Underneath the Beast; a Tour of the Dark Side

[ruimegas]

Underneath the Beast; a Tour of the Dark Side

"Forward, looking aft:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0625.jpg[/IMG]

The front underbody panel is not made of plastic, but instead some type of fiber-ous, sound deadening material:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0626.jpg[/IMG]

Six screws total, and six plastic connectors. Note that the two forward, outside bolts are shorter, and don't have Phillips heads. All the bolts take a 10mm wrench.

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0628.jpg[/IMG]

Once the cover is off, you can see the radiator and the pathetic little horn. That's gunna get changed !!!

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0631.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward, the actual water cooled electric drive motor. Gear box is on the left side of the motor, with the half shaft that drive the front wheels, directly behind the motor.

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0632.jpg[/IMG]

Two big fans are mounted on the back side of the radiator:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0633.jpg[/IMG]

The main power line to the electric drive motor:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0634.jpg[/IMG]

The rack and pinion steering, just aft of the drive motor gear box and left half shaft:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0635.jpg[/IMG]

Left front wheel drive. Quite conventional:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0636.jpg[/IMG]

Right front wheel suspension:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0639.jpg[/IMG]

The front grill:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0642.jpg[/IMG]

Number two under-body cover, over the forward portion of the main drive batteries:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0643.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward; Big orange/red cable is the main battery power feed to motor (you can see the motor attachment). You can see the aft motor mount in this pic also; there are three, and they are HUGE for such a tiny horsepower engine. Not sure why. The two aluminum tubes are for cooling the charger located in the rear of the car, behind the rear seats. The smaller diameter orange/red cable is from the charger plug-in on the front of the car, and goes all the way to the rear where the charger is:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0644.jpg[/IMG]

A close in shot of the rear motor mount and main battery power connection to the electric drive motor:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0645.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0646.jpg[/IMG]

Looking aft, main battery cable attached to battery assembly. Cooling lines above for the charger:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0647.jpg[/IMG]

Number 3 aft under-body panel:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0648.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0649.jpg[/IMG]

The bottom of the battery, looking aft. The only under-body panel left on the car is the rear cover, behind the rear "axle", where the Nissan Versa gas tank would be:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0650.jpg[/IMG]

Main cable feed out of battery, close up:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0651.jpg[/IMG]

Bottom of the battery. This is some sloppy sealer work, and I predict it was done in Long Beach, at the pier, prior to delivery to the dealer. What a mess (and they didn't even seal everything). This is just too sloppy to imagine Japanese guys at a Nissan factory in Japan doing:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0652.jpg[/IMG]

The final, rearmost under-body panel:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0654.jpg[/IMG]

This panel actually has FOUR different fasteners. The most forward one is a plastic nut that was finger tight. The bright coated bolts go into the lower rear bumper facia:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0653.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward; All those black cables are for the parking brake. I wouldn't even want to guess what that all weighs !!! The small cable to the left is the emergency release, that the vehicle operator can access through the trunk. The cooling lines go up into the body to cool the charger located behind the rear seat:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0655.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0656.jpg[/IMG]

Rear of main battery assembly, in front of rear axle:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0660.jpg[/IMG]

Left rear suspension:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0662.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward; This is the cable that begins from the front charger plug-in port, to the charger, located here behind the rear seat :

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0664.jpg[/IMG]

Jacking location is identified, like most cars, with the two notches in the lower body:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0666.jpg[/IMG]

In front of rear wheels, looking from right to left:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0667.jpg[/IMG]

Looking right to left; Main battery mounts and ground straps:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0668.jpg[/IMG]

Right rear tie down / tow point. This piece is way overkill for this job (but I'm sure somebody can bend/break it):

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0669.jpg[/IMG]

Cooling hoses going into aft portion of vehicle for battery charger:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0670.jpg[/IMG]

Rearmost part of main battery assembly:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0671.jpg[/IMG]

Left side, looking forward; Main battery mounts, grounding strap, jacking point lugs:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0672.jpg[/IMG]

Rear axle, from left to right:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0673.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward; Right rear brake assembly:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0674.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward; Left front steering / brakes:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0675.jpg[/IMG]

Drive motor, looking aft:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0676.jpg[/IMG]

Looking right to left; Right half shaft leaving gear box, aft of motor. Steering rack and pinion is aft (left in the picture):

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0677.jpg[/IMG]

Looking left to right; gear box with left half shaft. Note and upper and lower oil fill, but no real drain:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0678.jpg[/IMG]

Looking right to left; Left front motor mount. I can't believe how big these three mounts are:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0679.jpg[/IMG]

Looking right to left; front torsion bar is directly behind steering rack and pinion:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0680.jpg[/IMG]

Looking left to right; Right front wheel, with torsion bar looping over steering rack and pinion. Right half shaft in front.

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0681.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward, behind right front wheel; torsion bar is connected to a link directly between steering tie rod end, and half shaft:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0683.jpg[/IMG]

Main battery power cable mounted on electric motor:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0684.jpg[/IMG]

Looking forward; right half shaft support bearing, gear box to left, motor in front:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0685.jpg[/IMG]

Cooling fluid goes in this. Maybe the coolant pump?

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0686.jpg[/IMG]

Rearmost part of car, looking forward:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0688.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0689.jpg[/IMG]

Front grill:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0690.jpg[/IMG]

Yes, Virginia, a spare tire of equal diameter will fit here:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0691.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0693.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0694.jpg[/IMG]

Another view of gear box:

[IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss92 ... G_0697.jpg[/IMG]

Em: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3896