125000 Mile Service

[JerryZ]

I have a 2012 Leaf approaching the 125000 mile mark.
I have reached the end of the regular maintenance schedule book and was thinking of just starting over again with the next service being the 7500 service at 127500 (just a tire rotation, I think).
But I found a one sentence mention on the 120000 service page that is a reminder to see page 8 about coolant servicing.
It seems the battery pack coolant should be changed for the first time at 125000.

Anyone else with a Leaf in this mileage range? Any idea how much the coolant service costs? Should it be similar to an ICE car coolant change?

 

[LeftieBiker]

That would be the charger/inverter coolant loop. The pack has no liquid cooling. The change then isn't a bad idea, if it's also an old Leaf...

 

[Stanton]

It seems the battery pack coolant should be changed for the first time at 125000.

What's notable here is that you have a (Gen1) battery pack with > 100,000 miles...with enough capacity bars left that's it's still useful?
I have never heard of anyone changing anything (high mileage) other than the Reduction Gear oil. To do anything inside the battery pack is about the most difficult/time consuming thing you can do on a Leaf.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Again, the headline here is there is no battery pack coolant.

 

[WetEV]

Drive-by posting again?

 

[LeftieBiker]

Maybe this is grade school training for a career as a Russian Troll Farm agent. Leaf battery coolant today, Q-Anon in a few years. And yes, I very much believe that Q-Anon is the product of a Russian Troll Farm. It may even be the winner of a pool they started: who can insert a successful meme in the American electorate, based on the stupidest premise...

 

[SageBrush]

Any idea how much the coolant service costs?

Is your heart set on paying someone for this service ?

 

[JerryZ]

It seems the battery pack coolant should be changed for the first time at 125000.

What's notable here is that you have a (Gen1) battery pack with > 100,000 miles...with enough capacity bars left that's it's still useful?
I have never heard of anyone changing anything (high mileage) other than the Reduction Gear oil. To do anything inside the battery pack is about the most difficult/time consuming thing you can do on a Leaf.

Actually, is not the original battery pack. It got replaced at about 55000 miles when it met the requirements of the recall warranty.
(less than 70000 miles and 4 bars gone.) It got replaced by what the dealer referred to as the "Lizard pack" because of heat degradation in Los Angeles and AZ.
That pack now has over 65000 on it and just lost a 3rd bar. I can still get about a good 40-50 miles on it between charges.

While I did recently replace coolant pump #1 on my own for $300 vs the $1200 the dealer wanted. (With info from this forum, pump was $175 and $125 shipping from Japan). I don't want to get coolant all over my driveway and I don't have that much time to devote to it.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Actually, is not the original battery pack. It got replaced at about 55000 miles when it met the requirements of the recall warranty.
(less than 70000 miles and 4 bars gone.) It got replaced by what the dealer referred to as the "Lizard pack" because of heat degradation in Los Angeles and AZ.

Again, the coolant is for the water-cooled charger and inverter, NOT the battery. The service proposed has nothing to do with the battery, so keep that in mind when deciding.

 

[JerryZ]

Again, the coolant is for the water-cooled charger and inverter, NOT the battery. The service proposed has nothing to do with the battery, so keep that in mind when deciding.

Yes, I understand.
When I did change the pump, the coolant was still nice and blue, no contaminates, smells or particles I could see.
I will wait at least for the next service interval it has to go to the dealer. It could be for some time yet. That will not be just for just a tire rotation, my local tire retailer does that for free for any tires they installed.

 

[Nubo]

The service interval of the coolant, drops from 15 years for the factory fill, to a 5-year change interval after it's replaced the first time.
So that's one thing you don't want to "just start over".

 

[LeftieBiker]

As long as the coolant seems fine, that sounds like a good plan.

 

[Stanton]

Actually, is not the original battery pack. It got replaced at about 55000 miles when it met the requirements of the recall warranty.
(less than 70000 miles and 4 bars gone.) It got replaced by what the dealer referred to as the "Lizard pack" because of heat degradation in Los Angeles and AZ. That pack now has over 65000 on it and just lost a 3rd bar. I can still get about a good 40-50 miles on it between charges.

While I did recently replace coolant pump #1 on my own for $300 vs the $1200 the dealer wanted. (With info from this forum, pump was $175 and $125 shipping from Japan). I don't want to get coolant all over my driveway and I don't have that much time to devote to it.

Now we're getting some useful info! I bolded some text above as I replaced my second (Lizard) pack around 40k miles (see sig) that was down 2 bars at the time.
I think the question here for other Leaf owners is @Nubo's comment that the coolant pump didn't really need to be changed so early...which many have altered your schedule for the remaining life of the car. The only (regular) maintenance I have performed on my Leaf is the brake fluid and cabin air filter...and the air filter is so simple that I did it myself.

 

[SageBrush]

When I did change the pump, the coolant was still nice and blue, no contaminates, smells or particles I could see.

Was the coolant replaced/renewed when you swapped out the pump ? If yes, you are good for the life of the car.

My approach to this back in my Prius days was to partially (and somewhat slowly) drain the coolant and at the same time add new coolant into the reservoir so that air never entered the plumbing. It would take all of 5 - 10 minutes a service to swap about 1/2 the total coolant volume, and I halved the service interval. It would take a couple minutes longer in a LEAF because you may have to remove the plastic under-cover and jack up the car.