Leaf Spy

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kentklineman

Member
Joined
May 24, 2017
Messages
20
I am getting ready to purchase a used Leaf. Hoping for a 2015 lease return. I want to use Leafspy to test the batteries at the dealers as they have 10 to 15 used Leafs at any given time. Is is two items I need? The app and the OBD adapter from Amazon? I have an iphone 5.
 
91040 said:
Yes, but the iPhone needs an OBD with wifi, not bluetooth.
Not true anymore.

See Turbo3's posts like these:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=19147&p=473793&hilit=lelink#p473793
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=473642#p473642
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=473679#p473679

For the OP, Turbo3 is the developer of Leaf Spy.

FWIW, I use the Android version of Leaf Spy but carry both an iPhone 6 and an Android phone (currently a Nexus 5X).

Mods: Can someone merge this into an iOS Leaf Spy thread?
 
So, the only two items I need are the Leafspy pro app from app store for 20 bucks and the OBD adapter from amazon for 35, and the adapter will communicate with the app on the iphone? I don't need a cable, because of the bluetooth, right? And, how do I read the info on the battery life on the app? Is it a graph, or a percentage? Is there a walkthrough of how to use the app with the OBD adapter anywhere?
 
You might be able to do it cheaper w/Android as working adapters for Android are cheap and I believe even (free) Leaf Spy Lite (Android only) can read health info. People have bought cheapo prepaid Android phones that don't require service to use with Leaf Spy (IIRC, like Kyocera Event).

All you can really go by for health is to look at the Ahr, SOH, and Hx numbers.

Example http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=495315#p495315

But problem is, if the car has its BMS reset, all those numbers and the # of visible capacity bars can be artificially inflated (and thus useless) until the BMS fully relearns the battery, which could take weeks or months. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=489807#p489807 was a reset victim.

You must get a report (e.g. Carfax/Autocheck) to know where the car resided before and whether the capacity bars visible and above numbers make sense for that region and car’s build month.

There is a manual built into the app. You can also email the author for a copy of that manual in PDF form. http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/?title=Leaf_Spy_Pro is semi-helpful but old and semi-outdated.
 
Thank you Cwerdna,

That was super helpful. But are you saying that even with Leafspy I may not be able to get an accurate reading of the SOH of the battery??
I was told that dealers can reset the dash and the onboard diagnostics to look like there are 12 bars, but that leafspy would reveal the true state of the battery. Is that so? It sounds like you are saying only if it is THE ORIGINAL battery? Thank you for any clarifications you care to provide.
 
kentklineman2014 said:
Thank you Cwerdna,

That was super helpful. But are you saying that even with Leafspy I may not be able to get an accurate reading of the SOH of the battery??
Yes.
kentklineman2014 said:
I was told that dealers can reset the dash and the onboard diagnostics to look like there are 12 bars, but that leafspy would reveal the true state of the battery. Is that so? It sounds like you are saying only if it is THE ORIGINAL battery? Thank you for any clarifications you care to provide.
No prob.

A legitimate purpose of resetting the BMS (well, probably some other module that we're calling the BMS) is if the battery pack is replaced, the dealer must reset it via Consult III Plus (https://www.aetools.us/products/nissan-consult-iii-plus/). Unfortunately, we've found more than one case where someone unscrupulous has reset the BMS w/o replacing the pack. http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2014/11/buyers-beware-this-is-must-read.html was one of the first cases we heard of. Fortunately, it had a happy ending (http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2014/12/update-saga-of-vin-222-resolved.html). That buyer got lucky as it was down to 8 capacity bars before the 5 year/60K capacity warranty ran out --> free replacement pack.

From the case I pointed to earlier, it seems that Leaf Spy is useless in showing the health of the battery until the BMS... err car, has relearned the pack. Until it's done relearning, the Ahr SOH, and Hx figures will be artificially inflated, just like the capacity (bar) indicator.

(The reason why I'm making goofy references to the BMS is that there's a BMS module inside the battery pack. So, there's something in the car that's being reset and probably not the module inside the pack.)
 
Leaf spy app has quit working on my phone...it was doing just fine for three months and has just quit receiving readings...it just shows the last reading from a couple days ago. What's wrong?
 
I used to have connection problems frequently with 1 of my dongles and had to frequently unplug and replug it. The one I'm using now seems better. I still have no issues. I used Leaf Spy earlier tonight.
 
kentklineman2014 said:
I am getting ready to purchase a used Leaf. Hoping for a 2015 lease return. I want to use Leafspy to test the batteries at the dealers as they have 10 to 15 used Leafs at any given time. Is is two items I need? The app and the OBD adapter from Amazon? I have an iphone 5.

If I were you, I would go buy a used Android. Check "authorized resellers" they generally have them for as little as $50. This gives you the advantage of having a separate phone to monitor and it does not need service to work. I am using a Samsung Galaxy 4 as my LEAF Spy Device. So you can go pretty old and still make it work.
 
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