How to bring your bricked Rivian back to life.

[Luxus]

The other day I was reading a thread about a guy who left his Rivian at the airport in a low state of charge. He couldn't hook it up to a charger because they were all taken. Thought it would be OK, but seems like it will completely drain before he gets back. Can't find that thread again so I'm posting this.

So I'm browsing youtube and I stumbled on the following video. They completely killed the batteries on their Rivian and were able to get it back up and running. I recommend watching the video but apparently when the truck is completely dead it won't start the charging process. They were able to jump the Rivian with another car to wake it up so it could start charging. There are connections at the back of the truck to do so.

Dead Rivian revival

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[MountainBikeDude]

I watched this yesterday, and had been meaning to post it here as well.

In their case, the 12v and high voltage batteries had both completely depleted.

The most interesting part, was that in spite of getting the computers etc up and running, they couldn't get the contacts to close without overpowering the jumpers and the vehicle shutting off.

They tried 2 different jump packs without success in spite of running both in Booster Modes. They surmised that the Rivian wants stable consistent power via the rear leads like from an ICE vehicle via jumper cables.

So, they connected it to an old crown Victoria and It booted up, just like with the booster packs, but this time, when they connected a level 2 charger to the port, the contacts were able to close, and initiate charging. The Crown boosting the Rivian, was audibly under quite the load, especially when they attempted to start charging. After that everything went fine.

So my keeping of a booster pack in my rear seat is completely useless for me,should I run into that situation.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I watched this yesterday, and had been meaning to post it here as well.

In their case, the 12v and high voltage batteries had both completely depleted.

The most interesting part, was that in spite of getting the computers etc up and running, they couldn't get the contacts to close without overpowering the jumpers and the vehicle shutting off.

They tried 2 different jump packs without success in spite of running both in Booster Modes. They surmised that the Rivian wants stable consistent power via the rear leads like from an ICE vehicle via jumper cables.

So, they connected it to an old crown Victoria and It booted up, just like with the booster packs, but this time, when they connected a level 2 charger to the port, the contacts were able to close, and initiate charging. The Crown boosting the Rivian, was audibly under quite the load, especially when they attempted to start charging. After that everything went fine.

So my keeping of a booster pack in my rear seat is completely useless for me,should I run into that situation.

Booster packs will really only get you access to the frunk, especially if the HV battery died. There's a reason Rivian says you need a 30A charger, because they actually need to draw that constantly.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

I have a 200ah/ 3000w “solar generator”

I wonder if a trickle charger off that could be used to deliver longer energy to meet the needs to get the HV battery charging
Hmmmm

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I mean... there is info in your Owner Guide and the official Tow Operator Guide. But, they only help if you read them.

 

[VSG]

All this information and more was discussed long ago in this very forum:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...umping-and-jump-boxes-after-an-accident.33854
Or you can spend a half hour listening to Kyle stumble around trying to discover this well-known information.

 

[godfodder0901]

All this information and more was discussed long ago in this very forum:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...umping-and-jump-boxes-after-an-accident.33854
Or you can spend a half hour listening to Kyle stumble around trying to discover this well-known information.

Right? Sounds like Indiana Jones making some amazing discovery...

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

All this information and more was discussed long ago in this very forum:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...umping-and-jump-boxes-after-an-accident.33854
Or you can spend a half hour listening to Kyle stumble around trying to discover this well-known information.

And have him tell you about it in 1 hour when 5 minutes would have been enough.

 

[cwintermeyer]

And have him tell you about it in 1 hour when 5 minutes would have been enough.

 

[adatel]

Glad we’ve got that straight now. There was going to be a run on old Crown Victorias.

 

[Budman]

I watched this too. Tedious to be sure…

If it was me, I would have left the bigger jump box attached to the hitch leads for much longer before trying to plug in the level 2.

 

[Nexus]

So my keeping of a booster pack in my rear seat is completely useless for me,should I run into that situation.

Also, how do you open the doors to retrieve it if the battery is completely dead?

 

[1stPlace]

All this information and more was discussed long ago in this very forum:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...umping-and-jump-boxes-after-an-accident.33854
Or you can spend a half hour listening to Kyle stumble around trying to discover this well-known information.

I just read that thread, but it seems there is no standard recommended 12V jumper that guarantees 30 amps continuous and 13-16V (per the manual)....also, that thread is over a year old. I expect some people search YouTube for "how-tos" more often. So actually, what Kyle showed in the video is helpful information to some people. I think they even showed the jumper, which was a JNC similar to the one recommended in that thread, did not work.

If I were on the side of the road, I might be annoyed at the length and skip forward in the video a bit. Or I might have the time anyway, while I'm waiting for roadside assistance to arrive. Some people don't like Kyle...fine, whatever....but that video and others that he has made are still a net positive for Rivian owners. Sadly, me even saying this might make this thread devolve into more Kyle-bashing by people who feel so strongly about someone and their content that is free and completely optional to watch.

The important thing to be discussing is how owners can reliably solve this issue of a drained 12V and HV battery in a way that doesn't require a tow to the service center.

 

[BCondrey]

Also, how do you open the doors to retrieve it if the battery is completely dead?

You keep it in the sub-frunk, which can be opened manually by removing several torx bolts under the wheel well. Where you keep the torx screw drivers / bits is the real question. I use a locked hitch safe.

 

[Luxus]

Also, how do you open the doors to retrieve it if the battery is completely dead?

From the video, the jump to the connection in the back will get the doors to open. Jumpboxes will do that much.

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