Service Intervals for Leaf

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mxp

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Messages
767
Location
Fremont, CA
Current Leaf owners:

Can you pls extract any information about service intervals required for the Leaf? In particular, does anyone know what the service requires? i.e checks for what and what gets replaced?

In comparison:
My previous vehicle had the service intervals info BUT the information of what gets inspected and what get replaced can only be derived from a factory service manual.

Anyways, I hope some of you have some data...

Thanks in advance.
 
johnr said:
One conspicuously absent item: the quarterly oil change :D

Quarterly? Uh-oh...I'm overdue...did my last oil and bypass filter change a bit over 18 months ago... ;) AMSOIL long-drain oils - since 1972. :lol:

As an aside - the gearbox is like a single-speed manual transmission with differential. According to the service manual, it holds 1.1L (1 1/8 qt) of Nissan Matic Fluid S - a lightweight automatic transmission fluid. For longest transmission life, I recommend changing the fluid sometime in the first six months to get rid of the break-in wear metal particles. After that, the transmission and fluid should last a very long time.
 
Synthetics can take your oil changes all the way out to 10,000 miles depending on your driving. I've never done a quarterly oil change. Every six months or so.
 
Train said:
Synthetics can take your oil changes all the way out to 10,000 miles depending on your driving. I've never done a quarterly oil change. Every six months or so.
I don't actually do it quarterly either - more like 4-5 months. But I've been keeping it up to maintain the value of the car. It's only $30 anyway, no big deal. The maintenance guide for my car says to do it every 3 months, and I understand that's typical. Anyway, I just thought it's kinda refreshing to not see mention of this for the LEAF. Not that I expected to anyway. Just one of the many advantages to going electric. However it was a surprise to me that the LEAF uses antifreeze.
 
Inverter and main motor are liquid cooled.
I believe the cabin heater may also use coolent with an electric heater.
These systems do not share coolent.
 
There is absolutely no reason to do a quarterly oil change on a vehicle these days unless one drives an insanely large number of miles or under very severe conditions. That is lore that is left over from decades ago when technology and chemistry was very different. Unless you reach the mileage limit first, yearly is just fine in any modern vehicle under normal conditions, even with conventional dino oils.


johnr said:
One conspicuously absent item: the quarterly oil change :D
 
On page 7, it says it is a
severe operating condition
if
Repeated short trips of less than 5 miles in normal temperatures or less than 10 miles in freezing temperatures
. How can this be? Maybe this is true for an ICE car, but for electric vehicles very short trips should be an ideal condition. This was the main reason why I ordered a Leaf for my wife - all she does is short trips around the neighborhood, where her Prius gets horrible gas mileage.
 
ml194152 said:
On page 7, it says it is a
severe operating condition
if
Repeated short trips of less than 5 miles in normal temperatures or less than 10 miles in freezing temperatures
. How can this be? Maybe this is true for an ICE car, but for electric vehicles very short trips should be an ideal condition. This was the main reason why I ordered a Leaf for my wife - all she does is short trips around the neighborhood, where her Prius gets horrible gas mileage.
Might have to do with the thermal loading on the battery. Lots of heat up/cool down cycles with not much in-between.
=Smidge=
 
mogur said:
There is absolutely no reason to do a quarterly oil change on a vehicle these days unless one drives an insanely large number of miles or under very severe conditions. That is lore that is left over from decades ago when technology and chemistry was very different. Unless you reach the mileage limit first, yearly is just fine in any modern vehicle under normal conditions, even with conventional dino oils.

Absolutely not! Engine oil - regardless of whether the base oil is petroleum, synthetic blend, or synthetic - is designed for a specific life. That life is based not on when the base oil dies, but on when the additives are depleted.

The most accurate way to determine a change interval is to use oil analysis to monitor the depletion rate and set a custom drain interval. Next we can measure the fuel burn and set the interval based on fuel used, miles traveled, or calendar time - whichever comes first - because all will cause deterioration.

In the USA we can find conventional dino oil with the SAE SA service mark - that's base oil with NO additive package and should not be used in any vehicle for any length of time! There are oils on the shelf designed for the 3 month or 3000 miles interval and they should not be run longer without oil analysis. There are other products designed for 5000 mile/6 month, 7500 mile/6 month, 7500 mile/1 year, 10,000 miles/year, 15,000 miles/1 year, 25,000 miles/1 year, or 35,000 miles/one year - whichever comes first.
 
I've yet to see any automobile motor oil - other than some boutique oil perhaps - that indicates that it needs to be changed more often than once a year under normal usage conditions.
All that accomplishes is more toxic waste to dispose of and more oil change profits.

I'm a big fan of oil analysis and do it on my cars, motorcycle and boat on a regular basis. Never had any indication from the reports that it has needed changing more often than once a year unless so dictated by mileage (or engine hours, in the case of the boat and airplane - back when I owned a plane, I did analysis on that too on a regular basis).

I use Mobil 1 in everything. I used Shell Aeroshell Multigrade in the plane.

AndyH said:
Absolutely not! Engine oil - regardless of whether the base oil is petroleum, synthetic blend, or synthetic - is designed for a specific life. That life is based not on when the base oil dies, but on when the additives are depleted.
 
mogur said:
I've yet to see any automobile motor oil - other than some boutique oil perhaps - that indicates that it needs to be changed more often than once a year under normal usage conditions.
All that accomplishes is more toxic waste to dispose of and more oil change profits.

I'm a big fan of oil analysis and do it on my cars, motorcycle and boat on a regular basis. Never had any indication from the reports that it has needed changing more often than once a year unless so dictated by mileage (or engine hours, in the case of the boat and airplane - back when I owned a plane, I did analysis on that too on a regular basis).

I use Mobil 1 in everything. I used Shell Aeroshell Multigrade in the plane.

AndyH said:
Absolutely not! Engine oil - regardless of whether the base oil is petroleum, synthetic blend, or synthetic - is designed for a specific life. That life is based not on when the base oil dies, but on when the additives are depleted.

Analysis made all the difference as you already know - good job! From the design side - engine oils are formulated to meet a specific performance specification for a specific time/mileage/fuel burn whichever comes first. Some can run past the 'rules of thumb' change intervals depending on how the vehicle's used, but it takes oil analysis to know for sure.

One thing to keep in mind...most people think they drive 'normally' yet most should actually follow 'severe' service intervals.

With 5-year or 100,000 mile anti-freeze in common use, and considering the fairly easy life for the transmission fluid, the brake fluid flushes are likely to be the only routine maintenance required for the Leaf.
 
mogur said:
I've yet to see any automobile motor oil - other than some boutique oil perhaps - that indicates that it needs to be changed more often than once a year under normal usage conditions.
All that accomplishes is more toxic waste to dispose of and more oil change profits.

I'm a big fan of oil analysis and do it on my cars, motorcycle and boat on a regular basis. Never had any indication from the reports that it has needed changing more often than once a year unless so dictated by mileage (or engine hours, in the case of the boat and airplane - back when I owned a plane, I did analysis on that too on a regular basis).

I use Mobil 1 in everything. I used Shell Aeroshell Multigrade in the plane.

AndyH said:
Absolutely not! Engine oil - regardless of whether the base oil is petroleum, synthetic blend, or synthetic - is designed for a specific life. That life is based not on when the base oil dies, but on when the additives are depleted.

I agree with what Mogur said. Unless you take a lot of short trips, or live in an area of extreme temp changes, it is a waste to change oil more often than mfr recommendations.
 
Besides, on the Leaf, I plan to use the oil for a looooooong time. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
derkraut said:
I agree with what Mogur said. Unless you take a lot of short trips, or live in an area of extreme temp changes, it is a waste to change oil more often than mfr recommendations.
Provided that one uses oil that meets or exceeds the manufacturer recommendations then yes - absolutely! The problem is that 1. most people don't, and 2. most Americans (>75%) actually fall into severe service requirements. Here's the list:

Severe service is defined as one or more of:
- Operating in ambient temperatures below 32°F (0°C)
- Stop and go driving
- High mileage vehicles (excess of 80,000 miles)
- Driving in dusty conditions
- Any fluid change where less than 70-90% of the old fluid was removed
- More than 50% of driving is high speed (freeway) above 90°F (32°C) ambient
- Trailer towing (or roof loads - turtle boxes, etc.)
- taxi, police, or delivery service
- Off-road or desert operation

Don't take my word for it - hit the reliability and maintenance literature. I'm an independent jobber who's primary business is commercial road vehicles (cars and light trucks thru class-8) and large farm equipment. My goal is to save customers money by using less fuel, extending drain intervals when we can, and selecting products that keep their equipment alive as long as possible.

This info applies to the Leaf because our gear box is filled with regular automatic transmission fluid - Nissan Matic Fluid S. The transmission should be sealed, so should be safe from dust and moisture ingress due to day/night 'breathing' - but the other factors apply and will shorten fluid life. Someone normally solo with a 10 mile commute on an interstate is in good shape for 'normal' while staying on back roads with plenty of signs/lights and a sporty right foot is severe. Let's see what Nissan says about the Leaf:

leafinterval.jpg
 
Where can one even FIND an oil that doesn't meet SG/SH specs these days (which is what the vast majority of manufacturers specify)? A couple of cheap straight grade oils in the bargain bin at Pep Boys maybe?

AndyH said:
Provided that one uses oil that meets or exceeds the manufacturer recommendations then yes - absolutely! The problem is that 1. most people don't
 
mogur said:
Where can one even FIND an oil that doesn't meet SG/SH specs these days (which is what the vast majority of manufacturers specify)? A couple of cheap straight grade oils in the bargain bin at Pep Boys maybe?

AndyH said:
Provided that one uses oil that meets or exceeds the manufacturer recommendations then yes - absolutely! The problem is that 1. most people don't

I think I saw some non SG/SH spec oil (straight 30-WT) at the 99-cent store awhile back. I suppose it would have been OK for my old lawn mower. But I bought a cordless electric mower. Oil in that sucker lasts forever, and no polluting. :D
 
mogur said:
Where can one even FIND an oil that doesn't meet SG/SH specs these days (which is what the vast majority of manufacturers specify)? A couple of cheap straight grade oils in the bargain bin at Pep Boys maybe?

AndyH said:
Provided that one uses oil that meets or exceeds the manufacturer recommendations then yes - absolutely! The problem is that 1. most people don't

Unfortunately, SA and SB oils are still available on the shelf in convenience stores, grocery stores, truck stops and fuel stations all over the south and east.

More unfortunate, SG/SH (and in some applications SL!) isn't good enough. Mercedes lost a couple of class action rulings in the US and Canada because their systems were designed around high-quality man-made synthetics formulated for long life (specialty Euro oil), and their oil life monitor used that oil quality level to advise on oil change intervals. North American owners took the cars to quick lubes and dealerships where the latest API Sx petroleum oils were installed...and engines started failing left and right. There have been similar problems with 2004+ VW turbodiesels (where a special oil quality spec was specified to make up for a poorly designed camshaft) and various VW/Audi/Toyota engines with design defects that lead to death by sludge.

Thankfully none of these challenges fit the Leaf!
 
I am still surprised that we have to change the brake fluid on the LEAF every 12 months. That seems like alot. It's not as easy of a job as the engine oil change. We were just talking about how long you can go in between engine oil changes, and now we have to change the brake fluid almost as often as on our old gasoline cars. Seems excessive to me and really bugs me for some reason.

-Peter
 
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