Bad Power Distribution Module? Check In Here

kevinleaf said:

I feel really bad for the folks that have to endure bad service providers. Fortunately I had a competent and caring service department but it seems that it's a crap shoot for many of you.

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If you found a dealer that does not suck please let us know where it is.

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Where are you located? Crossroads Nissan in Wake Forest did the update just fine for me. Very good experience. Even gave me a Leaf as a loaner. I was a happy camper.

My 2013 gave out after 2000 miles.
Now getting reprogrammed at Nissan Reidsville NC.
Hopefully that does the trick!

Great and friendly service too!

Bo

and... Now charges normally!
Hopefully new 13's already have the software update.

sfiorini said:

Staque said:

sfiorini said:

Basically, if you have a 2013 Leaf, you will go through the PDM replacement within the first 3000 miles of usage.

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I'm at 5100 and chugging along. Actually, it's more of a whirring.

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I am glad to have been proved wrong. 5100 miles is still not a big number, though to be considered out of the woods. I hope you won't experience the PDM failure. I don't know how to explain the problem differently. Could it be that you had the software update to your PDM?

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At 6200 miles, I got an EV warning light after 3 early-stops on the same charging session at a public Charge Point EVSE.

It's probably the first time I've really charged at a public station. (I've used other Charge Point EVSEs for 5-10 minutes to verify operation before putting them on PlugShare.) So therefore it's the first time I've really charged at 30 amps. And then it charged fine at home about 10 minutes later. At home I have a 20 amp Clipper Creek LCS-25. Maybe that's why I've gone so long without an issue. Based on other posts, the problem seems to start first on high power, and then get progressively worse until even the 120V EVSE doesn't work.

So far I haven't been able to reproduce it, but I don't think it's a one-time thing, since it happened three times in the same session. I'm going to try more ~30A charging and see if that causes it to happen again.

Did you get the warning light? In any case the car stores and saves the code. Take it in.

Same deal for me: fails repeatedly on a 30a, 6kWh charge at ChargePoint, fine at 20a at home at 3kWh.

I plan to leave it at Nissan overnight on their high amp charger and hopefully it will fail. Then when they come in AM they can diagnose the car before the code clears.

Although the car does store codes they claimed they could not see any error when I brought it in the last time. That is why I want a failure to happen on their property so they don't blame someone else's charger and the failure light is on.

Count me in as having weird charging stopped problems and EV system warning lights (yellow car with !). '13 Leaf SV, 6/2013 build date, at 2274 miles now.

The other day, I had some weird charging stopped problems but I thought it was because I interrupted the charge (at work on Chargepoint L2 EVSEs) to check on something and the EVSE got into a confused state. I think I noticed the car pulling pretty low wattage (below 1 kw) but not that close to fully charged, so it was ramping down too early. I think the pumps were making funny noises too.

Anyway, today, while charging at work, I got an unexpected charging stopped email (via Nissan/Carwings mails) and when I went down to the garage to check, it had stopped. I mucked around trying to get it to restart charging (both by cycling the EVSE, putting the handle back to the station, etc.) and also remotely via the Carwings iOS app. When I moved my car to switch to another EVSE, I saw the yellow car warning light w/! symbol (I believe the yellow ! w/triangle was also lit). It went away after a power cycle or two. I had to muck around to force continue charging several times due to several unexpected stoppages (got Nissan/Carwings emails about those).

In the evening, when I left from work and had a full charge, the yellow ! car came on again (along w/yellow ! triangle). I drove it out of the parking garage w/those 2 yellow lights on the whole time. Upon power down and back up again, it went away.

I'm not using any charging timers.

On weekdays, I almost always only charge at work using those L2 Chargepoint EVSEs. I sometimes use the 120 volt outlet under the metal doors of a few of the stations that have them (CT2101 at http://web.archive.org/web/20130403092428/http://chargepoint.com/products-chargepoint-stations.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false, to which I plug in an unmodified Nissan L1 EVSE. On weekends, I charge mainly using my unmodified Nissan L1 EVSE and sometimes a few public stations (e.g. some free Clipper Creek L2s).

Never had any problems charging on any of the above, until this week.

I hope I can find some time to take it in for TSB NTB13-069, and that it shows the DTCs that the TSB mentions.

Another guy at my work w/a '13 Leaf S (I've never met him, only communicated via email and HipChat) also had some abnormal charging stopped problems but he doesn't get notified since there's no Carwings on his car. He said that yep, it definitely sounded like it needed NTB13-069. I think he got it applied. Not sure if it permanently solved the problem.

Took the Leaf in for the above. They confirmed it had the DTCs per the NTB13-069 TSB I handed them the 1st 4 pages of: P316C, P3170, P3171, and B29C1. Receipt said they reprogrammed the PDM. Let's hope it's resolved.

I have a slight knocking/rattle on the passenger side that I wanted them to fix. Unclear if it's interior (e.g. in or behind the dash, in the door, etc.) or external (e.g. suspension). Unfortunately, they said they couldn't repro. Oh well.

Sorry to say, I found this thread the way most of you did. My Leaf stopped charging more than about 1 percent at a time. I managed to make it to a Nissan dealership in San Jose (Calif.), who kept the vehicle for two days during which they performed a software update followed by some "reprogramming" of the PDM. They then notified me that the vehicle was ready for pickup. I told them I wanted it charged to 80 percent (~ 80 miles range) before I went to pick it up, and they said they'd do that. I arrived at the dealer and immediately noticed that it was only charged to a 70 mile range, which annoyed me, but I figured at least I could get it home and see how it was charging. When I got it home, I plugged it into my 240V Aerovironment EVSE, and all seemed fine as it began to charge. But after a half hour or so I noticed that the blue charging lights at the front of the cab were no longer lit, so I checked status on my smartphone and found that it was only 67 percent charged, even though my timer was set for 80 percent. I attempted to override it from the app, i.e. start it charging, and the app returned a status of "Unable to start charging. Please check the vehicle and try your request again." So I unplugged/replugged charging cable from the front of the Leaf, and the blue lights did not light up at all. Then I unplugged the charging cable and tried powering up and driving the car, and the Leaf turned on but refused to enter either reverse or forward. Lots of yellow, orange, and red warning lights were showing up on the dashboard at that point, including triangle-shaped, car-shaped, and battery-shaped. It seems like the efforts to avoid replacing the PDM have only made matters worse.

deviceguru said:

I told them I wanted it charged to 80 percent (~ 80 miles range) before I went to pick it up, and they said they'd do that. I arrived at the dealer and immediately noticed that it was only charged to a 70 mile range, which annoyed me, but I figured at least I could get it home and see how it was charging. When I got it home, I plugged it into my 240V Aerovironment EVSE, and all seemed fine as it began to charge. But after a half hour or so I noticed that the blue charging lights at the front of the cab were no longer lit, so I checked status on my smartphone and found that it was only 67 percent charged, even though my timer was set for 80 percent. I attempted to override it from the app, i.e. start it charging, and the app returned a status of "Unable to start charging. Please check the vehicle and try your request again."
...

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First off, forget the GOM and its "miles of range". I haven't gone out of my way to get whacky figures but IIRC, at 100% charge, I've seen figures ranging from low 80s to 97 or more miles. It's based on recent driving history.

As for "67 percent charged", how are you determining that? The Nissan Leaf app doesn't return % SoC, unfortunately. I suppose you could guestimate based on # of fuel bars and assume that 8/12 bars == ~67%...

Did your receipt state they performed NTB13-069? Did they list the DTCs returned by your car? Did they match what's in the TSB?

cwerdna said:

First off, forget the GOM and its "miles of range". I haven't gone out of my way to get whacky figures but IIRC, at 100% charge, I've seen figures ranging from low 80s to 97 or more miles. It's based on recent driving history.

As for "67 percent charged", how are you determining that? The Nissan Leaf app doesn't return % SoC, unfortunately. I suppose you could guestimate based on # of fuel bars and assume that 8/12 bars == ~67%...

Did your receipt state they performed NTB13-069? Did they list the DTCs returned by your car? Did they match what's in the TSB?

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Regarding percentage of charge, that was a guesstimate, but not really significant in comparison to what ultimately took place, which was a fully disabled Leaf. It has been at the service center of Boardwalk Nissan in Redwood City for a full week, after getting it towed there, and the service advisor just informed me that that they're still sending error codes to Nissan Leaf Central, which responds with requests for them to make further tests.

I don't know what all the current error codes are. But for the internal unsuccessful repair, the document they gave me says the self diag codes were P316C, P3170, P3171 PD Module, B2840 PDM internal malfunction, and B29A0 signal error. The doc says they reprogrammed the PD Module, and then charged the car to 80%. But when I got it home, as I mentioned above, it only charged for a short time (perhaps 5-10 minutes), after which it was inoperable: I could turn the car on and see the all the displays, but the shifter would only change between neutral and park, but would not produce either forward or reverse. Dead duck!

So now my Leaf has been at the dealership for 7 full days with no prognosis as of today, and no ETA for being fixed. And it's not like they ordered a new PDA and are waiting for it to arrive. They just don't seem to know what the problem is.

^^^
Ouch! FWIW, I leased from Boardwalk (long story why) but I got the TSB done at Premier (only because they are the closest dealer by far) after I hit the symptoms I described.

Hope they're providing you a loaner...

Here's my fun story. I was an early adopter and picked up a 2011 as part of the EV Project, which Nissan and Blink participated in. This included a Blink home EVSE unit. Loved the car. Never had a single issue. Wanted the faster charging (and the leather and heated seats) and moved up to a 2013. After ~1500 miles I got the EV warning light and charging began to stop early about half of the time, both at home and at public EVSEs. Took it to the dealer and they had it for a week or two. Bad PDM was the diagnosis and they replaced it. At ~4300 miles I got the EV warning light again. Took it in and they said it just needed a software update. Got that done same day and took it home. Next day got the same early stop on the charge and EV warning lights. Took it in again and they did a deep dive with the tech line to figure out what was going on. In short, they say it must be my Blink unit doing damage to the connection harness and potentially the PDM. Supposedly this is a 'known' issue. Would have been nice to have been told about it. I would have thrown my Blink unit out and bought something else in a heartbeat if I knew it could do damage to my car. The kicker is, as of now, they say they will NOT cover this repair under warranty. In addition, Blink will not send anyone out to inspect my home unit due to their 'current status'. So, ~$2,200 for the connection harness and another ~$2,200+ for the PDM if necessary. I am working with Nissan Consumer affairs right now. There are no exclusions stated in the warranty regarding EVSEs and I used the vehicle and EVSE exactly as prescribed. If anyone has any experience dealing with a similar situation, I would love to hear about it. The sad reality is, if plugging my electric car in to ANY charging station could potentially damage the vehicle and void my warranty, I don't know that I can continue to drive electric.

They are feeding you a line, are misinformed, and/or are lying to you. There is no history of Blink EVSEs causing such a problem. There WAS a compatability problem with some GE EVSEs, but never with a Blink. There IS some history of overheating pins on the J1772 connector of some Blinks when run at 30 amps, but it does not sound like that is the issue here... Are we talking about a melting/overheating connector or a charger issue?

Elbows said:

In short, they say it must be my Blink unit doing damage to the connection harness and potentially the PDM. Supposedly this is a 'known' issue.

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Well, apparently they have pictures of a damaged pin in the charging port of the LEAF. They are saying the issue was caused by an 'after-market accessory' and therefore the damage is not covered by warranty. I haven't seen the pictures and they still have my vehicle. I hope to hear more on Friday.

Elbows said:

Well, apparently they have pictures of a damaged pin in the charging port of the LEAF. They are saying the issue was caused by an 'after-market accessory' and therefore the damage is not covered by warranty. I haven't seen the pictures and they still have my vehicle. I hope to hear more on Friday.

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Wow! Just a note of sympathy for you on this issue. If you're left holding the bag on this, Nissan is really not acting appropriately nor even in their own best interests. I'm well aware of Blink's history, but to blame you for using a Blink is very poor form for Nissan, especially in the absence of any warnings from Nissan or, as you've said, no exclusions in the warranty.

I'll be watching this closely and rooting for you.

Parenthtically, my own 2013 is approaching 5,000 miles with no charging issues of any kind. I'm using the Nissan/AV Level 2 home EVSE and public charging at mostly ChargePoint stations.

Elbows said:

Well, apparently they have pictures of a damaged pin in the charging port of the LEAF. They are saying the issue was caused by an 'after-market accessory' and therefore the damage is not covered by warranty. I haven't seen the pictures and they still have my vehicle. I hope to hear more on Friday.

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I wouldn't accept that line from Nissan. Manufacturers have the burden of proof when it comes to voiding warranties due to damage caused by "third party accessories".

My latest symptom is: on a high output ChargePoint charger it stops charging after around 1 hour. I can start the charging again (with the app on my phone) but it will stop soon after.

When I brought it to Nissan to try their Nissan branded charger the symptom was different: it would stop charging but then seems to restart on its own. I know this because I checked the status with the app on my phone every 5 mins or so and I'd see it was plugged in but not charging. When I immediately refreshed I saw it was charging again. When I went to drive home at around 70% charge the orange warning light was on.

I have an appointment on Friday to have it looked at. I'm expecting the runaround. They already tried to blame it on my home aftermarket (Fisker/Lear) EVSE which charges the car perfectly well.

And just a quick update on my previous report of PDM problems...

I've had my Leaf at Boardwalk Nissan for more than two weeks now and it sits there still. Nissan's engineer approved installation of a new PDM but no PDM has arrived and there is no ETA on when it will arrive. I have filed a claim with Nissan Customer Service to have the vehicle "repurchased" by Nissan, which I think would result in my being offered either a refund or a replacement Leaf. At this point, it is getting very close to the state of California's Lemon Law provisions, whereby the vehicle would have to be replaced with a working unit. This is most disconcerting! I had such high hopes for the Leaf. But I think prospective buyers need to be aware of these problems.

The dealer did the software upgrade on Friday and everything seems ok now. I charged at work from 67% SOC to full without issue. The last few percent seemed to be going slower than usual but perhaps it was balancing cells. I'll try again tomorrow from much lower charge level to see if the problem is totally gone.

Its still annoying they didn't do the software update the first time I complained about this!