks and knowledge in the community to help out but its left on me once again. So here goes :

Part 1 : Lets all use the same software and ide.
https://www.arduino.cc/en/software
I've tested this on 1.8.13 so go ahead and grab that and install.
Next you will need to add the ESP8266 to your boards manager.
Tutorial here : https://randomnerdtutorials.com/how-to- ... duino-ide/
Go ahead and do that.
Download the wifi package from my Github :
https://github.com/damienmaguire/Lexus- ... aster/WiFi
Copy it to your arduino sketch directory. Close and reopen arduino, go to file, sketchbook and it should show up.
Go ahead and open it.
Now you need the correct libraries which is where the fun starts as they are a hot mess in arduino these days.
I uploaded mine to the repo :
https://github.com/damienmaguire/Lexus- ... /Libraries
Grab those and unzip both files to your /Arduino/libraries directory.
Next up go to tools and setup your board exactly as shown in the picture.
Close and reopen arduino then hit the tick box to compile. If you did everything right it will just compile.

Part 2 : Lets all use the same programming method.
You will need a 3v3 level ftdi cable :
https://www.mouser.ie/ProductDetail/FTD ... FcejHp0Q==
Yes you can use others, no I have no idea if they will work. This is the one I use.
Wire it as per the the attached diagram.
Now, to program the module you need to desolder the GPIO0 jumper and move it to the "0" position.
Back to tools and select your com port.
Click the upload icon (right facing arrow).
When upload is done, unplug and replug the wifi module from the ftdi cable but do not unplug the usb end from the computer.
BAck to tools and click "esp8266 sketch data upload".
when done remove the module and resolder the GPIO0 jumper back to position "1".
Congratulations its now programmed.

YES THERE ARE 50 OTHER WAYS TO DO THIS BUT THIS IS WORKING ON MY SETUP (2 DIFFERENT PCS) SO ITS WHAT I RECOMMEND.
I"ve been wanting to make some customizations to the web page, like displaying MPH rather than oil pump speed. I've purchased DIFFERENT Olimex wifi boards because I don't want to risk messing up the pre-programmed one I bought from Damien. Everything seems to be working up until the bolded statement above: "Back to Tools and click "esp8266 sketch data upload". I don't have this option in my menu no matter what I do. Everything up to that step is exactly as described in the instructions: same equipment, software, etc.

Thoughts??
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Jack Bauer »

I imagine you either have an older version of the arduino ide or don't have the esp8266 extension installed.
I'm going to need a hacksaw
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Jack Bauer wrote: Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:52 am I imagine you either have an older version of the arduino ide or don't have the esp8266 extension installed.
Running 1.8.15 and have the following in Additional Boards Manager URLs:

https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json
http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/packa ... index.json

To be clear: it wasn't working on 1.8.13 either, so I got the latest version. It wasn't working with just the arduino.esp8266 url above, so I added the dl.espressif url as well, per the video.

I'm sure it's something simple, but I just can't figure it out. Also, do you have desolder/resolder GPIO0 each time you want to upload a new sketch or is it just the first time?
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Bryson »

Each time unfortunately
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Since my car doesn't have a CAN network, I'm using the other CAN on the VCU to send a custom message to include MPH (I've added that calc into my VCU software), Sensor.Voltage, Sensor.Amperes, Sensor.KW and mg2_speed. That info is received by a CAN Bus shield and sending it to an Arduino that is then serial and display printing the values.

Everything is working fine, but for some reason mg2speed just does not come through correctly. It's not at all accurate and jumps all over the place. The VCU sends it correctly to the webpage, and my MPH calc is steady and accurate. Any thoughts as to why it won't send over CAN correctly? From what I can tell from Damien's V7, he is using just the value of mg2_speed (other than some logic specific to his BMW).

here is my CAN message void:

void Frames10MS()
{
if(timer_Frames10.check())
{
digitalWrite(13,!digitalRead(13));

tach=(abs(mg2_speed));
outframe.id = 0x001; //display data message
outframe.length = 5; //data payload 5 bytes
outframe.extended = 0; //standard id
outframe.rtr = 1; //no request
outframe.data.bytes[0]=MPH;
outframe.data.bytes[1]=Sensor.Voltage;
outframe.data.bytes[2]=Sensor.Amperes;
outframe.data.bytes[3]=Sensor.KW;
outframe.data.bytes[4]=tach;
Can0.sendFrame(outframe);
}
}

If anyone is interested, this is my void for MPH:

float speedCalc;
int tireRpm=792;
int MPH;
float diff=3.31;
int tach;

void Calc_MPH()
{
speedCalc=((abs(mg2_speed/1.9))/diff);
MPH=((speedCalc*60)/tireRpm);
}
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

This wifi module work is nuts. I have finally been able to upload the sketch and the sketch data. I put a ssid in a ssid.txt file and a password in a password.txt file (both in the Data folder) and they work. I even changed the value of the Heading in its file. I've been able to connect to the module and get the webpage to load. /admin still works and it defaults to my ssid and password. Interesting thing is I don't get the same reported values on this module that I get on the one that Damien programmed. Which is extremely odd as the values are being sent by the VCU. The voltage and oil pump speed are wrong.

Side note: You do NOT have to change the solder jumpers on the Olimex board! Simply hold down the reset button on the board each time you connect it to power (when connecting to load sketch and connecting to load sketch data) and it will program.
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by steveknox »

Have you tried printing the mph value just prior to sending the can message?
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

steveknox wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 6:52 am Have you tried printing the mph value just prior to sending the can message?
it's mg2_speed that isn't sending properly, but I did try your suggestion. It made no difference. I also tried changing to mg1_speed just to check, but it is also sending inconsistent and incorrect values. It's odd because all the other values send consistently and correctly.
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by Bryson »

Is it a signed/unsigned variable issue? Maybe a variable overflow issue also?
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by PatrcioEV-ATX »

Ok, I know you all are probably sick of hearing from me at this point, but but my board seems to have completely stopped working. I lights up like normal when I apply power or connect over USB, but it won't drive anything. It is no longer turning on the inverter or displaying any wifi data. When I plug in via usb, my computer doesn't even recognize anything is there. I've tried different cables, I've reinstalled Arduino, restarted computer, everything I can think of.

Funny thing is I've changed absolutely nothing about the board or the wiring to it. I don't even plug/unplug the usb from the board. I do that from my computer. I made a couple small changes to my CAN void and uploaded it. Everything was working fine like normal. Next time I tried to connect to it, nothing..... What could possibly just make the board stop working or even showing up??
1998 Ford ZX2 - DC EV conversion(sold) http://evalbum.com/2093
2012 Nissan Leaf (sold)
2016 Mercedes B250e (sold)
2023 Volvo C40

Current: 1964 Rambler Classic 660 w/ GS450h set up. 36kwh Tesla batteries from B250e.
https://www.instagram.com/rambler_660e/
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Re: Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

Post by kevpatts »

Is it even showing up on Windows as a COM port?
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