LITHIUM CELL REPLACEMENT 200AH

Receiving/Inspection/Test of new lithium cells:

Entire battery pack of lithium cells are shippedto you typically via full freight/semi-truck. Truck will not have a drop gate.So if you do not have a loading dock or way or unloading pallet from trailerthe pallet packaging can be opened up and each box can be hand lifted offtruck. For a complete battery pack you will receive 12 boxes. Each box willcontain a bundle of 4 lithium cells each. Totaling 48 cells.

            Shortly after receivingcells you will want to remove the purple caps and do a simple voltage check ofeach of the 24 cells. Nothing needs to be disconnected. Just prop positive andnegative of each cell with a volt meter. Each cell is typically 3.2 volts. Theyshould all read fairly the same. 2.5V is 0% state of charge. Make sure none arebelow the 2.5 volts or large deviation from the rest of the cells. If so pleasecontact us about the issue right away. Low voltage readings after cells areinstalled into the vehicle can be caused by incorrect wiring. So issue needs tobe reported shortly after receiving cells.

            Packs are shippedin the incorrect cell configuration for the 200AH lithium pack. The 200AH packuses a series/parallel configuration. Packs are shipped for the 100AH configurationwhich is series only configuration. So in order to place them in the correct configurationall jumpers from each pack need to be removed. The pack if bound together withstraps and aluminum plates on each end. On one end you will find screws. Thesescrews need to be removed so pack will open up. The two center cells need to beturned 180 degrees individually. End result they would be the exact same orientationas your current cells. Pack will need to be clamped back together to get thepack screwed back together. But read though entire instructions below before clampingback together the cells. There are thermostats in 4 of the packs. Options on whatyou can do are listed below. Also when installing jumpers you need to order anadditional qty. 96 of part# U5635A-1N or these need to be removed from your oldpack. For the entire pack this is typically a 2 hour job for a skilled personand up to 8 hour job for a newbie.

Battery disconnect:

Shut off the main battery disconnect located inthe front right wheel well. Also make sure front battery charger inlet plug isdisconnected from the main power grid.

Unplug battery management system (BMS):

Under the driver's seat you will find a black orsilver colored box screwed to the side of the battery tunnel. The longconnector with multiple orange and red wires plugged into the BMS must beunplugged before disconnecting any of the connections within the battery pack.If not done so damage to the BMS is highly possible.

Open up the center battery tunnel:

The battery pack is accessed by setting theparking brake handle. Higher the better. Lift up on the center arm rest pad andmove it back as far as you can. Grab the center console and pull back. Centerconsole has the cup holders attached to it. At the rear of the center consoleare heater hoses that slide off and some electrical connectors that need to beunplugged. Now you should be able to remove the center console from the cab ofthe vehicle. (Note if your vehicle is equipped with fuel fired heater centerconsole does not exist) Lift up on the center tunnel cover and remove from the cab.It is just velcroed down. If 4 door model entire pack will be exposed. But if 2door model you will need to remove the access panel on the center front of theflatbed to access the rear cells. To remove access panel use a heavy flat screwdriver to rotate the ¼ turn latches. Panel will then lift out of way.

Removal of lithium cells:

In the battery tunnel you will find. 48 lithiumcells. Each cell has a purple plastic cap that just lifts off. In order toremove all the caps the 5 battery hold down straps need to be removed. This isdone by unbolting them. The bolt that holds them down is a J-bolt at the bottomand will not move. After removal of black plastic hold downs the J-bolts becomeloose so make sure they don’t come in contact with the battery packconnections.

            Battery packconsists of two rows. 24 cells down the driver’s side or 6 packs of 4 cellseach and 24 cells down the passenger’s side also 6 packs of 4 cells each. Notethat there is a small wire connecting to each parallel connected cells. Somehave one wire others have 2 wires. These small wires must go back on at theexact same post. I cannot address this enough. If not done so damage can occurto the BMS, vehicle will not charge or turn on and if not corrected over a dayor so the charge can be draw out of the incorrect wired cell. Resulting in lowvoltage of one cell unbalancing the pack. 99% of calls we get receive are aresult of this issue. Each of these small wires have a number stamped on themindicating which cell they go to. The drivers side rear two cells (mostnegative) is cell #1. They increment up every other cell as you move forward.The front two cells on the driver’s side is cell #12. Then it crosses over tothe front two cells on the passenger’s side is cell #13. They increment up everyother cell as you move towards the rear of the vehicle. The passenger’s siderear two cells (most positive) is #24.

            If it helps takea picture of the pack prior to disassemble giving you something to look back onfor reference.

At the front you will find a buss bar jumper connectingeach of the rows together. Take and remove this jumper by removing the 4 screwsfrom each end of it. Note that each jumper is 4 layers thick. Next take andremove the positive battery cable on the passenger’s side rear. Then the negativebattery cable from the driver’s side rear. Next you will find jumpers goingbetween each of the battery packs. These would have been hidden under theplastic hold downs removed earlier. The jumpers within the 4 cell packs doesnot need to be removed.

At this point each of the 4 pack cells can belifted out. You will find at the end of four of the packs they have black wiresgoing in the sides if them. These are thermostats. Any unit built prior to 2024these thermostats went in between the aluminum plates and the cell. Thealuminum ends were milled to allow room for the thermostats. The new batterypacks you have are not milled for the thermostat. To remove the thermostatsfrom the old packs find the end of the pack that has screws. One end is rivetsother end is screws. Remove these screws and the pack will open up to where youcan remove the thermostats. First off I should mention they are important and mustbe reinstalled. You have two options to install them into the new batterypacks. One is to reuse the aluminum ends from the old pack onto the new pack.If done this way it does require some clamping. The straps are tight. Secondoption is to stick them to the outside of the aluminum plate. Make sure to keepthem in the same location. Such as the middle of the cell. Typically a goodoption is aluminum tape used in duct work or even better a tar tape used ingutter repairs. Clean aluminum and then adhere to tape with thermostats inmiddle of tape. Make sure tape is adhered well.   

Installation of lithium cells:

Note at the bottom of the battery pack you willfind the battery warmer. Make sure it is visually good. Under it is aninsulation typically white. Each of these are just laying at the bottom.  

Removal would be the reversal of installationwith a few notes.

· At each of the positiveand negative posts of the 4 cell pack you will find the 4 screws holding down aplastic spacer. These spacers are removed and discarded.

· Each of the 4 screws arejust hand tight. Paperwork with cells gives the torque spec if you require one.In the event you do strip threads there is a heli-coil insert that can beremoved and have a new one installed.

· More than likely with yournew cells you receive new jumpers. Make sure each of them consists of 4 jumpersstacked together.

· As noted before makesure to connect the correct small wires to each cell. Very important.

              To make sure you have the small cell wires connected correctly you can perform a voltage test at the cell tap connector that was unplugged at the BMS under driver's seat. Diagram of this connector is below. Prior to plugging in connector take a voltage meter set to read DC voltage. During this entire test you will place negative test lead on pin 1- which is a black wire in the corner. Next place the positive test lead on pin 1. Meter should read the voltage of cell #1 which would be roughly 3.2 volts. Move positive test lead to pin #2 and voltage will increase roughly 3.2 volts over the last reading so in this case 6.4 volts. Keep incrementing up each pin#. Each one should increase the roughly 3.2 volts. When you get to 13- this is a ground going to pin #13 so it will not increase on this reading. Will read the same of pin #12. At the end pin #24 you will read full pack voltage of roughly 80 volts. If any of the readings say go up 6 volts or go down then you have wires wired incorrectly at the cells. Need to source which ones are incorrect, fix and then retest.

After all is connected correctly at this point youcan plug back in the battery management system under the driver’s seat and turnback on the main battery disconnect switch. Vehicle will need to be plugged into power up. After plugging in the battery charger should turn on. Typically thefan would be running. Also if vehicle turns on you can press and hold up buttonon dash display which shows battery information. The pack current should beshowing negative such as -14.8 if charging on 120VAC. If so you should be goodto go. Do note that in this same screen it does show pack cycles. It is a goodidea to note this down somewhere to keep to you know how many cycles you got onyour battery pack.

            Otheroption is if you have the diagnostic cable and a laptop you can reset the packcycles back to 0. Items required for this is part# U5665A-N and your ownlaptop. When purchase is made you will be e-mailed a link to download thesoftware. I will not get into the nitty gritty of installing program in thisforum. But after connecting to vehicle click on file on upper left corner andselect “Reset Historical Battery Data”. Pack cycles should now be 0.