Is there an auto shutoff when you operate the radio only?

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jpillath

Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2014
Messages
5
Location
Northeast Wisconsin
I was waiting in the parking lot for my wife and listening to the radio. I had switched on to Acc. only with one touch. After very close to 30 minutes, everything including the Acc. light on the switch shut off. I was quite worried that the 12 volt battery was going to be dead. The main battery had about 50 miles to go yet. This is a 2013 Leaf S with about 1500 miles on it. I can't find anything in the manual that indicates it will shut off like this. So, after waiting another 15 minutes for my wife (and not turning anything on), my wife arrives and the I successfully go through the start-up procedure and drive home with no ill affects regarding the battery. Has anyone had this type of auto shutoff? Thanks.
 
Automatic shutdown after a period of time while in Accessory mode is normal in almost all vehicles including the LEAF.
But Accessory mode should NEVER be used in the LEAF.
The LEAF software does a poor job of maintaining the 12V charge to start with and you will just quickly destroy it using Accessory mode.
At the very least use the double push On mode and turn off HVAC. At least in that mode the LEAF monitors 12V and will use the the HV pack to charge it when it gets really low.
But even that is bad and by doing a lot of that my 12V had to be replaced at two year mark at no cost under the vehicle 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty.
Better to have the LEAF in Ready with parking brake engaged, vehicle in Park, and HVAC off. Yes there is more power drain on HV pack of around 300 watts but at least you aren't damaging the 12V battery. The 300 watts takes several hours of use to have much impact on range.
 
Thanks Tim for that reply. Wow, that is amazing that that information is not in the Leaf manual, at least not in the plain and straight forward manner that you explained it. However, your opening statement doesn't agree with my experience with my other vehicle. My 2009 Dodge Caravan doesn't auto shutoff after a period of time in Accessory mode. The only way I knew it was too long of a time (waiting for my wife again) was when it wouldn't start and we had to get a jump!
 
A lot of what Nissan has done or failed to do is amazing, and not in a good way.
They never should have included an Accessory mode on the LEAF, but they were worried that without it the vehicle would be too different.
They have made the same mistake in many areas, like failing to be able to turn off the unnecessary bad idea forward creep. Tesla gets that correct and gives the driver a choice.
And now they are basically lying about the 2015 LEAF range by stupidly eliminating 80% charging mode.
Mind dumbingly stupid :cry:

I'm surprised the Dodge didn't have auto Accessory shutdown too. Been present on Ford products for two decades or more.

Glad MNL was helpful.
 
TimLee said:
But Accessory mode should NEVER be used in the LEAF.
At the very least use the double push On mode and turn off HVAC.
I do not recommend ever using ON mode for using accessories while waiting. It will drain the 12V even faster. The best choices in my opinion are to use accessory mode (ACC), for lowest power drain, or to start the car (ready, green car with arrows, light on). The 12V battery will charge in ready mode but the electric consumption is relatively high, about the same as ON mode. When using accessories while waiting over a half hour I would recommend using ACC and after it times out, to turn the car on (ready mode) to charge the 12V.
 
kovalb said:
I do not recommend ever using ON mode for using accessories while waiting. It will drain the 12V even faster. The best choices in my opinion are to use accessory mode (ACC), for lowest power drain, or to start the car (ready, green car with arrows, light on). The 12V battery will charge in ready mode but the electric consumption is relatively high, about the same as ON mode. When using accessories while waiting over a half hour I would recommend using ACC and after it times out, to turn the car on (ready mode) to charge the 12V.
Could you explain why you think the power draw on the 12V is higher in On or Ready than Accessory?
As long as you have the HVAC off and aren't using any other 12V loads than the radio (no lights and no electric windows) then it should be identical to the load in Accessory.

Yes you could use Accessory and just let the 12V charge back afterwards. But the LEAF does such a poor job of maintaining the 12V that you are starting from a poor point to start with and then even in Ready mode the LEAF only charges the 12V at 13.8V for a short period and then drops back to 13.1V. So what you are suggesting is not best for the 12V battery.
 
TimLee said:
Could you explain why you think the power draw on the 12V is higher in On or Ready than Accessory?
As long as you have the HVAC off and aren't using any other 12V loads than the radio (no lights and no electric windows) then it should be identical to the load in Accessory.
ACC mode only powers the audio/nav unit and the 12V powerpoints. ON or Ready modes also power the meter display (speedometer, etc.) and HVAC fan, if it is turned on.
 
My understanding is that the radio electrical drain is very minimal. Using the acc mode should not be a problem and it does cut off automatically on the 2012 Leaf as well.
 
Turnover said:
My understanding is that the radio electrical drain is very minimal. Using the acc mode should not be a problem and it does cut off automatically on the 2012 Leaf as well.
Yes the radio drain is small.
But as discussed in numerous other MNL topics the LEAF does a poor job of maintaining the 12V battery, so sometimes you are already starting from a fairly poor 12V state of charge.
The 12V battery is being maintained better if you use Ready mode and don't use ACC.
 
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