Brake failure on nissan leaf

Hi any leaf owners out there had trouble with there brakes? Mine totally failed on my 13 plate love to hear if any one else had the the same or sim problems thanks
Dean

Failed in what way? What was the underlying cause?

Yes, we need more information.

• Red braking system lights on the dash and couldn't shift into drive?
• Brake pedal hung up and couldn't be pressed properly?
• Brake pedal went to the floor and didn't slow the car?
• Brake pedal seemed normal, but car didn't slow?
• Part fell off from the wheel?
• Other?

I had a problem with a hydraulic leak in my ABS actuator that caused yellow and then red lights. I was always able to apply the brakes.

Ray

Hi ray thanks for reply,
My leaf was the jap model with electric handbrake with Eco mode on the handbrake not on the steering wheel but my fault was on the same brake part as yours,English leafs have manual handbrake pedals on the left foot ,my leaf was in for brake problems twice before the brakes failed causing me to go thro a garage wall damaging the car on other side I would be interested to know if yours was a uk or Japanese leaf and more details of your problem thanks

Deancummings said:

My leaf was the jap model with electric handbrake with Eco mode on the handbrake not on the steering wheel but my fault was on the same brake part as yours,English leafs have manual handbrake pedals on the left foot ,my leaf was in for brake problems twice before the brakes failed causing me to go thro a garage wall damaging the car on other side I would be interested to know if yours was a uk or Japanese leaf and more details of your problem thanks

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I have a US model with a parking brake pedal and (for my S model) ECO selected by shifting twice into Drive. I believe the parking brake system is completely separate from the braking and regen system. I really don't have any further details beyond what I posted in the thread I pointed to. Actually, the first post there lists all I know except that it was an ABS actuator and control unit that they replaced, not an ABS pump. Here's the thread pointer again, with its title this time: Brake system warning and error

Ray

Thanks for reply is it possible to have your details ,name ,address and phone number to pass on to my insurance company they might not need to contact you but need your info to help me with insurance claim as my car is still in workshop with nissan and insurance going to court and I'm trying to find out any other brake faults yours sounds like its had same part replaced as my car my Email is [email protected] thank you for your help
Dean


P.s sorry if I offended anyone with the I used in last post in England it's used as a short cut for Japanese used to shorten the typing I work for a Japanese company(nissan uk) my mistake sorry
Dean

Today, my brake momentarily failed when exiting the freeway for about 1 or 2 seconds. My pedal went soft and felt like I pushed it to the floor, so I let it up and pressed again which worked properly. I likely was only a second, but definitely gave me a quick adrenaline rush. I didn't notice any warning signals after. I've only had the car for 3 days. Is this a common experience?

Mike

Did you hit a bump while braking? I've had the brakes weaken while doing that, both with the Leaf and with a Prius.

LeftieBiker said:

Did you hit a bump while braking? I've had the brakes weaken while doing that, both with the Leaf and with a Prius.

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Yep. Mine do that. There is one spot in the freeway I drive that I can hit to consistently make it happen.

I don't remember any bumps. If there were any, they were small everyday types.

michaellavigne said:

I don't remember any bumps. If there were any, they were small everyday types.

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The one I hit is more like a "ridge" between two sections of the pavement rather than a bump, so don't discount the notion.

I had a severe instance of the car stability control once take over on a broad turn with no bumps. The front brakes on one side came on hard and almost set the car in a spin. No way was the car near a loss of traction to cause correction. The only thing I can think is the tires had far more wear in the front and perhaps the car thought the wheels were loosing traction because of a slight difference in radius, regardless It was crazy out of control and not a pulse to the brakes but a long slam on the front. Seems there is some extra sensitivity in the system on the LEAF and the Prius in the entire ABS and control system. In this case the car would have caused an accident not prevented one. Not so much a failure but a flaw perhaps.

LeftieBiker said:

Did you hit a bump while braking? I've had the brakes weaken while doing that, both with the Leaf and with a Prius.

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This 'feature' is really pissing me off. Just yesterday, almost got into an accident because of a tiny bump while having to slam my brakes to evade an obstacle. I really don't understand Nissan's point of view here. My Prius never did this, and it's something I can't get used to thanks to the crappy roads.

My wife experienced total break failure today in our 2015 leaf. She was going downhill but was able to swing into a parking lot and stop the car. She said with her brake pedal on the floor there was a noise and it did slow the car enough to bring it to a stop in the parking lot but not on the slight downhill. Lots of warning lights came on but other systems still worked including the air conditioning so it was not a power failure. I am now concerned about using this car. Frankly I would now like to get rid of our 4 month old Leaf because I will have no faith in it going forward. It was our intention to let our 16 year old use it because we thought it was conservative and safe. She would have totally panicked had the brakes failed on her. The Nissan dealer has towed the car to the dealership and my wife is still there waiting to get home so we will find out more later.

lion said:

LeftieBiker said:

Did you hit a bump while braking? I've had the brakes weaken while doing that, both with the Leaf and with a Prius.

Click to expand...

This 'feature' is really pissing me off. Just yesterday, almost got into an accident because of a tiny bump while having to slam my brakes to evade an obstacle. I really don't understand Nissan's point of view here. My Prius never did this, and it's something I can't get used to thanks to the crappy roads.

Click to expand...

It's the nature of the beast. So long as you have the regen and friction brakes on the same pedal you'll have this behavior to some extent in some situations.

The only way to avoid it is to do what Tesla did and keep the regen on one pedal and the friction brakes on the other. But then you have a user interface change meaning you either get used to one pedal driving and save the friction brake pedal for emergency use only or you have drivers that continue to use the friction brake pedal like they did in their old car and waste energy that could have been taken by regen. The ones that do tend to turn regen to a lower setting so that they can use the friction brakes like they are used to.

I'm willing to deal with the corner case so that I can have regen on both pedals and be more efficient overall. If you aren't you might prefer Tesla's method. Maybe watch for the Model 3 in 2017/2018 to get down into your price range?

Deancummings said:

...my leaf was in for brake problems twice before the brakes failed causing me to go thro a garage wall damaging the car on other side...

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Yes, a couple of others have had the brakes in their LEAF fail. Here is one: My Leaf roll back and almost kill a kid!

My dealership once had to give me a loaner after reprogramming the brakes since they did not know how to recharge the ultracapacitor used to hold up the 12V bus during system failures. They described the problem as "no pedal" and "it goes all the way to the floor".

Bottom line: Check the voltage of the 12V battery.

For those experiencing legitimate safety defects, after the problem is corrected (where applicable), please notify Nissan in some way (if you take it in for service, I think that's should be sufficient) then file a safety complaint w/NHTSA at http://www.safercar.gov/.

Hello
I have been having a fault with my leaf the past week and left it in to the dealer but they are saying they can't find anything wrong! I was hoping maybe someone here would know what I am talking about.
Here is the problem :
When I am driving along (straight, flat road, foot on accelerator, various speeds) the ABS light suddenly starts flashing and the car jerks and jerks repeatedly - extremely dangerous to me and the cars behind me - I hit the break and accelerator a couple of times but it's still doing it so I flick the ABS switch on and off a few times and then the fault stops.
It is very frightening as I temporaryily lose control of the car, but what is concerning me more right now is that the certified leaf mechanic is saying he cannot find anything wrong even after a test drive!

Has anyone experienced anything like this with their lead before?

Any ideas would be most gratefully received.
Thanks
Rachael.

ABS switch? Did not know one could "flick" ABS on/off in any car, let alone the Leaf?

I also have the issue when hitting a bump in the road - not a great experience when you are slowing down driving towards a roundabout and the car speeds up unexpectedly.
Reported this to Nissan a few times to be told "There is no such issue". Glad to know this is not just me, but doesn't help very much.
I'm used to this "feature" now, however don't think my wife has experienced this as of yet, but have made her aware.