Leaf swapped Nissan 720…. On the side of the road!

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

The local yard has a Prius power steering rack for 100$.

I’ll pick it up and see what can be done. I’m not okay with cutting and splicing up the 720 column to make it work.

A electric column would make for a lighter, and cleaner install.

Hot Rod did an article on the Prius column, in case you hadn't seen it:
https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/150-elect ... -delivers/

[Bratitude]

Power steering:

The truck has a hydraulic steering box.

There’s 2 options for power steering:

Electric power steering pump to feed hydraulic pressure to the box.

Or electric power steering column.


A epas pump is the simplest install, just plumb it in and good to go.

Cons are I’m adding weight as the pump is heavy
And there’s hydraulic fluid!
And it’s noisy
Yuck!

Epas column would be quiet, more efficient , and not add anything into the engine bay.


Con’s are lots of custom fab work, which is tricky as I’m am not allowing any of the original trucks column to be cut or welded. this is out of safety and keeping everything bolt on:)

there’s a rag joint just outside the fire wall… so it may be possible to retro fit a Prius rack with some off the shelf couplers.

but picked up an old Mazda epas pump for 80$ cad.
Heres the epas pump and the original line + pump from the truck.

epas pump pressure outlet is a m14 jis banjo fitting
The trucks original power steering lines have a bigger jic banjo. Close but no cigar.

3 fittings later we have connections!
M14 banjo jis -> female x female jis union ->jis x jic union

simple, no expensive custom hoses, and all off the shelf parts!

okay now mount it and work on controlling it. its not as straightforward as some of the other pumps like the volvo or ampera. it has 3 connectors, power, can, and analog steering angle.

luckly some one has done the heavy lifting already https://github.com/shifty35/mazda3-ehps-control

code just needs a bit of clean up and good to go.

what i have distilled down so far

Code: Select all

#include <mcp_can_dfs.h>
#include <mcp_can.h>

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Arduino.h>

const int STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_A = 4;
const int STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_B = 5;

const int INT_PUMP = 6;
const int SPI_CS_PUMP = 8;

MCP_CAN can_pump(SPI_CS_PUMP);

short int previous_steering_angle = 0;
short int current_steering_angle = 0;
short int target_steering_angle = 0;
bool current_steering_angle_valid = false;

long last_steering_time = 0;

// Globals for CANBUS debug / testing
uint32_t counter = 0;

void convert_201_values(uint8_t buf[]) {
    // RPM = uint16_t(bytes 0, 1) * 4
    uint16_t engine_speed = ((buf[0] * 256) + buf[1]) / 4;
   

    // Speed in KM/hr = (uint16_t(bytes 4. 5) + 100) * 100
    uint16_t vehicle_speed = (((buf[4] * 256) + buf[5]) / 100) - 100;
   

    // Mazda 3 pump expects RPM as raw bytes, no scalar like MX5
    // Mazda 3 pump expects km/hr*100, no 100 km offset like MX5
    vehicle_speed *= 100;

    // Write modified values back into buffer
    buf[0] = engine_speed / 256;
    buf[1] = engine_speed % 256;
    buf[4] = vehicle_speed / 256;
    buf[5] = vehicle_speed % 256;
}

// current_steering_angle and target_steering_angle are doubled to allow for .5* resolution without floating point conversion.
void update_steering_outputs() {
  // Don't update pin outputs too frequently
  if (micros() - last_steering_time < 500) return;

  if (target_steering_angle > current_steering_angle) {
     current_steering_angle++;
  } else if (target_steering_angle < current_steering_angle) {
     current_steering_angle--;
  }

  digitalWrite(STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_A, abs((current_steering_angle / 6) % 2));
  digitalWrite(STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_B, abs((((current_steering_angle + 3 )/ 6)% 2)));
  last_steering_time = micros();
}

void setup()
{

    // Setup digital outputs for steering angle sensor
    pinMode(STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_A, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_B, OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_A, LOW);
    digitalWrite(STEERING_ANGLE_PIN_B, LOW);

    uint8_t ret;

    ret = can_pump.begin(MCP_ANY, 13, MCP_8MHZ);
    if (ret == CAN_OK)
    {
        
        can_pump.setMode(MCP_NORMAL);
    }
}

// Main program loop.  Poll both CAN networks.  If 0x201 received from vehicle network, modify and rebroadcast to pump network.

void loop()
{
    update_steering_outputs();

    uint32_t id;
    uint8_t len;
    uint8_t buf[24];
    uint8_t ret;

    // Check interrupt pin for vehicle CAN
    
        // Check if 0x201 ID
        if (id == 0x201) {
            // 0x201 - modify and rebroadcast to pump
           

            // RPM = uint16_t(bytes 0, 1) * 4
            uint16_t engine_speed = ((buf[0] * 256) + buf[1]) / 4;
           

            // Speed in KM/hr = (uint16_t(bytes 4. 5) + 100) * 100
            uint16_t vehicle_speed = (((buf[4] * 256) + buf[5]) / 100) - 100;
           
            // Mazda 3 pump expects RPM as raw bytes, no scalar like MX5
            // Mazda 3 pump expects km/hr*100, no 100 km offset like MX5
            vehicle_speed *= 100;

            // Write modified values back into buffer
            buf[0] = engine_speed / 256;
            buf[1] = engine_speed % 256;
            buf[4] = vehicle_speed / 256;
            buf[5] = vehicle_speed % 256;

            
        } else if (id == 0x081) {
            

            // Convert from steering angle message format to degrees
            int16_t steering_angle;
            unsigned char *ip = (unsigned char *) &steering_angle;
            ip[0] = buf[3];
            ip[1] = buf[2];
            uint16_t u_steering_angle = (steering_angle * 10 ) + 1600;
            ip = (unsigned char *) &u_steering_angle;

        
            // We initialize steering angle to zero.  This conditional makes sure there aren't any wild jumps in output from the first steering message.
            if (!current_steering_angle_valid) {
              current_steering_angle_valid = true;
              current_steering_angle = steering_angle * 2;
              previous_steering_angle = current_steering_angle;
            }

            // Drive outputs for early version Mazda 3 pump (pre 2009)
            target_steering_angle = steering_angle * 2;
            update_steering_outputs();

            
            previous_steering_angle = current_steering_angle;
        }
    }

[Jacobsmess]

It has 3 connectors, power, can, and analog steering angle.

So does this have partial load no load pwm functions? Or just on like they were on older ICE vehicles?

[Bratitude]

So does this have partial load no load pwm functions? Or just on like they were on older ICE vehicles?

Depending on engine rpm and steering angle it’ll vary pump speed

[Bratitude]

pickd up a 2017 camery epas column for 100$

and.....

its a direct bolt in to the pedal box.

crazy!

the controller box is directly bolted to the motor so i removed it for more space. its 3phase!

motor/gearbox is a bit to big and sadly collides with a bracket on the firewall. but looks like a yaris motor unit is much smaller and should fit with the camery tilt column part.

the output of the toyota epas motors is 11/16- 36 splines, and the input shaft from the steering box has a rag joint that meets at the fire wall.

so!

with the following off the shelf connections:
11/16-36 x 3/4 dd u-joint: https://www.borgeson.com/Steel-3-4-DD-X-11-16-36.html
3/4dd shaft: https://www.borgeson.com/3-4DD-Shaft-18-Long.html
3/4dd rag joint: https://www.borgeson.com/rag-joint-flange-3-4-dd

this should result in a nonwelded steering shaft, and bolt in epas

[Bratitude]

random little bits:
Re sealed the inverter and tapped the inverter coolant inlet to cap it off.

Been scratching my head on how to do the driver side motor mount.

Decided to shift the stock mount over and make a bracket that ties it to the pitman arm bolts on the frame. This puts the mount right inline with the outer edge of the motor.

been busy with lots of brt ind stuff, lots of CAD work, so it’s nice to just fab stuff by hand.. with more CAD work

Which resulted in:

the centre link has always been close to the motor. A common mod on these old Datsun trucks folks do when engine swapping is a “center link flip.” You drill out the tie rod tappers, and press in a new tapered insert on the other side, allowing the link to be mounted upside down, give an extra 3-4in of clearance for a motor.

This extra amount of space might allow the PDM to clear the hood..

[Bratitude]

Finished off motor mount with some goopy welds (its great that all the clean ones are hiding on the back side)

and started to assemble the prototype “pre- built” zombie unit.

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

with some goopy welds (its great that all the clean ones are hiding on the back side)

It always seems to happen that way, doesn't it? Nothing is more annoying.

[Bratitude]

It always seems to happen that way, doesn't it? Nothing is more annoying.

grinder and paint will fix it

[Bratitude]

picked up a 110k stack, and installed a rough generic zombie harness.

along with all the other little hardware bits and clean up, truck is temporally back on the road running 2.22A, and ready for the journey over to the new shop in Victoria!

110kw in this truck is a lot....

datsun720-prams.json

(2.13 KiB) Downloaded 56 times

prams will drive the following:

-350v fully charged pack (partial volt pack,84s)
- leaf motor em57 110kw inverter
- outlander OBC (with a leaf charge port, and a 330ohm pull up resistor to 5v for ppval)
- water pump at temp set point

NO IVT SHUNT!

[Bratitude]

Now that I’m back in the new shop with mostly everything, I got some stainless trays cut for the zombiverter prewired interface.

After poking around to find a nice spot to mount it, I settled on the inside of the passenger fire wall.

fits behind easily removable HVAC ductting, keeps wire runs short, and is very safe from any moisture exposure.

I’ll be also able to access the obd port through the glove box!
Now can start collecting new lv connectors and build a clean harnesses for the trucks ev system

[Sector7e]

picked up a 110k stack, and installed a rough generic zombie harness.
IMG_7282.jpegIMG_7283.jpeg
along with all the other little hardware bits and clean up, truck is temporally back on the road running 2.22A, and ready for the journey over to the new shop in Victoria!

110kw in this truck is a lot....

datsun720-prams.json

prams will drive the following:

-350v fully charged pack (partial volt pack,84s)
- leaf motor em57 110kw inverter
- outlander OBC (with a leaf charge port, and a 330ohm pull up resistor to 5v for ppval)
- water pump at temp set point

NO IVT SHUNT!

What is your range with that battery pack?

[Bratitude]

What is your range with that battery pack?

haven’t hit below 300v yet, but I’m guess 90km from what I’m seeing for a 16kWh pack
Fixing the big air scoop front end I’m sure is going to help a lot

[Bratitude]

like any mechanic truck thats forsale, you dont buy it because he's done the bare minimum! in this case, with a busy summer being outdoors and working on customer projects havent done much on the truck.

had a moment to spare and dick around with battery modules in the truck. in this case im just going to make the biggest saddle pack i can for the truck, and stuff what i can inside for now. ideally id like to get some vda355 4s3p modules and cram 55kwh in there, but ill have to wait intill a pack shows up with the modules im looking for. there is room for a secoundary rear mounted box, and could fit a full etron pack with 32 3s4p modules, but truck starts getting heavy, right now its very nimble!

the ionic modules are too long unfortunately and will collide with the already tight driveshaft (tunnel).

24 vda355 modules

all 48(96) leaf modules

my current 14kWh gen 2 volt pack

[Bratitude]

after humming and hawing about how I’m going to approach heating..... I bought a mg water heater from the uk for cheapish.

also picked up a replacement heater ducting box for the truck (as I had cut the original one up to fit a id4 heater matrix) at a pick and pull for 30$
along with other interior trim!

So that settles it, I’m going the simple route and just pluming in a coolant loop through the original heater system. Not as elegant as fitting a ptc, but it’s simple!

mg heater arrived, and wow it really is small!

Okay off to the bin of random connectors I’ve collected as I know I have a te hv plug that will fit…. And !

The outlander hv junction box has one that fits! Look at that! Just need to double check ampacity of the cables before I pull some power.

this will make for a very clean oem install as the outlander obc will also junction in to this with stock cables.

[Bratitude]

slowly worked away at a few things on the truck past ew months. And the last 2 weeks i spent s bunch of time pulling things together:

-new windshield gasket and under seal paint.
-battery brackets (for 16 ioniq 5 modules)
-custom tesla ibooster resivoir and proportioning valve setup
-cleaned up coolant system
-new ev wiring
- pre wired zombie VCU interface:

This is really proving itself. Makes wiring the ev system very simple and easy to diagnose any issues.
Now having built a few for different setups, I’m starting to nail down key features and get to a very standard layout that should cover 90% of most conversions.

- new proper length harnesses

-new seats:

beige vanagon seats really matched the interior and look stock in the truck, so custom set brackets and a heated seat kit


truck is back on the road softly, still a battery cover to make and get the bms set up and running. Just waiting on the MAX chipset version of Damien’s and Tom’s M3 bms board. Then off for testing with the ioniq bms boards

[cajamatt]

lets see your battery mounting!

[Bratitude]

Installed a shunt, which means I installed CHAdeMO, which means ROAD TRIP!

mind the very temporary (slightly sketchy) CHAdeMO and general wiring...

Drove all over Vancouver island, over 800km throughout the week.

BC hydro has really stepped up its fast charging game, with quite a few 400kw capable stations, and now many 180kw. North of Campbell river was only 50kw. Everywhere had at least 1 CHAdeMO plug lucky me.

unfortunately was not able to do any data collection, but the low ir of the ionic modules handled multiple 50kw charge sessions in a day with minimal heat production.

From first glance, with some active cooling these guys should handle much higher power levels!

Which gets me excited about implementing foccci with a nacs port!


Now for issues possible bugs:

2 of the more northern chademo stations had lockout issues during the initial hand shake. after the station did its precharge test, it would drop the 12v supply, which is used to trigger the contactors and gp12 input. this would cause the station to flicker the 12v supply on and off a few times then lock out.

my on the road fix was to monitor the 12v supply during the handshake, and jumper the connection to 12v once initiated. this would stabilize the connection and the station would begin charging. not sure if the station is not following the spec, or if it wants an additional message.


second issue was that the out lander dcdc was not working during dc fast charging. i have the 12v supply for the outlander obc on a relay trigger by HV active on one of the output pins on the zombie. also now dose not work during AC charge mode. works fine in drive.

going to investigate if there's a wiring issue that has cropped up. i have tried with removing the chademo lv harness and removing the chademo settings, but still no dcdc during ac charge.

so a few things to test:
-if 12v supply relay is triggering via HV active in ac and dc fast charge modes
-if IGN relay is triggering during ac and dc fast charger modes
-test and review prams settings. ie with chademo set for charge mode and outlander for interface, dose dcdc still work when in drive mode, dose zombie still go into ac charge mode, etc.
-test if obc is faulty

[johu]

exciting path ahead

That charger is still better plowed than this one:

The name gives it away: wattif I could charge here?

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

Which gets me excited about implementing foccci with a nacs port!

I'm hoping to do some testing in this regard this weekend or next. My daily (Charger Daytona) just got returned from the dealer AND Dodge got access to Stuperchargers this week, so I bought a CCS-NACS adapter. Planning to test it with the Daytona and with Shocking Chevy's FOCCCI at both an Ionna and a Tesla station that are nearby. In theory, FOCCCI should handle the Ionna station without issue, and I'm hoping that maybe with a little fibbing the Tesla station will play along too. GM does have access anyways, and it is a Chevy, and the port is from a Chevy too.....

[Bratitude]

I'm hoping to do some testing in this regard this weekend or next. My daily (Charger Daytona) just got returned from the dealer AND Dodge got access to Stuperchargers this week, so I bought a CCS-NACS adapter. Planning to test it with the Daytona and with Shocking Chevy's FOCCCI at both an Ionna and a Tesla station that are nearby. In theory, FOCCCI should handle the Ionna station without issue, and I'm hoping that maybe with a little fibbing the Tesla station will play along too. GM does have access anyways, and it is a Chevy, and the port is from a Chevy too.....

Great to hear, I haven’t heard or seen anyone in North America run a nacs port with foccci yet, so intrigued to see what happens. On paper nothing interesting.

On the Tesla supper charger side, things get tricky.

I’ve barely take a peak at the spec. Is there a vin exchanged during the handshake? How dose Tesla gate keep access?

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

I’ve barely take a peak at the spec. Is there a vin exchanged during the handshake? How dose Tesla gate keep access?

Attached is the technical spec from Tesla. For communication it only says:

4.5.1 For DC charging, communication between the EV and EVSE
shall be power line communication over the control pilot line
as depicted in DIN 70121.
4.5.2 The North American Charging Standard is compatible with
“plug and charge” as defined in ISO-15118.

So its effectively just CCS on a different port. I have to assume they are "fingerprinting" how different manufacturers implement it in order to gate keep because:
a) they do support older EV platforms like the Chevy Bolt that to my knowledge don't support plug-and-charge and don't support OTA updates
b) People have managed to get "platform mates" to charge even if their manufacturer doesn't yet have access by telling the Tesla app its something else: For example charging a Honda Prologue by telling Tesla its a Chevy Blazer before Honda had access. Or a Kia EV6 as a Ioniq 5 when Hyundai had access but Kia didn't. But, they did end up patching this a few times, so they're doing something to figure out what car is charging.

[Bratitude]

theres an old saying, never buy a mechanic owed car, as he as likely done the bare minimum to keep it going, buy his wifes car as its likely perfect;)

as i just have the truck band aided and work on everything else, i got more work done on a better HV interface for the leaf inverter.

being i have a gen3 inverter, the "cover" isnt a cooling plate, rather just a lid with holes. so first draft modeling up a new one with holes for radlok connectors...or cable glands if your a cheap man

dxf attached, use at your own risk i have not done a proper fit test yet, have to wait till next week to confirm

[Bratitude]

okay some updates on my strange dcdc outlander issue.

ever since i set up chademo ive had issues with the outlander dcdc working during charge modes (ac or dcfc)

current setup:

leaf inverter, outlander obc, ivt shunt all on can2

chademo wired as per wiki

after going through the sequence of events heres what i have discovered:


when i would go to a chademo station station would get a "charging canceled" error, and i would never here the contactors fire. ie zombie would not go into dcfc mode.

i would have interface set to: "chademo"

i would then charge charger type from "outlander" to "external digital"

and possibly would have to disable proxpilot for chademo to be successful.

now that truck is dcfc mode, dcdc would not work. not sure is HV active is being triggered or not

would end DCFC session once topped up, and go into drive mode, dcdc works, truck drives, great!

get back home, set charge type back to "outlander" and enable proxpilot, and with truck turned off..i plug in my evse. no dice, does not go into charge mode. put the truck into run mode, then back off, it then goes into ac charge mode. but the dcdc is not working.

truck will now only go into ac mode with the eves pluged in, and cylcing the truck in and out of run mode. i even had proxpilot disabled at one point and it would still go into charge mode when run mode is cycled and evse is pluged in.

now heres the kicker:
with all my stock settings: charger type "outlander" proxpilot, and hvactive.

i switch the shunt type to "none" (from ivt) and ac charging works properly. with truck off, and you plug in a evse it goes intp charge mode and dcdc works.

i set the shunt type back to ivt, and same result, it works as it should, goes into ac charge mode and dcdc truns on.

now if i where to change setting back for chademo, ac charge mode goes back to needing run mode cycled and no dcdc.


i will now go systematically change and test each setting for chademo to see what change exactly (or combinations) is causing the issue.

[Bratitude]

hmm okay now isolated the issue with dcdc not working away from chademo.

right now if i have shunt selected, dcdc dose not work, and need to cycle run mode with evse pluged in, to go into ac charge mode.

switched back to shunt type "none" and ac charge mode works as should and dcdc runs.

truck goes into run mode(and drives) regardless of shunt type selected.