2012 Leaf won't start, need to pull DC Converter to test, potential repairs in the $6,000+ range - HELP!

I LOVE my 2012 Nissan Leaf. It was leased for 3 years by another own, after which I purchased the vehicle. I use it to commute 20 miles one way and I have always been incredibly happy with it. Last week, we unplugged the car in the morning after it had charged overnight as we do 5 days a week. When we depressed the brake and pushed the start button, the internal electronics turn on, but the car does not engage. It says to depress the break pedal, but I am depressing the brake pedal. The ABS breaks vibrate shortly after turning it on. The battery shows charged to 50+ miles. The vehicle has about 62,000 miles on it.

We have tried plugging it back in to charge. It connects, the blue lights come on and it acts as if it's starting to charge, but within 3 seconds the lights go off and it shuts off. Tried multiple times, no change in result when attempting to start the car.

We detached the 12V battery for 30 minutes and reconnected it, no change.

We replaced the 12V battery, no change.

It's now at the Nissan dealership. We've spent $500 on diagnostics and still don't know what's wrong. The dealership now wants to pull the DC converter and also check the Junction Box which will be 8 hours of labor or an additional $1000 just to diagnose the issue. Once diagnosed, if the DC converter is bad, we're told it's likely better to replace the entire battery. Depending on the cost of the battery replacement, we could easily be over $6,000 to get this car to run again. That's over 50% of the purchase cost of this vehicle when I purchased it used.

I'm looking for advice on next steps. It seems illogical to spend over $6,000 on 2012 Nissan Leaf with 60,000+ miles on it. Is it possible it could be something that won't cost $6,000 to repair? What could be wrong? Does a Leaf without a battery have any resale value?

Thank you in advance for your input.

Whenever you get a problem.... Think... What are the chances of this happening? In your case... I cannot see that A BIG item deep in your motor will suddenly go bad... Small things cause big looking symptoms...

I would start by reconnecting the 12v battery and see...

do the lights work? do the doors lock and unlock, the horn work?

The with the foot OFF the brake. Press the start ONCE to get accessory mode. Does dashboard light up, does radio work, the air works?
Then press start button once more. that is full accessories... see what you get..

Plug in Leafspy at that point, and get the codes, the graph of the cells balanced, and see..

THEN PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE AND TRY TO START IT... DOES THE MUSIC GO ON??

Every step where the car does something is good news, and when nothing happens, you know that something is going on in THAT LEVEL..

then you can start thinking big things.... like main fuses?

good luck

Many problems like this turn out to be the 12V battery getting old.

Make sure that the dealer checks this before going too much farther.

powersurge said:

Plug in Leafspy at that point, and get the codes, the graph of the cells balanced, and see..

Click to expand...

Best suggestion, as with ANY vehicle, is to use a diagnostic code reader or be at the mercy of a repair shop (a dealer).

WetEV said:

Many problems like this turn out to be the 12V battery getting old.

Make sure that the dealer checks this before going too much farther.

Click to expand...

They replaced the 12 volt battery, making that unlikely unless they failed to charge the new one before installing it, and failed to clear the codes. You can verify that they did that correctly.

It sounds like we need to validate the new 12V is charged and the codes cleared; check fuses; and get a Leafspy. Going to try these first. Thank you all for your input and I welcome any and all further advice. Additional details below.

The dash lights all come on, headlights work, dome & interior lights, radio works, windows and locks work. I can engage and disengage the parking break. The horn hasn't worked in 3 years or more but a different dealer wanted to charge me $175 just to diagnose it so I declined and have driven without it. As far as I can tell, all electric items comes on, but it won't "turn on" - I can't put it in drive nor reverse, it acts like I've only pressed the start button without my foot on the break.

The 12 volt battery should have a rest voltage of at least 12.4 volts - higher since it's new, but 12.4 will start the car normally. Check it by popping the hood release, turning the car off, leaving it 15+ minutes, then opening the hood (but not any doors or the hatch) and check the voltage at the battery terminals with a multimeter.

Where are you located? Can you update your signature?

I am in the Atlanta, GA area. Not sure how to update my signature...? Thanks.

krichard27 said:

It sounds like we need to validate the new 12V is charged and the codes cleared; check fuses; and get a Leafspy. Going to try these first. Thank you all for your input and I welcome any and all further advice. Additional details below.

The dash lights all come on, headlights work, dome & interior lights, radio works, windows and locks work. I can engage and disengage the parking break. The horn hasn't worked in 3 years or more but a different dealer wanted to charge me $175 just to diagnose it so I declined and have driven without it. As far as I can tell, all electric items comes on, but it won't "turn on" - I can't put it in drive nor reverse, it acts like I've only pressed the start button without my foot on the break.

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Well,.. You may have put your finger on it. At this point the car has not reached the level of the dash coming to life, and that wonderful Leaf music go on... SO.. Here, the question is ... Is the Brake Pedal Switch circuit connected and working, and is the brake pedal switch itself working and ADJUSTED TO THE RIGHT PEDAL HEIGHT....

This might be it????

I have not checked the brake pedal and connections, etc, myself. I will call the dealer to see if they did this as part if the diagnostics that they have thus far performed. Wonderful idea, thank you kindly!

krichard27 said:

I have not checked the brake pedal and connections, etc, myself. I will call the dealer to see if they did this as part if the diagnostics that they have thus far performed. Wonderful idea, thank you kindly!

Click to expand...

Typical dealer response: "We have very qualified techs working on your Leaf, they're following the Nissan diagnostic procedures. Thank you."

krichard27 said:

I have not checked the brake pedal and connections, etc, myself. I will call the dealer to see if they did this as part if the diagnostics that they have thus far performed. Wonderful idea, thank you kindly!

Click to expand...

I had 3 separate dealerships unable to disconnect the TCU in my car, despite a TSB being present on the exact issue, and direct assistance with the person from the EV help line. I have zero confidence in the ability of Nissan dealerships to resolve issues with the Leaf.

This dealership appears to be going around doing random part replacements and charging you significant money to find the problem. They seem incompetent to me.

If I were in your shoes, I would use LeafSpy to pull the codes from the car. If you posted the codes on this forum, we could help you. I would then take the car to a highly rated independent repair garage and have them fix the car.

This dealership is rooting around, replacing components and charging you an arm and a leg on diagnostics. I would be pissed as hell that I had paid $500 for diagnostics and they still have no idea what's wrong, and are suggesting replacing more parts and charging another $1k for diagnostics.

The good news is that if your battery has failed in a way that prevents the car from starting, it is covered under warranty:
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/images/f/fe/2012-leaf-warranty-booklet.pdf
(see page 2: Lithium Ion battery coverage, 100k miles or 96 months)

It's pretty unlikely that it's the problem, but your battery failing would be the best possible outcome. It would involve you getting a brand new, modern chemistry battery for free. If you can convince your incompetent dealership to do a warranty battery replacement, do it in a heartbeat. But whatever you do, DO NOT pay for a new battery.

While it could be a problem with the brake pedal, I'm not convinced. I just tested on my Leaf: I held the brake down and opened and closed the driver door while the car is off. The "push brake and hit power" indication came on. So that indication is a standard indication when the car is off, not at all related to the brake pedal position. Furthermore, the original post said that he could engage AND disengage the parking brake. On my 2011, you can only disengage the parking break while depressing the brake pedal. If you attempt to disengage the parking brake without pushing the brake, a notification appears on the main dash and the parking brake remains engaged. This indicates that the brake pedal position is being recognized by the car.

krichard27 said:

I am in the Atlanta, GA area. Not sure how to update my signature...? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Unfortuantely, too far for me to drive to help you out. See my previous post for my ideas.

To update your sig, click on the "krichard27" in the upper right of the screen, go to the profile tab, and select "edit signature"

Lothsahn said:

...This dealership is rooting around, replacing components and charging you an arm and a leg on diagnostics. I would be pissed as hell that I had paid $500 for diagnostics and they still have no idea what's wrong, and are suggesting replacing more parts and charging another $1k for diagnostics....

Click to expand...

Unfortunately it's not the technicians' fault. It's a design flaw. I've looked through several troubleshooting procedures for various codes in the Service Manual and when the high-voltage system is involved it's not uncommon for an error code to have a multitude of possible causes, and troubleshooting is extensive and laborious for each one of the possible causes. It's unfortunate that Nissan didn't build enough smarts into the system to pinpoint issues like this instead of sending the techs on a wild goose chase through various major subsystems.

Nubo said:

Unfortunately it's not the technicians' fault. It's a design flaw. I've looked through several troubleshooting procedures for various codes in the Service Manual and when the high-voltage system is involved it's not uncommon for an error code to have a multitude of possible causes, and troubleshooting is extensive and laborious for each one of the possible causes.

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Good to know. :-(

I've just returned from a week's vacation out of town. My husband is on his way to the dealership now (it's been sitting there dead for 2 weeks) to ask if they've checked the things mentioned in this post and to get a full list of codes they have pulled and checked thus far. I've ordered a LeafSpy. We'll either need to tow it the mile and a half home, or work on it in their lot.

The dealership has told us it is no longer within the warranty period. We will not pay for a new battery. I'm willing to sink our own time and efforts into further diagnostics, but I'm not willing to keep paying the dealership to do so. Had I known that we could be $500 in without a diagnosis, I never would have towed it there. But I still love my electric car and want to try to save her. Thank you all for your support, I hope to have more details to share within the next couple of days.

krichard27 said:

the dealership has told us it is no longer within the warranty period. We will not pay for a new battery.

Click to expand...

The dealership is wrong. You need to educate your dealership.

There are two battery warranties:
1) capacity (expired)
2) defects (8 year 100k miles)

Since the failure is causing the car to not drive, it is not a capacity issue. As long as the car has < 100k miles and is <8 years old, any battery failure is covered.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/2013-nissan-leaf-gets-new-battery-warranty-201645

Lothsahn said:

krichard27 said:

the dealership has told us it is no longer within the warranty period. We will not pay for a new battery.

Click to expand...

The dealership is wrong. You need to educate your dealership.

There are two battery warranties:
1) capacity (expired)
2) defects (8 year 100k miles)

Since the failure is causing the car to not drive, it is not a capacity issue. As long as the car has < 100k miles and is <8 years old, any battery failure is covered.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/2013-nissan-leaf-gets-new-battery-warranty-201645

Click to expand...

Looking back through this thread, I'm not seeing anything to suggest that it's a traction battery failure. Unfortunately, the rest of the car was covered by a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty, and a 5 year EV system warranty, both of which are now expired. So unless this is in fact a bad cell in the traction battery, the car is indeed out of warranty - unless its "in service" date was in 2014. However, I also don't see anywhere that the dealer cleared the codes and charged the 12 volt battery again...

I hope I wont get hate mail over this, but I am looking at this logically, and legally.....

Firstly, the Original Poster continues to say they "ordered" Leafspy"... You don't order it.. you buy it instantly on your phone. You can order a wifi connector on Amazon, and get it in 2-3 days. THAT IS WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO BEFORE ANY OTHER STEP>>>>>>

I agreed with leftiebiker. The car is a 2012 car. It is FAR out of warrantee, and on the second or third owner.

Unless we are dealing with Craftsman socket wrenches (which have a lifetime replacement warrantee), A company does not have any responsibility to warrant the product forever (whatever that may mean). In this case, a car 7 model years old, which would fall into the "forever" category... Legally I believe.

Unless there is a well-documented, and proven defective part on the car, which the company has promised to warrant, they have no responsibility to either provide a new battery, or fix (for free) any problem you have. There are times when this is done, however. I had a 1981 Honda Accord, with 150K miles with an engine support cross-beam that had rotted out. This had been a defect, and they put one in, no questions... for free.

I am sorry to say this, but you can either sell the non-working car (and maybe the next owner will figure it out), or try different ways to fix it... I feel for the lady who feels bad that they spend $500 for diagnosis, but that is how it goes... The dealer has to be paid for the time they spend, whether the car is fixed or not...

Good Luck..