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Removing Coastal Tech EV mod

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by tripp, Sep 19, 2009.

  1. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    My Coastal tech mod seems to be going breserk. It randomly comes on and will cycle between on and off every two seconds for long periods of time. It's got to go. I can't find my original documents, but I'm sure it mentions uninstall steps. Does any body have recommendations on what to do? I assume I just leave the taps in place and simply cut the wires between the taps and the coastal tech hardware.

    Has anybody experienced such weird behavior with a Coastal tech mod? The thing worked fine for about a year. Then it stopped working at all. Now it can't seem to make it engage with the CC stalk, but it will seem to be sending signals to the car. It seems to happen most often the first time I drive the car each day. Very strange.
     
    #1 tripp, Sep 19, 2009
  2. Lloyd9

    Lloyd9 Junior Member

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    #2 Lloyd9, Sep 20, 2009
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Have you tried getting hold of Coastal? Low likelihood of success, but you never know.

    Finally, if you snip the wires on the circuit side of the connectors it should come right off. If you want you can lift the white bar and try to pull the pin that goes into the plug, or just snip the wire and wrap the end with tape so it doesn't short on anything.
     
    #3 efusco, Sep 20, 2009
  4. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    You should be able to just cut the wires off. I, too, am thinking an intermittent connection, probably at those clip-on connectors. Coastal Tech might be willing to work with you to fix it. Maybe.

    Does your c/c cancel function work okay? If it does, that would eliminate the stalk itself as the problem. It would also mean that the connectors have not actually severed the wire that connects the c/c cancel switch to the plug.

    Mine is one of the first production units. I was the first PC member to install it. And I've never had any trouble with it. (I did break the c/c stalk, but Toyota fixed that under warranty.)

    Good luck whatever you decide to do.
     
    #4 daniel, Sep 20, 2009
  5. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    Thanks lads. I think the loose connection can be ruled out by the precise nature of the beep-beep-beep I hear at speeds over 34 mph (today it lasted a good 20 minutes at a very precise interval... suspiciously it's about every 2 seconds. I will, however, crack the dash open and "have a butchers". Hopefully it is simly a loose connection. If not, I'm gonna snip the wires like you say and wrap the ends with electrical tape. The beeping is annoying, but what's more worrying is that at speeds below 34 mph, the engine cycles everything 4 seconds, with is disturbing and the battery gets more use than it really should. Those are the main thing. I'm not gonna bother with Coastal. They're customer service is generally shite and I can't see them being arsed to help me out. I'll let you know how it goes. Daniel, good idea testing the CC stalk. I will try that out tomorrow on my way to work and see if there ary issues there.
     
    #5 tripp, Sep 20, 2009
  6. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    CC stalk seems to work fine for its normal function. It doesn't, however, engage EV mode. Since the stalk works for canceling CC the problem must be in the chip or the connection.
     
    #6 tripp, Sep 21, 2009
  7. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    #7 tripp, Mar 18, 2011
  8. xsmatt81

    xsmatt81 non-AARP Member

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    I haven't had any problems with the EV mod.

    on the other hand i find it was a waste of money honestly. I rarely use it anymore, at all. Forgot, it was there mostly. And to be honest it drains the battery so much, it offsets any fuel savings for the little use it might get in a parking lot or something. At best it's something to show off to someone, in Full EV mode, or maybe if you want to cut the engine in heavy traffic

    But half the time you can never get it to engage under 37mph, to many variables with SOC on the battery, temp, etc. I will leave it in there, but ...yeah wasn't worth the 50 bucks
     
    #8 xsmatt81, Mar 20, 2011
  9. Doc Willie

    Doc Willie Shuttlecraft Commander

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    I had two of the Coastal Tech units that I could not get to work. Finally did the DIY mod adding a switch, which works.
     
    #9 Doc Willie, Mar 20, 2011
  10. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    FWIW, I've had a Coastal Tech EV switch installed for just on three
    years now. So far, no problems. But I remember that at installation I
    was less than impressed with the pinch-through-the-insulation type
    wire connectors. IRC, the instructions were real insistent that all wires
    be well supported to keep strain off the connections.

    As to the usefulness of the mod, I agree that as forced means of entry
    into EV, the switch is no big deal. It can get you into a state of serious
    SOC depletion hurry-up quick... and thats with a ScanGauge to keep an
    eye on things.

    It's been said before, but another repetition can't hurt: the best use of
    an EV switch in the Gen II is to force ICE-off before the full warmup
    cycle to Stage 4 has been completed    . For me at least, this means that
    it is primarily a cold weather tool. With it you can turn off the ICE when
    the car is stationary at coolant temps as low as 110 deg F.

    Worth the money? Only maybe. It'll take years for payback based
    solely on gas not used while standing at stop lights in the winter.
    That said, it has taught me a lot about the Prius' operating algorithms...
    And about self-discipline... or lack of same.
    All too often ya' want to use it, but ya' shouldn't... then ya' do anyway! :doh:
     
    #10 Rokeby, Mar 20, 2011
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