Swapping Display Units between Leafs - can it be done?

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WingNut007

New member
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
4
Location
Nelson, NZ
Hi all, .
I've just Imported my Leaf from Japan, it arrived 7 weeks ago and I'm loving it!! :D Mostly......

Unfortunately the car arrived with no Map SD card fitted in the Display unit. This has rendered the Display unit is totally unusable - It just displays a blue screen saying "NO SD CARD" ........ I lie - The Reversing Camera still works!

Now I'm not worried about Maps or Carwings as we live in a small city with no EV infrastructure, finding our way around is not an issue. And Carwings is not supported here in New Zealand at all yet.
But having no Car Systems interface (Vent/heater or Kw gauge displays etc) & more importantly - No Radio/Audio/Bluetooth ....... sucks big time!! :x
Ultra quiet car + Noisy kids = No Sanity

I've exhausted all the obvious avenues to get a New SD card.
NZ, Aussie, USA & Japan Nissan Dealers have all said the same thing pretty much.
Its either a software issue with it not being in the intended Country of sale (Jap Language & Maps - NZ, Aussie & USA), or they need the Car physically at the
dealer for SD card coding (Japan).
And I ain't sending it back!

I do not want an aftermarket unit as it will not interface with the rest of the car systems..... So the only option left that I can see, is to import a 2nd hand Display unit from the States complete with with its SD card fitted. This option would also give us a unit in English which also adds value. (The language cannot be changed from Japanese in the Jap import models)

It appears there are plenty of Wrecked and Salvaged Leafs in the States.

So my only question is.... to all you Learned Leaf Guru's out there in MyNissanLEAF.com land......... Will a "2nd hand" Display Unit swap out, be a simple "plug n play" exercise? ...

Its an important question considering the cost of the experiment will cost me a minimum of NZD$1300. (US$930)

Any technical data appreciated

Cheers
Chris

Nelson, New Zealand
 
The only thing new I can tell you since you posted exactly the same question a week or so ago is that they hard buttons for the display are not a part of the display, so at least you won't have to worry about those.
 
It's my understanding that the SD card is paired with the VIN of the vehicle and it won't matter what display unit is mounted. You'd have to have a dealership pair an SD car to the VIN of your vehicle no matter how many units you swap.
 
First tip would be to contact your seller and demand that he send you the original SD card.
IF that does not work you should figure out if the display unit is made by Clarion any other. For US it is Clarion, Europe another brand, and it might be yet another brand for JP.
You may just have to get a brand new SD card from Japan. Or you may be able to install a used display. The display unit is paired with the VIN I think, but that could be changed in the Consult III+ or higher.

What I do know is that US cars exported to Europe works fine. Only thing is the sat nav. My car still thinks it drives around in New York. And it is NOT possible to upload EU maps unless you reprogam the whole unit... Then it might be cheaper to just buy a new car...
 
As far as I can tell from the PDF that was posted it seems like Clarion makes 3 version of the same HU. Japan, EU and North America. There are a fair bit different so I would not count on getting it to work, but getting a SD card with your map on it would help.
I would say though that I am bringing a NA to EU expecting the navigation not to work, but I won't have it swapped. The maps are old and the navigation is so-so. Any smartphone/tablet with google maps would give you much better real-time traffic and up-to-date map information.

If you just want English information, I think you might get lucky with a NA spec HU. Navigation might not work though and neither will carwings/nissan connect, but steering wheel buttons etc. should work just fine.
 
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