Nissan not starting/responding at all.

Last night, when I pulled into the garage, I forgot to turn off the car. I was told by a family member an hour later and went out, pressed the button, and left. Should have been more careful and pressed down on the pedal too, or waited to see if the car actually turned off, but apparently it didn't work and when I went back 3 hours later the lights were flashing erratically, the car would not turn on and neither key was responding. The lights finally turned off and I figured that maybe, given enough time, the system would reboot or something - after all, it had something like 30-50 miles of energy still at last check.
Today when I went out the car wasn't responding at all, in the slightest. Doesn't turn on, key doesn't work. If it's out of energy because of the lights, than the key won't let me open the charging port, which is SO frustrating since the charger is right there! I called Nissan and they told me I'd need to be towed to a dealership, I thought maybe an alternative was have triple A come out or something. Is there an easy fix to open the charging port? Is that even the problem, at this point? Any advice would be very appreciated since I've only had this car for two months, and it's a 2014 that was in great shape.

The mechanical key should let you open the driver's door.

You can the pull the hood latch to open the hood - my belief is that it's a mechanical pull.

Once under the hood, you can charge (or jump) the 12 volt battery - which seems to be the source of your problems.

The traction battery probably still has those 30-50 miles waiting for you to get the 12 volt battery back on line so it can then charge it up.

Good luck.

Thanks so much! I'll give it a try, I really appreciate the speedy reply.

The mechanical charge door went out with the '12 Leafs, since then they have been electronic and won't open with a dead 12v battery(what I think your problem is). You can open the mechanical hood release though and either jump your 12v battery or access the manual override for opening your charge port lid.
It really sounds like a dead or very low 12v battery, hooking it to a battery charger or jumping it with another vehicle(let the charging cables remain connected for a couple minutes before trying to start car) should do the trick.
In the future you could also purchase one of the small 12v auto battery jumpers for just such emergencies. I recently picked up a nice Black and Decker Lithium charger that not only has jumper cables but also a cigarette lighter jumping cable, which may not work unless you can turn your Leaf on since in the OFF state the 12v accessory outlet is not hot. My small charger was on sale for $40 and I believe retails for $60, oh and it also has a built in flashlight and USB charging port, I plan on carrying it in the back of my Leaf all the time, it's quite light and small.
https://www.amazon.com/Decker-P2G7B-Lithium-Battery-Booster/dp/B014ITIV4A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468350883&sr=8-3&keywords=12v+black+and+decker+jump+starter

I charge my 12v weekly now.

Ditto to the charging (12V) battery regularly. Mine is almost 4 years old - don't trust it to keep charged by the converter/charger. I know from load testing that it has lost significant capacity. I'm also buying a cheap 400 amp "jump starter" to keep in the trunk (something else to keep charged!). Better than "dead" on a trip.

It sounds like you simply drained your 12 volt battery.

Put it on a slow charger for 24 hours then you should be fine. I don't recommend jump starting because it's hard on the 12 volt battery.

I prefer Battery Tender https://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1468363033&sr=8-7&keywords=battery+tender+charger

It's a great charger that you can use routinely to top off and condition any car battery.

Check the 12v battery cells and top them off with distilled water. I would recommend every three to six months, but it should be done at least once a year (every spring). I had trouble with my 12v battery when I first got the car, but after topping off the cells I have had no issues since. If the car is charged and driven regularly, it will keep the 12v battery charged, as long as the 12v battery is in good health with no excess loads placed on it. When the original 12v battery eventually does need replaced, my current plan is to put in an Optima Yellow Top.

Kkpita1 said:

Last night, when I pulled into the garage, I forgot to turn off the car. I was told by a family member an hour later and went out, pressed the button, and left. Should have been more careful and pressed down on the pedal too, or waited to see if the car actually turned off, but apparently it didn't work and when I went back 3 hours later the lights were flashing erratically, the car would not turn on and neither key was responding. The lights finally turned off and I figured that maybe, given enough time, the system would reboot or something - after all, it had something like 30-50 miles of energy still at last check.
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Once the 12V battery voltage drops below something like 9.5V, the LEAF will not do anthing until you get the voltage back above something like 10.5V to 11V.
Yes slow recharging with a battery maintainer would be better but that may take a very long time.
Jump starting with a good battery does not take long, and once the LEAF starts the DC to DC will start recharging the 12V starting at around 100 amps.
See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6707&hilit=jump+start&start=10#p148133 on jump starting.
That discussion is about starting an ICE, but similar for ICE or bavkup battery jumping the LEAF.

Note that if lights were on when the 12V depleted it is possible for a relay to hang.
To clear the hung relay on one occasion I had to disconnect the 12V battery.
With the relay no longer hung it the restarted without any problem.

There is a manual release for the charger door. Just requires the use of a screwdriver. It's in the owner's manual, page "CH-20" (page 71 in the PDF).

Kkpita1 said:

Last night, when I pulled into the garage, I forgot to turn off the car. I was told by a family member an hour later and went out, pressed the button, and left. Should have been more careful and pressed down on the pedal too, or waited to see if the car actually turned off, but apparently it didn't work and when I went back 3 hours later the lights were flashing erratically, the car would not turn on and neither key was responding. The lights finally turned off and I figured that maybe, given enough time, the system would reboot or something - after all, it had something like 30-50 miles of energy still at last check.
Today when I went out the car wasn't responding at all, in the slightest. Doesn't turn on, key doesn't work. If it's out of energy because of the lights, than the key won't let me open the charging port, which is SO frustrating since the charger is right there! I called Nissan and they told me I'd need to be towed to a dealership, I thought maybe an alternative was have triple A come out or something. Is there an easy fix to open the charging port? Is that even the problem, at this point? Any advice would be very appreciated since I've only had this car for two months, and it's a 2014 that was in great shape.

Click to expand...

which lights were flashing?

either way, your 12 volt battery is dead and you don't have to have your foot on the brake to turn off the car. what you did is pressed the button twice instead of only once putting you into accessory mode. happens all the time...