2015 Leaf made it almost 2 weeks

I took delivery of my 2015 leaf 12 days (and 300 miles) ago and this morning when I got in and started it up the EV system warning light was on. The light is amber, icon is the car with the explanation point over it. Battery was full.

It drives fine but a whole bunch of stuff doesn’t work:
When you put it in run the cooling fan under the hood comes on full blast and never shuts off.
AC/Heater system doesn’t work, that panel is just dead, no fan even.
Steering Wheel heater doesn’t work.
Butt heater doesn’t work.
Guess-o-meter is just dashes, even while driving.
Outside temperature is just dashes.
Economy screens related to miles to go on nav are all ***’s
Economy meter in dash (4.5 mile/kwh meter with graph) doesn’t update, graph never moves.
ODB port doesn’t work, at least leaf spy is suddenly saying “bluetooth connection refused”

Things tested that do work:
Battery percentage reading, battery temp and battery capacity and remaining graphs on dash.
12v port port works, seems to have good voltage.
The nav screen with the circular graphs showing power used does seem to work still. AC shows zero, motor is normal, Aux shows the normal little sliver at idle.

After running my errands I brought it back home. Plugged it into the Level 1 charging cord and the fan under the hood came on full blast again. It’s been charging for about an hour with that fan going like crazy. Carwings web site does work, looks like it’ll take about double the normal time to charge on level 1.

<rant starts here>
I’ve got an appointment to drop it off with the dealer tomorrow. Unfortunately the dealer won’t give me a loaner. That makes me a little sorry that I bought a Nissan. As far as the car having problems, I get that. Things break, the denial of a loaner ticks me off. Alan Webb Nissan in Vancouver, WA. Don’t buy from them I guess or don’t buy a Nissan, the dealership says Nissan won’t pay for that. They did offer to split the cost of a rental with me. I might do that, we’ll see. If I was dropping this off at the dealership and getting a leaf as a loaner I wouldn't care very much. But as it is I'm upset.
<rant over, sorry.>

I’ll update this thread when I know more. I figured I’d post this here just for the record.

That is BS. My dealer not only gives me a loaner, but a Leaf Loaner.
Take it to another dealer!
No reason you have to ever set foot in that dealer again.

First order of troubleshooting would be to pull the elm327 out of the OBD connector and see if that solves the problem. I had a problem with my first one on an ICE car that gave me fits trying to diagnose.

I tried a normal ODBII / EODB reader, it can't get any data from the car either.

Checked the voltage at the 12v battery with the car off and charger unplugged. That looks good 12.75vdc.

Disconnected the 12v battery for a while (with charger unplugged of course), no difference when it was all hooked back up.

joewaters said:

First order of troubleshooting would be to pull the elm327 out of the OBD connector and see if that solves the problem. I had a problem with my first one on an ICE car that gave me fits trying to diagnose.

Click to expand...

Yea, good call. I did that as soon as it showed the error this morning. Shut it down, pulled that sucker and turned it back on. No joy there though. It's staying out for now. Thanks!

KillaWhat said:

That is BS. My dealer not only gives me a loaner, but a Leaf Loaner.
Take it to another dealer!
No reason you have to ever set foot in that dealer again.

Click to expand...

Yep, I canceled the appointment with the local dealership and made an appointment with one that is farther away. 20+ miles away and the traffic can be nasty but oh well. They said, "No problem" when I asked for a loaner. Plus they can do the fabric sealing thing while it's there. Unfortunately they can't give me a loaner leaf, oh well. Maybe I'll get something fun.

FWIW, in my experience w/owning two Nissans prior to leasing my Leaf (and my mom has an 07 Altima Hybrid), loaners are the exception, rather than the rule. I had an 02 Maxima from late 01 until early 06. I had a 04 350Z from late 03 until mid-2011 and now my Leaf.

In the entire time across all 3 cars, I think I'd received a loaner once (split an Altima w/a coworker who went to get some work done on his 03 350Z at the same time I'd brought my 04 350Z), and a (covered by Nissan) rental car twice. In one case, I recall them having to use Enterprise rent-a-car. Enterprise was low on cars so I had a choice of a cargo van or a 4-cylinder Geo Metro. I took the latter, but that was a POS compared to my 255-hp V6 Maxima. :roll: I don't recall the reasons for the loaner in the last two cases.

None were for any work on my Leaf.

This loaner exception rather than the rule seems to be the case of non-luxury car automakers. Toyota's basically the same way. I mentioned the singular time I received a loaner for work on my 06 Prius (which I still have) at http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10472#p10472" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I've had the same dismal experience with dealerships; however in 2012 we bought a new Acura (just a TSX Sportwagon, not an expensive Acura) and they have treated us amazingly well. Loaners everytime we need one, they wash the car inside and out everytime it comes in for service, and they even installed a brand new front bumper on the car when their floorjack did damage to the bumper. This Acura is just a re-badged european Honda Accord, but heck, they do step up the service from just a Honda product. I expect you'd find Infiniti service to be several steps up from Nissan.

The dealer said that the HVAC control unit is bad. They rush ordered one. Should arrive Tuesday of next week and then we'll see if that fixes everything.

For the loaner I got a Nissan Versa Note with only 300 miles on it. Sporty little thing.

Complimentary rental car program:
For the first 36 months/36,000 miles (whichever occurs first), your participating Nissan LEAF® certified dealer will provide the owner a complimentary rental vehicle when a warrantable repair is performed, subject to availability and the eligibility requirements. (See your Nissan dealer and read the Roadside Assistance section of your Warranty Information Booklet for complete details and eligibility requirements.)

http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/charging-range/battery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Phatcat73 said:

Complimentary rental car program:
For the first 36 months/36,000 miles (whichever occurs first), your participating Nissan LEAF® certified dealer will provide the owner a complimentary rental vehicle when a warrantable repair is performed, subject to availability and the eligibility requirements. (See your Nissan dealer and read the Roadside Assistance section of your Warranty Information Booklet for complete details and eligibility requirements.)

http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/charging-range/battery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

Wow. I didn't even realize that, thinking it was new to the '14 and '15 model years. However, it's apparently in the PDF of the '13 Leaf warranty booklet. That part that's unclear/confusing to me is that "Complimentary rental car program" is under the Roadside Assistance section. Does that only apply if I have some warrantable breakdown and need to be towed?

cwerdna said:

Phatcat73 said:

Complimentary rental car program:
For the first 36 months/36,000 miles (whichever occurs first), your participating Nissan LEAF® certified dealer will provide the owner a complimentary rental vehicle when a warrantable repair is performed, subject to availability and the eligibility requirements. (See your Nissan dealer and read the Roadside Assistance section of your Warranty Information Booklet for complete details and eligibility requirements.)

http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/charging-range/battery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

Wow. I didn't even realize that, thinking it was new to the '14 and '15 model years. However, it's apparently in the PDF of the '13 Leaf warranty booklet. That part that's unclear/confusing to me is that "Complimentary rental car program" is under the Roadside Assistance section. Does that only apply if I have some warrantable breakdown and need to be towed?

Click to expand...

To qualify for a complimentary rental car, the repair must take overnight (at least for 2011 warranty).

Gerry

This happened to me--I didn't even realize that technically they had to do it. I brought the car in and the LEAF tech was out that day for training. The manager seemed a little embarrassed, and paid for a loaner. For those who have never been there, there's a Hertz desk stationed conveniently in the waiting room. I guess the step-up part was that they paid for the gas I asked about a LEAF loaner and he said, "Aw, people don't understand those things. They run 'em out of juice and have to be towed." When I went back I suggested they loan LEAFs to EV drivers only!

A brand new Rogue is a nice enough vehicle (no, they didn't have anything smaller), but there's no hiding the fact that it's powered by internal combustion. I was glad to get my LEAF back.

I never had issues like this with my 13SL, (knock on wood).....well I had a problem with charging up but they fixed that with an update.

When I bought the LEAF I added a service plan that covers the tires, wheels, key fob and pays for all service related things to 100K miles, Cabin air filter, tire rotation & Wiper Blades. It does not cover wheel alignments though. When I brought it in for the 15K mile service that is all I paid for. Oh it also includes a loaner car for One day. after that it's $25 a day (the normal price is like $37)

HuweyII said:

The dealer said that the HVAC control unit is bad. They rush ordered one. Should arrive Tuesday of next week and then we'll see if that fixes everything.

For the loaner I got a Nissan Versa Note with only 300 miles on it. Sporty little thing.

Click to expand...

As was recommended to me when I had a heater core leak (that ultimately took 23 days to get parts -- see link in my sig), call national LEAF Support involved and open a case right away: 1-877-664-2738.

Meanwhile, you might begin researching the "Lemon Law" for your particular state.

HuweyII said:

The dealer said that the HVAC control unit is bad. They rush ordered one. Should arrive Tuesday of next week and then we'll see if that fixes everything.

Click to expand...

I got my leaf back today. Right on time and everything works. It had a 100% charge when I picked it up. Of course it had been detailed since it also got it's fabric and paint protection applied while it was there.

$435 billed to Nissan. Here's what the work order said:

386 WARNING LIGHTS ON; NO HEAT OR AC 1.20 WARNING LIGHTS ON; NO HEAT OR AC; AC CONTROL DOES NOT TURN ON; PERFORMED CONSULT III DIAG; P31B3, P3198, U1000 CODES PRESENT; PERFORMED CAN DIAG AND HVAC LEG HAS ISSUE; TESTED POWER AND GROUND FOR HVAC; POWER AND GROUND PRESENT; REPLACED HVAC CONTROL / AUTO AMP; RETESTED; CODES STILL PRESENT; TESTED POWER AND GROUND AGAIN THIS TIME FUSED POWER FOR HVAC OPEN; REPLACED FUSE; RETESTED; HVAC WORKS NORMAL; ROAD TESTED; HEATER AND AC WORK