What's best SOC for a cell pair voltage test?

[kolmstead]

Sorry, guys; no luck on getting cell pair voltage test. The service writer did his job; I never got to talk to the technician working on my car, so all I got was the mandatory battery usage report (5 stars) and the recalls:

P1213 VCM Repro
P1273 VCM LBC TCU
And they ordered a new owner's manual for me.

I requested cell pair voltage test repeatedly and described my concern about 20% battery capacity loss, but I could tell that the service writer was blowing me off. I got what the computer listed, nothing more.

Confirmed what I suspected about my 12 month battery usage report... it didn't get done. Mine was the first LEAF that came in for that required test, and they didn't do it. At least I have the documentation to prove that I requested the service, which will become important within the next year, when I request battery replacement under the new battery capacity warranty.

So net result was a day of my time, 170 miles towing a trailer, $50 of diesel fuel burned, and maybe I protected my battery warranty.

Also noted that Antelope Valley Nissan has pretty much given up on the LEAF; they had only one in inventory. I was hoping to see five or more 2012's. Since they had no inventory, I didn't bother to talk to them about trading in my car for a leased 2012.

Taping up the charge port door worked. My car arrived home with 7.6% SOC, 352.5 Volts. I told them that it was OK to plug it in during the firmware updates, but they didn't bother.

-Karl

 

[TickTock]

I can feel your frustration. Sucks that the nearest dealer is so far away - you can't even shop around for one with better customer service and you are hard-pressed to take it back to make them do it right. Your experience isn't much different than the rest of us but a bit more annoying, I think, due to the distance. I guess we're stuck with having to figure out how to do it ourselves... :x

Sorry, guys; no luck on getting cell pair voltage test. The service writer did his job; I never got to talk to the technician working on my car, so all I got was the mandatory battery usage report (5 stars) and the recalls:

P1213 VCM Repro
P1273 VCM LBC TCU
And they ordered a new owner's manual for me.

I requested cell pair voltage test repeatedly and described my concern about 20% battery capacity loss, but I could tell that the service writer was blowing me off. I got what the computer listed, nothing more.

Confirmed what I suspected about my 12 month battery usage report... it didn't get done. Mine was the first LEAF that came in for that required test, and they didn't do it. At least I have the documentation to prove that I requested the service, which will become important within the next year, when I request battery replacement under the new battery capacity warranty.

So net result was a day of my time, 170 miles towing a trailer, $50 of diesel fuel burned, and maybe I protected my battery warranty.

Also noted that Antelope Valley Nissan has pretty much given up on the LEAF; they had only one in inventory. I was hoping to see five or more 2012's. Since they had no inventory, I didn't bother to talk to them about trading in my car for a leased 2012.

Taping up the charge port door worked. My car arrived home with 7.6% SOC, 352.5 Volts. I told them that it was OK to plug it in during the firmware updates, but they didn't bother.

-Karl

 

[LEAFer]

... all I got was the mandatory battery usage report (5 stars) and ...

Confirmed what I suspected about my 12 month battery usage report... it didn't get done. Mine was the first LEAF that came in for that required test, and they didn't do it. At least I have the documentation to prove that I requested the service, which will become important within the next year, when I request battery replacement under the new battery capacity warranty.

-Karl

I am confused .... did you get a 5-star report or not ? If you did, then you (and the dealer) fullfilled the annual requirement for the warranty. The CVP is not actually part of the warranty requirement. It's just really good info to have. (The 5-star report is rather useless, though ... but ... it's required :roll: )

 

[mwalsh]

I am confused .... did you get a 5-star report or not ? If you did, then you (and the dealer) fullfilled the annual requirement for the warranty. The CVP is not actually part of the warranty requirement. It's just really good info to have. (The 5-star report is rather useless, though ... but ... it's required :roll: )

Doing the report is required, but I'm not sure that giving the customer the (relatively) worthless copy of the paperwork is required - it seems like quite a few of us who've had it done these last few months didn't get one. Not that I care, so long as it's noted on my paperwork that I requested one and it's shown as done.

 

[TickTock]

Perhaps the "service" department satisfied the warranty requirement, but I don't call that service. He specifically asked for a relatively easy test and they blew him off. That alone is enough to make me find another dealer. Even if they don't want to do it for free, they should at least give him the option to pay to get it done.

 

[KJD]

Last year they did the cell pair voltage test without my asking after I had the car towed in, so I can probably get it done again this time. Unfortunately, they charged the battery to 70% before they did the test, and CPVs looked fine.

Does Nissan have a policy to do a Cell Pair Voltage test whenever a car gets towed in ?

Maybe there is a message here.

 

[mwalsh]

Does Nissan have a policy to do a Cell Pair Voltage test whenever a car gets towed in ?

Maybe there is a message here.

No. But procedure (if not policy) calls for the test if the customer complaint is "loss of range" even if no DTC events exist. So anyone who beleives the test is appropriate to their circumstances should have that as their primary complaint. And I would do it through 1-877-NOGASEV with a case number assigned too, for good measure.

 

[kolmstead]

Leafer, I got the 5-star report THIS year. They didn't give me the report last year, when the car was towed in. And the technician found "unchecked boxes" somewhere, it wasn't clear where, that would indicate that the mandatory usage report was not done last year.

After I dropped off the car this year, I walked a couple of miles, then went back to reinforce my request for cell pair voltage check. But by then the paperwork was done. As Mike mentioned, you need to go in with capacity loss as your primary squawk, not mandatory usage report, which was mine. Maybe I'll get it right the third time.

I don't recall now whether the third one is free or not... I remember that at some point, you have to pay to protect your warranty.

-Karl

 

[LEAFer]

Leafer, I got the 5-star report THIS year. They didn't give me the report last year, when the car was towed in. And the technician found "unchecked boxes" somewhere, it wasn't clear where, that would indicate that the mandatory usage report was not done last year.

After I dropped off the car this year, I walked a couple of miles, then went back to reinforce my request for cell pair voltage check. But by then the paperwork was done. As Mike mentioned, you need to go in with capacity loss as your primary squawk, not mandatory usage report, which was mine. Maybe I'll get it right the third time.

I don't recall now whether the third one is free or not... I remember that at some point, you have to pay to protect your warranty.

-Karl

Ok ... sorry After re-reading your post I now understand you meant your FIRST 12 month report, not the EVERY-12-months report ( and I knew you were going in for your annual (i.e. second 12 month) again ). So, you got your 24-month report as required. And, yes, only the first two are free. Third annual report (@36 months) won't be -- at least that's what the Owner's Manual implies -- and I don't recall that we've been told a cost yet.

 

[flarend]

removed

 

[palmermd]

I have also taken the Leaf into the dealer at least three times with concerns about short range and unusual battery behavior.
Richard

What did you have done when it was taken in? Did you have them perform the cell pair test as outlined in the service manual? You should be able to ask them to do the test and if it is out of specification, they have a required action, which would be to replace the defective cell pair. I don't have a '13 service manual to look up the page number for the test, but should be easy for you to look up if you downloaded the manual.

 

[flarend]

I have also taken the Leaf into the dealer at least three times with concerns about short range and unusual battery behavior.
Richard

What did you have done when it was taken in? Did you have them perform the cell pair test as outlined in the service manual? You should be able to ask them to do the test and if it is out of specification, they have a required action, which would be to replace the defective cell pair. I don't have a '13 service manual to look up the page number for the test, but should be easy for you to look up if you downloaded the manual.

Until now, I didn't know what to tell them other than I just didn't think it was getting the range it should...which is pretty lame. But they did do a battery test...when it was nearly fully charged. I talked with the actual service guy a few times, and he was just reading numbers from a screen and didn't know what any of that meant. After a while he finally admitted that this was the first leaf he has ever worked on (despite being leaf certified) and he didn't understand them.

Richard