NGS Tester
Using the NGS tester
I am going to run through some of the tests that are wanted by users of the NGS tester ...
Even though we are replacing this unit with an on board diagnostics unit .. this is still the original and a lot of Ranger EV owners probably want to just keep it the way it was ...
 
  So I will try and post how to go through the tests that are needed and also if you just want to watch things thats ok to !!
 
Reset Historical Data
This one especially if you own a lead acid Ranger EV ,  they for some reason lose their ability to keep track of the battery state of charge correctly over a short amount of time ..
I find resetting the historical data about every 3 months seems to help heep them reading correct.
 
This is only the lead acid rangers ...  the NIMH does not need resetting unless you replace a battery or a major part in the pack ......  then you could do this but it is usually not needed with the NIMH BCM ...  the programming seems to be different on its figures ...
 
  Be sure and turn the key to the On position (not start, just on)
 
Select the correct vehicle then ...
 
Select Diagnostic Data Link
Press "Trigger"
Select BCM-Bat Ctrl Mod
Press "Trigger"
Select Active Command Modes
Press "Trigger"
Select Reset Historical Data
Press "Trigger"
Press (#8) Setup
Press (#4) Auto
Press "cancel"
Press "trigger" 1 time
using the black scroll - scroll through all of the batterys 1 at a time
until you get through all the batteries and through SOC and ALL
When you have reached through all of them unplug the NGS tester
Turn the key "off" and remove the key
 
Open the Hood .. Remove the negative cable from the aux. battery for
approx. 3 minutes ....  put it back on and tighten the connector ...
 
Immediately plug the charger in and let it fully charge ...
this can take a long time since it will go into a equalization charge
when it is done .........
 
Thats it just let it finish and you will have all the data starting over ...
Monitor Items
Ok now you just want to watch different things while either driving down the road (not recommended to do) get a friend to drive while you watch ..........
 
  This can be done with the key off or with the key on ....
with the key off I use it to monitor the charging cycle ... you can watch the amps going in the voltage of the pack .. the battery pack state of charge ... the customer state of charge it goes on and on the thinks you can look at ...................
 
  While driving you can watch things like the amps the motor is using so when you go up or down certain hills you can see how many amps you are using or going down hill you can watch and see the difference using the regeneration in either "D" mode or total regen in "E" mode ...
 
To Do this one first select the vehicle .......
 
Select Diagnostics Data Link
Press "Trigger"
Select BCM-Bat Ctrl Mod
Press "Trigger"
Select Pid/Monitor & record
Press "Trigger"
Using black scroll knob Select the Items you want to watch (press Trigger to Select them)
you can monitor a lot of items but you have to scroll up and down to see them if you select
more then 10 items ..........
when you have selected all of the ones you want to monitor just press Start
 
Thats it everything you selected will now be displayed on the screen and you can see what is happening ......
 
Enjoy .........................
Battery Module Test
OK here it is directly out of the manual ...................
 
• Operate the vehicle until the state of charge (SOC) PID indicates
that the battery pack SOC is 20%.
 
• Return the vehicle to the repair facility.
• Actuate heater/defroster mode on high fan and leave on headlamps
to discharge battery pack.
• When battery pack reaches 10% SOC, view BAT_MV PID for
each of the 39 battery modules.
• Using the BAT_MV PID, record the battery voltage on the Battery
Voltage Record Sheet. (A copy is provided on the next page. There
is also a copy included as part of Worksheet L, and another copy
that can be found in the Diagnostic Information Appendix.)
• Select the five lowest voltage battery modules.
• Return to the BAT_MV PID and record the voltages of the five
lowest voltage battery modules.
• From these five, compare the voltage readings of the lowest three
battery modules.
• If the lowest voltage battery is 0.1 less than the second lowest
voltage battery, replace the lowest voltage battery module.
• If the second lowest voltage battery is more than 0.08 volts less
than the third lowest voltage battery, replace the second lowest
voltage battery.
• Prior to replacing the module, verify the serviceability of the
battery’s sense lead (measure for resistance of 30.9 K ohms), and
verify the module’s voltage reading with a DVOM.
 
This all Seems a bit confusing .......    Here is what is important and how to do it ...
Battery Module Test the understandable way
Here is the easiest way I know of to test the batteries and it usually will show you the bad batteries pretty easily ............
 
Run the Ranger EV down until the pump light just comes on  ... get it back to home close to the charging station ........... using the heater watch and monitor the bat_soc .......
when you get to 10% take all the readings within 5 minutes to get the best results .......
 
The key must be to the ON position to take this test.. not start but must be ON ....
 
From the 1998 EV Workshop manual
 
  Select the vehicle .................
Directions
1. Enter BCM ACTIVE COMMANDS.
2. Enter BATTERY MODULE SELECT menu.
3. Enter PID menu.
4. Select BAT_MC PID. (press trigger), Select BAT_MV (press trigger) , Select  SOC (press Trigger) DO NOT SELECT BAT_SOC this is not each battery this is the whole pack ...
5. Press START.
6. Press SETUP button (8).
7. Press AUTO (4).
8. Press CANCEL to return to ACTIVE COMMAND menu.
9. With battery module highlighted, press TRIGGER. This will shrink highlighted (darkened) area to only
include the battery module number.
10. Read and record amps ,volts and soc  for battery module #1. Record the readings
11. Rotate the scroll bar (center knob) and the module number will change write down all of the batteries 25 for NIMH 39 for lead acid on a sheet to record them ...............
  I use a sheet I personally made that I can save in my computer so I can go back and compare later on all the batteries to see if any are losing capacity ......
 
If there are any that are 1/2 a volt or more difference then the rest then you have a failing battery.
If not you are the best you are gonna get !!!
 
Hope this all helps .........................
One on board charger test
sometimes you have way too low of a module or even a b1676 where the whole pack voltage is too low for the BCM to turn on the charger safely ...
 
This is only to test do not charge and drive the vehicle using this as there is a reason it is not charging on its own and it is telling you that there is a problem ... fix the problem this is not to be used for daily charging ...
 
To test the charging system this is a great tool ...............
 
This is done with the Key off and removed from the ranger ev ...
 
1. Plug in the wall charger to your ranger ev
2. Plug in the NGS tester
3. Select the vehicle NIMH or lead acid (a lot of guys forget this step and wonder why they have 25 modules instead of 39 and viceversa)
4. select diagnostic data link
5. press trigger
6.select BCM
7 trigger
8 select bcm packeted commands (very end)
9 trigger
10. press #8 (setup)
11. press #4 (auto)
12. press cancel (one time)
13. press #7(pids)
14. press #5(clear)
15. scroll to aux_cnt=
16 trigger
17 scroll to bat_pv=
18 trigger
19 scroll to bat_soc=
20 trigger
21 press #7 (start)
22 trigger
23 chg Lvl= 10%
24 trigger
25 charger c= close
26 trigger
27 chg pwr= enable
28 trigger
29 pilot = enable
30 trigger
at this point you should have just heard a big clunk
inside the wall charger ......
31 chg mode = curr
32 trigger
33 charger E= enable
34 trigger
35 charger S= enable
36 trigger
 
37 if everything is correct look on the right hand side
and you will see amps going in behind aux_cnt=?
bat_pv=?  is pack voltage total
bat_soc=?  is state of charge for the entire pack ....
 
there you have it .....................................................
 
If the pack is charging and the pilot is working you are getting a charge ...
if not then we need to get it looked at .........................
 
If the charger is working at this point you know the pilot wire and
the on board charger are good and working correct ..............
 
If when you enable the pilot wire you do not hear a clunk turning on
the green light on the wall charger then you have another problem
look to see if you have a low module ... or the IOM could be bad (NIMH
only) ....................