My 2005 e4 died earlier today in the middle of going up a small hill. My wife was driving and she felt the car stutter a bit and then all power went out.
I noticed the master switch had tripped, so waited about 5 minutes and switched it back on, and immediately error code 51 came up.
I’ve checked other posts for tips and tried a few different things but it appears error 51 is here to stay.
I will say that prior to today, I would occasionally experience choppy acceleration. Also, there were a few times in the past 2 weeks that when I started the car error 41 would appear only to immediately go away when I turned off the key and turned it back on.
Aside from the error, my battery shows good voltage and everything else (lights, wipers, etc) turns on.
Based on what I’ve read/learned here, I’m guessing I need to get a new controller. I currently have a T3 controller, Lithium battery that I purchased from Dave and a “Long 5” GE motor that I had purchased from Rodney. I think those parts are good.
It appears that the general consensus is that T4 controllers are better, and I would like to make a smart purchase, but I’m not seeing that anyone’s actually successfully swapped out a T3 with a T4.
I would appreciate guidance from experts here on what I should do/check next. Thanks!
Not necessarily. I would do some checks before you call it dead. Prepare your meter.
-41 - Controller over temp.
How many times has this come up lately?
Was it a big hill?
Was it a hot day?
When was the last time you checked the air pressure in your tires?
Are your cables and bolts going up to the top of your controller snug/tight?
-51 - Capacitor volts are low before the line contactor closes.
This is usually a user power up sequence error. If you had the KeyON when you flipped the Main Disconnect back to ON position then I believe it would be the cause of the immediate -51. A KeyOFF, pause, KeyOn should clear it. (Y/N?)
MainBatSwON, KeyON, then put your meter probes across the POS and NEG on top of the controller and measure for B+.
Confirm (Y/N?).
I do find it curious that your Main Batt Disconnect found a reason to trip to OFF. Perhaps it is failing and time to swap it. As a test, you could put your meter across it and look for odd voltages when loaded.
Error 41 -
How many times has this come up lately? only a couple times
Was it a big hill? Was it a hot day? It would come up as soon as I turned the key on inside my garage. Both times, turning it off and on would clear it, so I didn’t think much of it. Now that I’m looking at what the error code means, I’m not 100% certain that it was 41. It was definitely 40-something but I didn’t pay much attention as it cleared right after
When was the last time you checked the air pressure in your tires? I checked and added more air on the morning of the incident (error 51) as it was slightly low. Prior to that, maybe about a 1.5 month ago?
Are your cables and bolts going up to the top of your controller snug/tight? Yes as far as I can tell.
Error 51
I don’t think I had the key in the ON position when I flipped the main switch back on. In any case, the error code does not clear even after following the correct power up sequence.
MainBatSwON, KeyON, then put your meter probes across the POS and NEG on top of the controller and measure for B+.
I can’t quite see where you have the meter probes. Is that across your MC? That is a really weird number (higher than I would expect).
This is showing you the potential between the battery side and the fully discharged power control board (what the -51 is also looking at). DON’T push in the contacts right now!!!.
What I would like to see next is probe the Coil wires on the MC. (the smaller wires). One of them will be Or and the other Bk/DG.
At KeyON, Look for B+ on the Org, then same on the Bk/DG(expect a little less. (Both measurements with Black meter probe on B- stud on fromt of PSDM for reference).
Whoa - That went over my head a little. Too many acronyms!
As for the odd voltage, the probes were connected to the part that (I think) is connected to the fuse box. The thick orange wires that are connected are labeled “MC+” and “MC-”. So I’m guessing that’s the MC? (Edit: I just looked up the part, it appears to be a GE Contactor Relay)
Right- I forgot to get back to that. I have the solution/instructions here too. Converting from T3 to T4 is not a problem.
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Whoa - That went over my head a little. Too many acronyms!
Sorry, MC is short for Main Contactor. aka Main Relay.
When I get busy and long winded, I shorten it up to save time.
Yes, you have the correct item. Placing your probes on the big cables and getting a reading tells me a little of what I wanted to know.
The other thing I was asking involves the two little wires also going to this relay. Those are the coil wires. One of them will be Orange, and the other will be Black with a Green stripe.
I am looking for B+ on the orange wire when Key is on. If Yes, (just for fun) move your Red probe over to the Black wire on the coil. It should also have B+ (Meter Black probe is on the B- for reference)
Thanks, Byron! Is it possible that my wires are colored differently for whatever reason? The only smaller wires I see going to the relay are these wires below: One is white and the other appears to be Black & Green.
Odd voltage – I think it was the multimeter running on low battery that caused the confusion. Low battery indicator came on the multimeter, so I replaced with a fresh battery and the reading aligned with what’s to be expected (96v). For giggles, I went back to the old battery, and sure enough, it displayed the incorrect 120v again.
For testing with the smaller coil wires, I had the black probe on the B- (Thick orange wire labeled “Battery-”). Please let me know if this isn’t the spot you were intending.
It’s looking that way.
If you have B+ on the Coil wires of the MC(which is the same feed going to P1 on the controller), and you do not have a charged controller at keyON, Then it looks like the charge circuit inside the controller is probably damaged.
The only other thing would be to check the connection on Pin1 and verify that it is making good contact with the pin (but this is difficult to do).
It might be time to send it in for a checkup, but chances are, they won’t even look at a T3 and try to upgrade you to a T4.
