Bug Down again.. and don’t use Fortes Brothers Towing in Cupertino!
First off, don’t use Fortes Brothers Towing in Cupertino! They are terrible, and don’t know what they are doing. AAA called them to tow my bug home from work (in Cupertino), and the guy had it almost setup and just said my car was too low and they don’t do lowered cars! I’ve had the car towed 3 or 4 times before; never have I had any trouble at all. Worst off, the idiot driver drove away with my laptop and at first they refused to acknowledge they had it! AAA said all I could do was file a police report. But, after I called the company, they admitted they did have it and would give it back. geez. I ordered a flat bed truck from AAA, but unfortunately the same tow company (Fortes Brothers) canceled the tow without telling me! I sat around waiting for a tow that never came.
But anyways, my car was having a “frame leak”, which means the high voltage had potential when compared to the chassis of the car. This should only be used for the 12v ground, as the high voltage battery pack needs to be completely isolated for safety. I realized something was wrong last week because my car was giving “GFCI faults” at the Chargepoint stations. However, it seemed to still charge okay on a 240V dryer plug at home, so I drove it to work and charged it there on one of those plugs. But then it wouldn’t start; my Elithion BMS was going crazy giving faults, and the controller didn’t want to click on. I realized it was a frame leak, and traced it to my Belktronix DC-DC converter. While waiting for the tow truck driver I popped it out (thanks to Shane for helping me at work and giving me a ride home!), and stuck it in the mail the next day.