Plug-in charging system problem

In the past, "cannot connect to server" meant the wireless communication system went down or the charger needed to be rebooted.
I usually call ChargePoint customer service and they reboot the charger if they can reach it, otherwise the owner needs to reboot the charger onsite.

 

Same issue here. Only difference is that last night I wanted to test scheduled charging at home, so I had that set.

Came to work and put it on the charger (Hydra Level 2) only to realize an hour later it wasn't charging because of the schedule. Tried to turn it off and on but had to go back to put my code back on.

Started the charger and 30 minutes later it stopped. And got the dreaded Power range limited error.

Now tried the one next to it just in case after starting and stopping the car a couple of time (was going to say engine but that's not the case now

 

Update. Charged to 100%. But Engine and Power System lights stayed on, and Info notice about Plug-in Charger System problem.

Drove for about 10 miles or so, then at a long traffic light, I powered down and back on. Power System and Info noticed went away, but check-engine light stayed on. Sounds odd that I now not get any info as to why the check engine light is still on.

Will try my ODBII tester later...

 

Curious if you can clear it with an OBD reader. I had the same problem, drove it about 40 miles. Stopped, my friend plugged in his reader with it off, he didn't get a code, so I went to turn it on and the CEL was off. So I'm not sure if it went off on his own or his reader cleared it.

 

Today I have experienced the failure to charge issue. Charging started as scheduled at 11 pm last night and stopped shortly after. Only had 17 miles EV range this morning (plugged in last night at 0). Now it will only charge for 6 minutes at a time. I am using a Clipper Creek HSC-40 32 amp charging station.

Tried using the Honda 120 volt cable. It was charging for over 1 hour and did not stop.

 

Hey it is my turn!

So, earlier today, I got a new message while charging but didn't think much of it. It was a mildly hot day (in the low 90s) and I was charging during the day (I only use public chargers since there aren't any at my apartment, so I charge when I can and I cannot do it overnight). After about 40min I got a message that it was slowing the charge because the battery was hot, so I just unhooked and headed home. I simply figured that it was just a straightforward issue and nothing to worry about since it was somewhat hot (though I've charged when it was hotter), I had the AC going since I was waiting in the car, and it was in the sun. Now, I wonder if it is related to the other charging issues others (and now I) have had.

Tonight I went to Whole Foods and charged while I grabbed something from their "restaurants" inside the store and did some shopping. I noticed it seemed to be charging slowly and that it disconnected and reconnected on its own a couple times, but assumed it was the charger. I then got a text from Chargepoint that it was charging slowly and that my car might be full, and I knew it wasn't (i came in with 14-20mi left, even on a regular speed charge it wouldn't be near full in less than an hour).

Both of those were Chargepoint chargers.

After I paid for my groceries, I went to the car and switched chargers (the Whole Foods has one Chargepoint and one that they have painted green with their logo, I think it is a GE). It worked fine for about 5min, then I got the same message as the OP: "Plug in Charging System Problem. Range Limited." and it wouldn't go off. I turned off the accessory setting and started the car, and still had the message. I turned it off for about 5min and restarted the car. The message came on again, but then turned off (the check engine light is still on however). I drove home on HV and figure I'll head out again to see if it is still doing it, and I'll head to another nearby charger (not a Chargepoint) to see if it will work or not.

I hope it will be OK to drive it since I have to go to work tomorrow (I'm a teacher and during summer school we don't get subs so I can't easily call out), about 20min away, and the dealer is about an hour from work. No matter what it does later tonight, I'll bring it to the dealer tomorrow since it is an issue.

 

So, how do we report these issues? From those that have taken the car to the dealership, it's obvious it's a waste of time...

 

I have a situation where it seems to have had the opposite effect from whatever update (if any) ChargePoint implemented. Since late June, I have had a number of days when charging would stop after a while, all on hotter days (lower 90s). The higher temperature clearly has a lot to do with the issue, but I was having no problem previously charging on hot days (other than slower charging rate, as expected).

The main difference I observed on my app is that the charging rate no longer adjust (lower) on hot days. Before I started to have this problem, if it is a hot day, the charging rate will start at the normal 7kw or slightly below, and then drop to maybe mid to low 6kw or 5kw (presumably because the battery is getting hot), and fluctuate up and down. That is no longer happening since late June. Now it will stay close to 7kw no matter what the temperature is, and consequently, the charging stops completely after a while (the time varies). My guess is overheat protection.

It could also be a problem with the Clarity, but I don't know why it would change its behavior regarding the adjustment of charging rate on hot days, since it wasn't serviced during that time period. I don't think Honda would do OTA updates to the system (and it probably wouldn't have enough bandwidth anyway considering how slowly our HondaLink app updates information).

If ChargePoint did update the way the stations work, it may have caused the station not to interpret the rate limiting signal from the vehicle properly (just a guess). Hopefully it can be looked into and addressed. Thanks!

 

I'm not sure I'm going to take my car to the dealer. It sounds like the response most people got was that they couldn't find the problem and they reset the car. Well, my car has reset itself. Last night when I took the car back out, it charged fine, though the check engine light stayed on. This morning when I left for work, and again when I left, it was 100% fine. I have it charging on a (different) ChargePoint charger at the moment and we'll see how it goes. On the one hand, if they only reset it (and it is working now anyway) it is a waste of time and money (rental for a day/part of a day) to take it in. On the other hand, cars store codes and if there is a warranty issue in the future, I don't want them to be able to claim it isn't under warranty since I didn't bring it in when I got the warning and idiot light. Maybe I'll call the dealer, but they'll probably just suggest I come in. If I can wait until Wednesday, summer school is over and it is the first day of my vacation so I might sit at the dealer until they are done (assuming I can get an appointment, and they don't hold it for an extended time).

 

I had to take the old car yesterday - had the oil change on Friday, and yesterday morning, there was a nice puddle of oil due to a crimped washer.

Today got back on the Clarity and the engine light went away. But today, had the same problem. The sun is bright shining over the car (same as Sunday) and wonder if it's too hot. At first I had to use the same charger I had problems with on Sunday, but then it happened with the one that work, so don't think it's a power issue (but could be). Going to try to charge it later today.

 

Bought my Clarity PHEV on July 23rd. It charges flawlessly on my home Chargepoint Home 32Amp/7.7kW charging station. Started charging it at the office Chargepoint station on Monday, 8/6. It worked great. This morning, I connected it again to the same Chargepoint station at the office and it stopped charging just after just .0013 kW. I removed the chargepoint connector, put it back in the chargepoint machine. Powered on the car, saw the "Plug-in charging system problem. Range limited error." Powered off the car, tried a different chargepoint connector (on same chargepoint station). Plugged it in, the green light stayed lit for a minute or two, started flashing rapidly, and went dark. The chargepoint station in both cases indicated it was waiting on the car. My Hondalink app indicated no charge was occurring. I tried clicking the "start charging" function on the HondaLink app but it made no difference. The error message on my dash that I mentioned earlier disappeared after moving the car. When I returned home, I plugged my car into the Chargepoint Home charging station and it charged fine. FYI, I've been using the same charging station at the office on my 2016 Ford Fusion Energi for about 7 months and never had a problem. If I had to guess, it would seem to me that the Clarity PHEV is being overly sensitive shutting down charging. Honda needs to fix this pronto. Had I known about this issue 3 weeks ago, I would not have bought my Clarity PHEV. Other than this significant problem, I love my Clarity PHEV.

 

I didn't have a chance to plug my OBD the other day, but yesterday when the problem happened again, I was able to, but after the error had gone away but engine light stayed.

Code showed P0D3D

Today, the engine light went away. I'm going to try charging later in the afternoon when the sun goes down a bit, to see if it's heat related...

 

I don't think it is heat related. Earlier that day I had a heat related issue (unless I wasn't really, it was whatever is causing this issue, and it prematurely threw the warning that the battery was hot and it was slowing down the charge). However, when it gave me the "Plug in Charging System Problem. Range Limited" message I was charging in the evening (when the battery was charging slowly) and it was dark when I switched chargers and it threw the message.

 

When I had my one day subscription to Honda Tech website, I downloaded a list of all the DTC's but not all the information behind them. Here is the description:

P0D3D Battery Charger Input Voltage Sensor Circuit

Attached is a general description of how to troubleshoot but you might want to buy a one day subscription to www.techinfo.honda.com and research it there.

 

Still happening here on three different chargers but same location. Yesterday I charged after 2pm and had no issues at all. Today, I've switched among the three chargers and still getting interrupted. One time, it threw out the Power System issue, which cleared after a stop/start. It's up to 85% but still doing the same issue.

Sun is hitting straight over the rear of the car and can feel the plug a bit hot from the sun. One charger is off on an angle, but still having issues. Someone will be calling the company to see if what they can see or have them tested, but there's other cars that apparently have no issues, including another Clarity. So call Honda? Dealer? TIA.

 

I have yet to have this issue happen but it also something I hope they do not fully disable. While it may be overly sensitive it is not a bad idea. To me it sounds like there is some relay that toggles when it starts the charging, this suggests that there could be some isolation when it is not charging. I would prefer the car to stop charging when the power starts to flash then try to drink a lightning bolt.

That being said, the handling of the error and its description needs to be cleaned up.

 

Finally heard back from the other Clarity owner that charges at work. Has not have have charging problems at all. He got the car a month or two ago and wonder if he ever got the latest software update. Or it's my car.

Engine light was still on today, and car is at dealer getting a new tire. Had it towed but won't be fixed until the next day, and probably engine light will go away by then.

 

I'll just tack this on the end of this thread because it's about charging issues.

The power at our house was off for three days. When the power came back on our Level 2 240V 40A JuiceBox didn't perform as usual. The max charge time over 8 months of daily charging was 2 hours and 6 minutes. After the power failure it was taking 6 hours or more for a full charge. Also our internet is down and the JuiceBox is not communicating so I couldn't debug it.

I contacted the manufacturer who surmised the system came up thinking the system was 120V instead of 240V. They recommended I unplug the JuiceBox for 20 minutes then plug it back in. That did fix it. This is one of the reasons I chose to have a 240V outlet installed rather than hardwire the JuiceBox to the 240V.

 

I hardwired mine since it was cheaper. Turning off circuit breaker is the same as unplugging.

 

Rainy day today and lower temps. So at least in my case, not heat related. Happened twice again. Had started at about 50% but was able to charge fully.

When I spoke to the dealer about it during the weekend, they said to make an appointment if it happens again. I think it's over sensitivity to power fluctuations. Waiting to hear back from the other Clarity owner to see if he had the range issue fixed, since he does not have any charging problems.