Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

[Bassmobile]

Hi I'm new to the forum and I'm currently in posession of a transmission and inverter from a Lexus LS600HL.
I'm thinking of purchasing a gs450h VCU for my conversion.
Has anyone tried the VCU With the LS600HL inverter yet?

This is off-topic for this thread.
Please start a new thread to discuss this topic.

[steveknox]

Hi,
Apologies if this has been asked before but I'm having trouble getting my oil pump to work.

I've got my motor spinning with an rx-8 pedal, using VCU version 7, but the oil pump does not come to life when I apply the 12v.

The pump controller is receiving 12v (big blue wire) and the pwm (black wire), but the pump doesn't do anything. No noise or any indication that it is powering up. Has anyone else seen this?

The only thing I can think of is that the controller needs a connection to ground, but I dont know where the ground needs to be connected. Have I missed something obvious?

If i've missed any vital info, just let me know.

[Jack Bauer]

Of course it needs a ground:) connect to the case of the pump controller.

[steveknox]

Well I feel like a dummy. That worked a treat. Thanks!

[daxwert]

Hello, I'm Looking to build a GS450H based EV using your VCU board.

I've found a 4th Generation 2012-2018 GS450H (Second Generation 450H) quite cheap, does the VCU board work with the later generation GS450H?

Has anybody tried to use the later generation as a base for EV conversion yet?

Thanks
Dan

Hi, did anyone manage with this? I have the same complete drivetrain and I already bought the control board and soldered it. I now see that the pin layout on plug on the inverter is slightly different. it does look the same as the one on the IS300h. So I would love to see if I can get this unit running before trying the to an inverter from pre 2012. Am in southern africa so those cars are extremely rare.

[Jack Bauer]

The pinout might be different but the signals are probably the same. Just a question of matching them up.

[daxwert]

The pinout might be different but the signals are probably the same. Just a question of matching them up.

Thank you for the quick response. Any idea where I can start to figure out the matching?

[Isaac96]

If you can find wiring diagrams for the car that would be a start. IIRC Damien got some help from those at the beginning.

-Isaac

[xp677]

Lexustech.eu has all the diagrams for Lexus vehicles. Purchase a 1 hour subscription and just save each page or print to pdf.

[adamover]

Afternoon all...
Kit all soldered, USB connected, Arduino software downloaded and installed, and, board talking to 'Mac' OK.
When I go to upload, or even verify Wifi or Software ino get the Error Message:

Arduino: 1.8.13 (Mac OS X), Board: "Arduino Due (Native USB Port)"

gs450h_v2:12:19: fatal error: Metro.h: No such file or directory
#include <Metro.h>
^
compilation terminated.
exit status 1
Metro.h: No such file or directory

This report would have more information with
"Show verbose output during compilation"
option enabled in File -> Preferences.
_________________

Metro.h: no such file or directory

Any help?
Many thanks in advance

[arturk]

Looks like you need "Metro" library installed under "/libraries" folder of your Arduino environment.
Here is where you can download it from:
https://github.com/thomasfredericks/Met ... ino-Wiring

You may be missing other libraries too (CAN, ISA, ...), please check.

There are links to most of them in the code:

Code: Select all

#include <due_can.h>  //https://github.com/collin80/due_can
#include <due_wire.h> //https://github.com/collin80/due_wire
#include <DueTimer.h>  //https://github.com/collin80/DueTimer
#include <Wire_EEPROM.h> //https://github.com/collin80/Wire_EEPROM

For ISA search dedicated thread for more info.

[adamover]

thank you I will give it a go

[adamover]

Thank you, finally found time to give this a go... still no joy 'scratches head'
Wondering if part of the problem is the connection as well, as in, selecting the correct Arduino board... or ARM chipset.
Any help/advice very much appreciated

[TFirenza]

as arturk mentioned, check libraries are all installed, board is installed and set to usb.

Not sure if needed but but also installed the esp8266 board with the board manager,
add the following under preferences 'additional board manager urls'. It should then appear in the board manager list
https://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/pack ... index.json

GL

[adamover]

Thank you appreciate your help

[itsamna]

Lexustech.eu has all the diagrams for Lexus vehicles. Purchase a 1 hour subscription and just save each page or print to pdf.

Correct URL
https://www.lexus-tech.eu/

[xp677]

Thanks for registering just to correct me. I didn't post that as a URL though, the correct URL comes up with a Google search.

Welcome to the forums.

[sfk]

Well, after searching for 2 years, I now have a GS450h! And the good news is it's road legal and driving fine (though I think 1 or more cells in the battery pack could be a bit weak).

So this means I have the opportunity to collect CANBUS data and any other telemetry that would be useful to the development group as it'll be my daily commuter for the next month or so. If there is any specific data you are interested in please instruct me. I'll be going through past threads regarding canbus sniffing to get a suitable setup but chime in to recommend something please.

I plan on resurrecting my build thread at last. Exciting times.

[celeron55]

If there is any specific data you are interested in please instruct me.

I recall some discussion about problems with regen. Maybe make sure to record some of that.

[johnspark]

Congratulations sfk!

[xp677]

Well, after searching for 2 years, I now have a GS450h! And the good news is it's road legal and driving fine (though I think 1 or more cells in the battery pack could be a bit weak).

So this means I have the opportunity to collect CANBUS data and any other telemetry that would be useful to the development group as it'll be my daily commuter for the next month or so. If there is any specific data you are interested in please instruct me. I'll be going through past threads regarding canbus sniffing to get a suitable setup but chime in to recommend something please.

I plan on resurrecting my build thread at last. Exciting times.

Better data from the AC compressor would be great. I only had a chance to grab a small bit before I got an opportunity to sell the car on!

[steveknox]

Hi,
I've been trying to track down an issue with my setup and I'm getting nowhere. I'm having trouble with my inverter whereby the bus voltage is not being reported.

This issue started yesterday after rearranging my setup which involved plugging everything out and back in again.

Software: Version 7, very lightly modified. Previously working fine, so not a software issue.

Symptoms:
When I apply power (~ 25 v), through my precharge circuit (previously working), the main contactor will not open, and the dc_bus_voltage remains negative in the serial monitor output.
The voltage across the inverter inputs is around 1.3V

The voltage used to be reported (yesterday morning), but is no longer reported, so something has happened. I just don't know what!

When I 'force' close the main contactor by setting the precharge limit to -10 (yes, bad idea but i'm using low voltage), the inverter now works (The motor runs when pressing the accelerator) but the dc_bus_voltage remains negative. The voltage across the terminals is now ~ 25V

My guess is that there's some sort of loose or missing connection causing the voltage to not be reported, but I'm stumped as to which one it could be.

Attached is a screenshot of the mth_data, which is mostly reporting sensible data, and ad mentioned the motors spin fine once the main contactor is closed.

Does anyone have any idea as to which connector / connection I should be looking at, or have any other explanation of why this could be happening?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[arturk]

Interesting problem. I do not why it happening but I have somewhat similar problem. When I power up my inverter it reports correct "DC Bus" voltage initially, until I spin motors up to around 3000 RPM then reported DC Bus voltage drops to around +100V (my battery pack is 360V) also "Another Temp 2" reports incorrect value at the same time. Otherwise I see no other side effects. It is annoying though. When I power cycle system I get correct values again until I reach "critical" RPM LOL.
Since it is installed in the car already and I have ISA shunt, I programmed my pre-charge circuit to use ISA as workaround.

[xp677]

You can always connect a 12V car battery or similar directly to the inverter inputs and see if it's reported correctly. The motors will spin at 12V as well (though not very fast).

Don't worry so much about the -2V, IIRC I added an offset to my code for my particular inverter, it may be different for different models. It might in your case be better to put a known voltage in and have a play until it lines up.

Also, if you set your mth_mask to all 1's, you can see the full data packet. The mask which I applied as shown in your screenshot was used to hide the "known" data to help me narrow down the purpose of the unidentified bytes.

Those two "another temp" were ones which I didn't find the source for. As far as I know, the unit has the following sensors:

MG1 IGBTs
MG2 IGBTs
Converter inductor
Water block

The latter two can be identified by unplugging them. The first two? For those I'm just going by the fact that the Toyota scan tool reports the MG1 and MG2 temperatures.

[steveknox]

Thanks for the replies guys.
By way of an update, I have resolved some of my issues:
1: The lack of voltage looks to have originally been caused by an intermittent short in my HV setup. I haven't identified the exact location of that short though which is somewhat concerning, and something I'll continue to look into. The behaviour came and went as I plugged and un-plugged the 3-phase cables. Curious.
For now at least here is a circuit being completed, which is allowing precharge to work.

2: The inverter is still reporting the HV bus voltage is still reporting as -2. Using a second inverter, I tested my setup and it reports the voltage correctly. So It's definitely an issue with this inverter, and not my setup. Taking @artuk's idea, I'm now using the ISA shunt to read the voltage. Precharge now works, and I can see accurate voltage being reported by the shunt.

So my setup is working as before (except now I have reverse courtesy of the zeroev gear selector!), but with a few nagging issues, namely the cause of the HV short, and the lack of HV being reported by the inverter. My guess is that the short killed whatever it is that reads the HV.

Let's call this case closed, but I guess it's something to be aware of that at least 2 of us now have the issue of the inverter not reporting the HV bus voltage, and having to rely on the shunt for this.

Thanks again!