SOS - R1T bricked during aftermarket horn install (horn not at fault)

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I am rooting for you OP. I am really curious what the problem was. I always think of doing something like this; but my lazy bones keeps me out of trouble.

RealWheels' new method of adding the power lead should solve this problem. Or, you can just keep it simple and add a single 500 Hz Hella horn (or similar type) to your existing single Hella-sourced factory horn (which is probably a 300 Hz), using a plug and play Y-splitter that you can order from Amazon. Hellas come packaged with a small bracket, most horns of this type do. Even the generic copies from China that you see all over eBay and Amazon. There are past posts with links on which particular harnesses to get (I have spare ones I can send you). I'd say removing the various frunk trims (if your factory horn is on the driver side) is probably the most and only difficult part. And those xmas tree plastic clips/fasteners will break on you. Best of have an assortment of replacements handy.

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[beyondgravity]

I don’t see how keeping the frunk and/or doors open for an extended time could kill a healthy* battery. First, frunk and interior lighting is LED so it requires much less power than incandescent. Beyond that, unless my Rivian is unique, when those things are left open for an extended period of time Rivians do what most other modern cars do: cut power to the lighting and anything else remaining on like infotainment and climate control. I seem to recall the timeout is 15 minutes or less. Are other people NOT seeing that behavior?

*For whatever reason, Rivian seems to have a problem getting or keeping healthy 12V batteries. This means something which normally shouldn’t kill the battery could. I’d blame that on the battery health, though, when people are doing things which could be done without consequences on virtually any other modern vehicle.

I haven’t had any problems yet . If it is in fact an issue, Rivian should flash us 12v battery health on the display

 

[freshpow]

Truck is loaded up and on its way to the SC. Tow truck didn't have a wheel lift so we tried his jump box on the rear leads without any success. I opened the frunk manually using the pull cord (I'm getting good at that) and we hooked the jump box direcly to the battery (using the negative terminal and one of the + posts from the power module). That booted it right up and seemed to kick a lot of the error codes that had been showing on the dash. I was also able to put it into drive without any resistance from the brake pedal and pulled out of my garage to make it easier for him to load up. *Edit to note that we kept the jump box connected throughout all this

I don't know what to make of any of that but will let the SC take it from here.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I haven’t had any problems yet . If it is in fact an issue, Rivian should flash us 12v battery health on the display

Yes. It'd be good to have a little volt meter on the gauge view screen. Even if just a single line of text.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Yes. It'd be good to have a little volt meter on the gauge view screen. Even if just a single line of text.

I’d even settle for it being buried on the same view which shows the odometer. That would prevent the unnecessary tickets which would be generated by showing it to everyone while still letting people who want the info get to it.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I’d even settle for it being buried on the same view which shows the odometer. That would prevent the unnecessary tickets which would be generated by showing it to everyone while still letting people who want the info get to it.

Agreed!

 

[JackRussellRacing]

Threads like this (and I wish the OP nothing but smooth sailing very very soon) remind me of a quote from Apocalypse Now:

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you’re going all the way."​

As somebody that has turned wrenches on stuff since I was in diapers, my R1T scares me. It's at a SC now, because the GPS/Wifi/LTE module borked itself.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Threads like this (and I wish the OP nothing but smooth sailing very very soon) remind me of a quote from Apocalypse Now:

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you’re going all the way."​

As somebody that has turned wrenches on stuff since I was in diapers, my R1T scares me. It's at a SC now, because the GPS/Wifi/LTE module borked itself.

There is some wisdom in that. However, it's scary only because we don't know much about these vehicles, outside of what some braver souls have shared. Plus, Rivian has thus far [unofficially and understandably] avoided right-to-repair issues and not provided service documentation to the public. The unknown is scary.

 

[Riviot]

Let it sleep and then come back in an hour. You can always hope, sometimes a sleep cycle fixes things a hard reset won't. Good luck.

Truck is loaded up and on its way to the SC. Tow truck didn't have a wheel lift so we tried his jump box on the rear leads without any success. I opened the frunk manually using the pull cord (I'm getting good at that) and we hooked the jump box direcly to the battery (using the negative terminal and one of the + posts from the power module). That booted it right up and seemed to kick a lot of the error codes that had been showing on the dash. I was also able to put it into drive without any resistance from the brake pedal and pulled out of my garage to make it easier for him to load up. *Edit to note that we kept the jump box connected throughout all this

I don't know what to make of any of that but will let the SC take it from here.

I'm pretty sure a sleep cycle WITH a jump box connected during it would make you right. That battery definitely needs replaced, but once that's done the error codes should start to cycle out.

 

[atebit]

Honking the horn is not a primary accident avoidance move.

I guess you’ve never been to India, then?

 

[atebit]

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you’re going all the way."​

Also: “Mangos”

 

[usulio]

RealWheels' new method of adding the power lead should solve this problem.

What does this refer to? I don't see instructions on their website.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

What does this refer to? I don't see instructions on their website.

Not on their site, but shared by another member in this thread, which I highlight in yellow for you:

I want to chime in that this same thing just recently happened to me. I was installing my rearwheelsev horn and my truck suddenly went dead. Im lucky that the SC towed my truck the very next morning and they replaced my 12v immediately. So the next day I decided to try to reinstall and truck died again. They towed it the next morning and kept the truck for about a week or so to run tests and couldn’t figure out what was draining the battery and replaced the 12v again. I took everything off each time before they towed it so they didn’t catch any aftermarket parts.

I’m convinced that it must have something to do with unhooking one of the terminals. Not sure why that would drain the 12v but that’s all I can think of. Must be a fail safe of some sort.

That being said realwheelsev has been super helpful and responsive. They sent me a second horn to see if it was actually the horn (which I highly doubt since it hardly draws anything from the battery) and they’re also send me a new connector to connect it to the spare pole on the top middle of the right side of the battery. I can update once everything comes in and get around to installing.

 

[freshpow]

Anyone know what a "BIB" is? SC texted to say they have to order one (takes a week) and described it as a "secondary battery for the 12v". I asked if they're also going to replace the 12v (since I know it's dead dead) and they said "yes the 12v is the BIB". Huh?

Anyways, I'm trying not to be too pushy and let them do their work since they said it will be covered under warranty, at least for now. I can't help but think that all it needs is a new 12v, since that did the trick for the 2 others with this same issue and my truck seemed totally normal once the tow truck jump box was hooked up.

 

[usulio]

Not on their site, but shared by another member in this thread, which I highlight in yellow for you:

Thanks. Funny though, in my spring ‘23 build, that post isn’t hot. Measures 0 volts to ground. (Other posts measure ~12V). Referring to the black post in the center of this image.

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