ranger lead to NIMH
Lead acid pack to NIMH pack
This one is a little different ... a friend bought this ranger off ebay and it had all the NIMH batteries setting in the bed when he bought it and the case bolted underneath was a lead acid that had been stripped out ........
 
  We are going to change the pack over to NIMH since everything in the ranger ev is a NIMH and everything is there except the fans, vent etc. for the NIMH to work properly so here we  go !
Here is the pack ... rolled it out from under the ranger and then realized it was a Lead acid pack !
as you can see it had been stripped .. maybe to do what we are doing ? not sure but it wont work this way so lets move on !
first thing since the pack is already stripped for us is to take some of the old plastic inserts from an old lead acid pack and make the plastic inserts for the batteries to set on ... you could actually build your own out of even wood or even metal , the idea is to lift the batteries off the bottom by 1/2" so the air can flow under the batteries and air can be circulated all around the pack ....
Next lets set the batteries in place , going by the 2001 ranger ev workshop manual I printed out the original placement of the batteries to match it , otherwise the wiring would have to be changed but by setting them all original we wont have to change anything else ......
Next lets set in the recirculation fan , since I could not find the original case for either the recirculation fan or the flow through fans I went to ford and purchased the recirculation fan from them and they no longer carried the flow through fan so I scoured the internet and found the original company that made them and found a fan that looks almost exactly the same ... not sure it is but with some testing I will know whether or not it will work !!  we used electrical panel boxes for the recirculation fan 12 x 12  then cut two small slits in the from side and the back side and mounted the fan in the box , cut a hole in the top and bingo a more effecient higher air flow then the original one had .............................
well I am waiting for some parts from ford for the flow through vent etc.  it is time to just skip ahead and go ahead and get some hold downs for the batteries made , not real hard I just measured the gaps between the batteries and bought some steel bent it into shape to hold down the batteries and then drilled holes in them and then through the battery box and put what is called elevator bolts in (they are flat tops so they dont interefere with the lid) ........
once that is done it is on to the wiring !
time to add the wiring, then add the BCM and the IOM assy's , finish up by installing the contactor box assy ............................
now it is some testing time ... I am still waiting for the vent parts from ford but in the meantime I am going to test the new fans and there is a charger problem in this ranger so I will remove the charger and test it also while I wait for the parts ......  as you can see in the picture I just remove the 4 nuts and invert the connector to hook it up under the ranger so I can run it with the lid off and test things ..................
On the Front end I do the same I unclip the main plug and invert it so I can reach it up under the ranger and just plug it in ... the only cable you have to build to be able to do this is an extension on the passenger side and you can use some good #10 wire and 3 male and female spade connectors you can buy from any hardware store to make it ....................... then roll the pack under the ranger ev and hook it up ..................
and now I have it under the ranger ev and plugged in ... I then took the new flow through fan I purchased so I can test it to make sure everything works correct and there is no error codes from using the new fan .... this is also a great time to check batteries as you can run them down using the heater and then take some actual battery readings with a voltmeter if you like .......
so for the next couple of days I will be doing testing and then by the time I get the new parts from ford I will be able to just finish up if everything tests out ok ................
Finally received the vent and now I cut the hole install the vent and then using some of that great magic sealant goop I glue the thing in and seal it ....................................
On the other side installed the now custom case and flow through fan which tested out perfect on the run tests and the feedback signal is now perfect ,  these had a wire that is a tach feedback wire that most fans do not have so it was easy to send the signals back by tying some of the wires together for the signal .................... and install the bcm and IOM in its place wire tie everything together and finish it up ...
Last step is to install the reirculation fan , bolt it into place , add some wood shims around it to force the air under the pack, you can not see it but the piece towards the back has a 1/2" lift on it so the air is forced under all the batteries front and back ....
wire tie everything up .... knock the metal plastic coated hold downs from the original lead acid battery install from the cover and bolt it all back together ..............
And there you have it all finished a conversion from a lead acid case to a NIMH case , I took the ranger for a quick 25 mile run and it is now all ready to go back to its owner so it can be driven around and save some of mother earth by not polluting with gas fumes ......