Dreaded Vampire Drain Returns

Well, the ongoing vampire drain issue with my 2013 Leaf S returned, 3 months after the dealer did a software upgrade and replaced the battery, (12v) which tested fine, as I knew it would. I had purchased a nice clamp-on DC ammeter and had left the car in drain mode (by not disconnecting the battery, which will reset it). I was able to show the service manager the near-1amp drain. He was quite concerned, and baffled. Incidentally, the drain also shows up in the wires going into the master brake cylinder/servo unit. I still believe the problem is in the brake unit, possibly the super-capacitors.

I left a message with the service manager (he didn't answer his phone) informing him that the issue had returned. I have to admit he was very concerned and called me twice after the visit to Spokane. He admitted when I picked up the car that he didn't have an answer to my problem.

I reset the computer yesterday by disconnecting the battery for a few hours. At this point, I have less than a year on my lease and I'll just live with the problem till then. Then start looking for a nice used Volt! Goodbye Leaf, too much range anxiety, and I've been stuck within a 40 mile radius of my home for the duration. Unfortunately, charging infrastructure has remained non-existent in my area and looks to remain that way for the foreseeable future. The Leaf experience has been fun (mostly) and educational, but time to move on. I wish I had a solution to report about the Vampire Drain as I know other Leaf owners are having similar problems.

voganni said:

At this point, I have less than a year on my lease and I'll just live with the problem till then.

Click to expand...

Parasitic draw issues that cannot be resolved with repeated repair attempts will qualify your car as a lemon in most states. If the car is under warranty and they are unable to repair the vehicle after repeated attempts, you should press the issue and get a buy back. If you are still under warranty, there's no reason to live with the problem.

Same car here, and same story. Happened again this morning, that's about 6 times in 2 years.

Last time, the guy at the dealer "reset the computer" and it was fine for 8000 miles, until today. He said there was no way that I could reset it at home.

The main thing is the time wasted towing the car and for no good reason. I will try disconnecting the battery for a couple hours and see what happens. I also have measured a varying drain around 1amp using a calibrated Fluke probe with 10mA resolution.

Was not successful tracing the drain to any of the fused circuits.

When you say disconnect the battery I hope you mean the 12 volt battery. Last time I opened the main battery disconnect covers (2) and there was nothing there. Just an empty box.

Next stop, lemon law ?

It's amazing that Nissan has not found and fixed this problem yet.

To my knowledge, this problem does/did not exist in any MY2011 and MY2012 LEAFs.