MINI not releasing the charging cable

  • Thread starter Thread starter Teddydogno1
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 7
  • Views Views 8K
T

Teddydogno1

Active Member
Over the last two weeks or so, my MINI has not been releasing the charging cable in the morning. This is not the same as the issue I had originally with my Grizzl-E latch being out of spec.

The car is set for climate conditioning for a 6:45 AM departure. My wife typically gets outside just after that time. What is happening is that the car stays charging after the car is unlocked and even the doors are opened. The green light stays lit in the charging port and the Grizz is showing "charging" by flashing green. Sometimes it will stop and release if the drivers door is closed and reopened.

According to the manual, it should become unlocked when the car is unlocked, but it isn't doing that. Today I tried the unlock button on the fob to see if that would help (vs. walking up to the car with the fob in pocket and pressing the door button) and there was no change. I tried to find the manual "Unlock charging cable" in the menu but didn't see it where I thought it was supposed to be. Then I tried one more time to remove the cable and it came out. So it is kind of like it is taking a couple of minutes after unlocking before the cable can be removed.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Is this a car issue, or a Grizz issue? How do I fix it? We have had the car since Nov 6 and it has been working as expected until about 2 weeks ago.

Rob
 
When you say you “tried one more time to remove the cable and it came out” did it just need a stronger tug on it?
I ask as our Mini does release the lock on the charge port when I use the fob to unlock the car, but the light does still show it is charging. I then press the release button on the charger handle, the light changes (I think) and I then have to give it a really strong tug to pull it out, my wife actually complains about that as when she finally got it free she ended up banging her elbow into the shelves right next to the car and I admit I have to be careful not to do the same. Seems like a really tight fit. That said our portable EVSE fits much better and doesn’t require as much force to remove so I’m questioning the connector on our OpenEVSE as to tolerances, although it fits the Tesla adapter without any force to unplug so maybe it’s the Mini charge port being tight?
Or the final time when you removed it did you hear it unlock at that point?
 
It is not mechanically stuck. When it decides it is ready to come out, it comes out with very little force.

I did have a problem with the mechanical latch on the cable not opening far enough originally. I had to pry it up with a small screwdriver to make it clear the slot on the socket. I compared the Grizz cable to the included Level 1 charge cable and it was clear that the Grizz did not move "up" far enough when the button was pressed. I was able to bend it just a little so it has plenty of clearance now.

Rob
 
  • Like
Reactions: J22
Teddydogno1 said:
The car is set for climate conditioning for a 6:45 AM departure. My wife typically gets outside just after that time. What is happening is that the car stays charging after the car is unlocked and even the doors are opened. The green light stays lit in the charging port and the Grizz is showing "charging" by flashing green. Sometimes it will stop and release if the drivers door is closed and reopened.
Click to expand...

I recall you park the MINI outside in the Pacific Northwest (re: wife range anxiety w/ 2% left). Did you ever get a cover for your charge point to prevent freezing of the J1772 proximity pilot pin?
 
We had some very cold weather for about 2 weeks after Christmas, including snow, ice and freezing temps. Had no trouble then after the snow and any ice were gently melted away. It was around 40 deg this morning when this happened and was not freezing over night.

Rob
 
Teddydogno1 said:
We had some very cold weather for about 2 weeks after Christmas, including snow, ice and freezing temps. Had no trouble then after the snow and any ice were gently melted away. It was around 40 deg this morning when this happened and was not freezing over night.

Rob
Click to expand...

I doubt the MINI onboard charger would request electricity via control pilot without the proximity pilot pin engaged. Are you using version 1 or version 2 (after June 15, 2021) of Grizzl-E Classic?
 
Can you provide a bit more detail about exactly what stuck means? I'm assuming you mean it is still locked to the car and preventing you from pushing the release lever?

The charger is locked into the car with this little pin getting pushed out. It prevents the charger latch from being pushed up when the pin is extended
b814b99ff7f6bb2cd99473e6d6697d161e435c42.webp


You said you slightly bent the Grizzl-E latch to allow removal, but my problem was the latch was too tall (and I had to sand it down a bit). I think it's possible that the too-tall Grizzl-E latch is preventing that pin from retracting correctly when the car is unlocked. Your unsuccessful attempts to remove the charger may be wiggling it enough for it to eventually retract.

I'd suggest a couple of troubleshooting steps:
  • Try locking/unlocking the car/charger with the grizzl-e. Can you reliability cause the charger to get stuck? If yes:
  • Repeat the above with the stock MINI level 1 charger. Does it also get stuck?
    • If yes: probably an issue with the locking pin mechanism. Could be an actuator issue, the locking pin could be slightly bent, or the pin could be dirty/sticky.
    • If no: probably an issue with the grizzl-e latch itself. Either try a bit of sanding to reduce the height of the latch end or contact grizzl-e and get them to replace it.
 
Thanks for the thoughts so far everyone. I didn't realize that the pin was the only lock--mechanically preventing the latch from raising up when the button is pushed. I thought there was also some sore of electronic lock or something inside the pin area.

I did some examination in the light today (had a good bit of sun right into the charge port). The lock pin seems to be doing its job, at least when I watched. It extends when plugged in and the car is locked and retracts when the car is unlocked. So I think I can rule out that pin as the problem.

Since that is the only lock, it must be related to the tolerance of the latch on the cable head. I measured it and compared to the Level 1 cable. The Grizz cable latch at rest is closer to the body of the plug than the latch of the Level 1. When pressed, the Grizz latch does not move as far away from the body as does the Level 1 latch. The differences here are by a couple of 32nds of an inch. It also looks like the the Grizz latch is a little wider than the one on the Level 1. The latch on the Grizz is "chrome" plated and I can see that the coating is rubbed off in the middle section of the bottom of it where it would drag over and out of the depression it sits in. More evidence that it doesn't disengage cleanly and fully as it should.

With repeated plugging and unplugging, sometimes it popped right out and sometimes it was a little struggle. It also seems that sometimes if I held the head DOWN (not IN) when pressing the button, it was a little easier.

So again I think this comes down to the shape, size and position of the latch on the Grizz cable. What a pain in the butt. I will try calling them this week and see what they have to say. For now, I did try bending it up a little again and will tell my wife about pushing it down a little when trying to detach.

I'm glad that my car doesn't seem to be broken. Trying to get in for service would be a pain.

Rob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top