I am a new member - Introduction

GEM Forum
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Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am going to be asking many questions in future, so I thought I would give introduction. My name is Jon, but my Gem is affectionately called the Green Lantern. A pic would show why?

I don’t think I can post a pic yet, so I will describe my 2011 E2.

I have the following upgrades……

RFF 7.5 Motor
Q-Charger
6 Gell Batteries
21.5 Tall Tires on 17” Rims
Fully Wrapped and Painted Metallic Green
Sound Bar with Bluetooth Stereo
Rolls Royce Starlight Headliner
Led undercarriage lighting
Custom Upholstery with matching Green Stitching
Metallic Green Diamond Plated floor
All work was done by a Custom Car Shop in South Florida. Previous owner spent approx $8500 in visual modifications, plus RFF upgrades. It’s a real conversation piece.

I’ve posted several pics on Facebook of my cart.

I joined because my batteries are 5 years old, and I am looking to upgrade to Lithium batteries. I am currently going into Turtle mode at approx 60% left on dash display.

I am currently reading through old posts and threads to learn what I can. My 1st question? How do I contact Grant West, Inwo, or one of the others that do the Lithium conversion? It would be nice to speak directly.

Thank you for reading. I hope that I can contribute in the future. Right now I need info myself.

Jon

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I can help with batteries.
30 mile or so range ok?
Is performance ok?
I can supply drop in ready or kits.

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My performance is decent. I am at approx 34/35 MPH. 40 would be nice? My tires are very low profile, since rims are 17” of the overall 21.5” height. I like the tire and wheel package so to achieve more speed, I would rather make other mods.

When I go to the Polaris website it shows the lithium going up to 95 miles on a charge. Is this a realistic mod to a 2011 E2? I don’t really need 95 miles, but it would be nice to go 50 miles on a charge? But I would rather have reliability and longer battery life than range, if I had to chose between the two.

I am hoping to get an entire kit that’s installation ready or better yet, having some one local do the upgrade. I can swing a wrench, but batteries and voltage are something I need help with. My knowledge is limited to reading threads on this forum.

Thank you for responding so quickly to my post. Is there any way I can contact you directly?

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image
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It’s no wonder why your batteries are shot, you parked it over a yellow line.

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I’ll pm you. We can talk options. The Polaris 12kw lithium battery is $12k and only give you 50 mile range in an inefficient dc car.
I have a “Goliath” battery ready to go. 20kw plus. Expect 80 mile range.
$4500

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3 of these modules.

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Also Samsung sdi 7.5kw $2750 drop in ready.
Or cells only $2200.

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Picture 22 cells in a tote.

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I have one 21s sdi left $2500.

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Welcome to the group GL. I saw your post over on FB, and may have even replied, but I don’t think I ever saw if you made any progress over there with some of the suggestions.

As you may have noticed while poking through the archives, what works here is remembering to come back with progress reports(good or bad), especially when you come back months later with updates on how things are working. The archives are amazingly useful for future readers to see where we have come from and where they should go with their own project.

It looks like you have a great base to build from, but we might need a bit more info to make some suggestions.

→ What part of the country are you based? You mentioned the car was built in FL.

If you haven’t run into the multiple threads on the topic yet, I think you might be up against the upper speed limit of your present setup. To verify, we need a bit more info on this too.

Entering your tire numbers, and assuming stock 2011 trans ratio of 12.44, it looks like your motor will need to be wound up to 7800 when you hit 40mph. I believe that R4F Blue motor is rated for 4950. People run them up to 6k all the time without too many issues. That gets you up to 31.
6500 gets you 33mpg, and 7k is about 36. A nice unregulated downhill speed run in the middle of the night pretty much gets you a tow home and you are looking for a new motor the next morning.

You should keep an eye out for a deal on a 10.35 Gearbox (unless there is already one in there). That’ll run 40 at 6500. Not ideal, but more do-able for the occasional hit.

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@JarJarJava got one in his parts list from the car he’s parting out

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Thank you AssyRequired,

I wish I knew how to better navigate Facebook. I am more used to forums like this. I will make sure I start a specific thread about my journey with the out come.

Until 2 days ago, I hadn’t driven The Green Lantern in a month. I had a medical issue in which I am still recovering from.

I hope to be a trusted member that contributes to these forums.

I purchased the Green Lantern about 3 months ago, from a car collector. He gave me the entire file of the modifications, battery replacement, and other info. I got a deal because he had become frustrated with it. It was broken when I got it. I had to order a new magnet, since I was getting error codes. I learned about that while searching these forums. I had to rewire front headlights, since the wires had melted at some point. Just imagine my surprise when I replaced the projector for the starlight headliner…… and it came on for the first time. I was wowed myself. I finally got everything running, But the last few times I have taken it out it has gone into turtle mode and barely crawled home. I know it’s the batteries. Only because previous owner had lost interest, and they were last replaced in 2017.

Everywhere my wife and I take The Green Lantern, it becomes a topic of conversation. We live in Pompano Beach, Florida and use it to cruise Lauderdale by the Sea, Pompano Beach, Lighthouse Point, Deerfield Beach, amongst others. It’s been a lot of fun in the short time we have owned it. I need to do whatever it takes to make it reliable… Right now I am to nervous to take it out for fear I will be pushing it.

I’ll check file to see if axle was on list. Also will see about tires.

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@JarJarJava got one in his parts list from the car he’s parting out

I was kinda eyeballing that. If he REALLY-really has to have it I will do a pass and look for another. Not that I am greedy.

Shipping across the country might make sourcing a local gearbox more affordable.

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@AssyRequired @Erniea15
I have 2 actually. One needs output shafts and a pumpkin cover. I was going to swap it with the 12.44 in the '10 but never did

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If you look on top of the trans, Driver side, there might be a barcode sticker still on the case. Post a clear pic of that number and we might be able to look it up.

Right now I am to nervous to take it out for fear I will be pushing it.

That is an extreme case of Range Anxiety.

If you haven’t done it already, You need to do a full check up of that battery back. Do you have a meter?

  • Tap a V reading of each battery. Write down the readings.
  • Do it after a full charge, then again after a quick run around the block.
  • Report back here with those numbers.

You may have one or two going bad. A quick(cheap) fix would be to replace 1 or 2 batteries and get you back rolling again (but not the best path).

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Here is what happened the other day……

I was a few miles from home when it noticeably started going slower, but no Turtle indicator…… Yet. Once Turtle light comes on I pull over and turn off the master switch for more than 10 seconds. I think I read here that it resets the batteries…… it did nothing. As I am heading home on A1A, I get the first of several 1 finger solutes because the Gem is only do approx 18mph. I get that speed by doubling what I see on dash, since it says 9. As luck would have it, I get stuck waiting for a bridge going over intracoastal. I am the 3rd vehicle and I will have to take off going up bridge incline. I am also in left lane, since I live the first left after bridge. When the bridge went up, my Gem would only do 4 to 6 miles an hour till it crested the hill. There are too many cars behind me to count. The single finger solutes and horn honking was unbearable. I hope to avoid that. But heck…… somebody has to give old drivers a bad name, may as well be me.

Other than the causeway bridge, there are no hills near my home for 100 miles. At least none I know of. It’s Florida

I won’t be back home until Monday. That’s the soonest I can check file, gears, tires, and take specific pics. I do very much appreciate the help. I hope I don’t sound to dramatic. Lol

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That Inter coastal bridge wait with all cars behind always made me sweat. Not anymore with lithium :wink:

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Dgabriel2004,

Please call me tomorrow to discuss lithiums options. You have my contact info in PM.

Thank You,

Jon

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I am back home.

Here is what I know……

The batteries were replaced by dealer less than 2 years ago. March 2020. I was actually quite surprised to find out how new they were. Makes me wonder if the batteries are my true problem? I am just guessing it is. I can only speculate, but just by going with all the things I had to fix, I think the previous owner lost interest. None of the lights worked. The stereo only hummed, and the magnet was shredded. This stuff leads me to believe that the first time he charged it in a while, is when I came to see it.

I could not find any paperwork from RFF. But it has their blue 7.5 motor and also Delta Q charger. The controller looks Original. I only read half the speed I am actually going. The car also never charges over 99%. RFF sold me the magnet that repaired the error code 81 reading I was getting.

I saw where a sticker used to be on top of transmission case. I can only assume that it has original gears. I would be interested in reGearing it to get to 40mph. But right now, just getting it reliable is my first priority. There was nothing in my paperwork about running mods. Just all the cosmetic mods.
My current tire size is 195 / 40ZR16 80W XL My top speed is 34 or 35 currently.

Along those lines…… in the future, I will start a thread showing how to do the Starlight Headliner. I discovered how easy it is, when I dismantled the gem after I bought it. It’s how I discovered what was wrong. In my tutorial, I will advise the viewer not to cut the starlight strands to short. Right now, when it rains, the water goes directly into light projector.

I put a multimeter on just a single battery and it read 12.84 volts. I then turned on headlights and voltage went down to 12.73. I really have no idea what I am doing and how to properly test batteries? Individually?
The current batteries are Polaris 4013692

I bought the Gem on Nov 1st and worked great after I replaced magnet and fixed headlights, stereo, sound bar, led lights, starlight headliner. Towards the end of December, the Turtle Light started coming on. One time, I stopped, turned off only at the key, then turned back on, it would not go after I did this. I later learned that turning off master switch is what I needed to do. I did this the last time and it did not take car out of turtle mode.

I really like the car and have no problem upgrading to lithium. It would be nice to go 5mph faster too. But I want to be sure that batteries are the reason I go into turtle mode. Please advise me as too what other tests I need to do, and how to do it, or what pictures you might need?

What are the biggest advantages to going with lithium?

Thank you,

Jon

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do you know if they changed the charger algorithm when they replaced the batteries?

Disconnect master switch, locate the Charger and plug it in to 120v. Then count the charger LED flashes and let us know.

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“Turtle Mode” for me usually means a battery problem. And using a voltage meter is pretty much useless. What works for me is a Carbon Pile battery load tester. You don’t have to remove the batteries as long as you hook each battery up correctly. I really like the Harbor freight Load tester that is on clearance for $49. I’ll post a picture and include a link. I don’t think they will last long at this price. You will do a test of each battery at 1/2 the CCA reading. The tester will let you know if the battery needs to be recharged before load testing.
load tester