12v battery dies overnight 2013 S

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I'm having the same issue with my 2015 SL Leaf. This problem never occured prior to the 2G-3G TCU upgrade. After owning the vehicle for just shy of 3 yrs the warning light came on while I was driving and then the 12v died overnight while charging. The dealer replaced the 12v. The problem returned within a couple weeks. Then the dealer replaced the 3G TCU. The problem returned within a couple weeks. The dealer could not repeat the problem in the shop. They asked me to bring my EVSE charger in. I have a EVSEUPGADE.COM 240v modified Nissan (Panasonic) 4.8kw charger. I've been using the charger for almost 3 years with no problems. I bring the charger to the Nissan dealer and then they did nothing more, told me it wasn't a warranty issue and tried to charge me for the diagnostic work, even though they never tested the charger or even plugged it into the Leaf. Considering that an owner may use a variety of chargers from many different mftrs, I feel they are just looking for an excuse not to resolve the problem. I don't believe it is the charger due to the randomness of the issue. After getting the car back from the dealer I charged overnight with the same charger and had no problem. I'm no longer in warranty and the problem has not resolved itself.

It seems like the 12 volt just slowly drains. The warning light comes on after charging overnight then goes off later in the day after driving and then restarting the Leaf. This will happen for a couple days and then the 12v will be dead and not open doors, etc. That should never happen since it should disconnect loads when the 12v gets too low and the onboard DC-DC charger should be maintaining the 12v. The dealer tech (the dealer has only one) had Nissan involved with the issue so at this point I feel that Nissan doesn't have a clue to what's going on. I'm seeing several threads regarding this issue and lots of Leaf owners looking for work-arounds which tells me there is a faulty component or firmware issue that has not been addressed by Nissan.

I wonder how many Leafs are affected by this? Perhaps a class action suit is needed to get resolution. Does anyone know of a permanent fix to the draining 12v issue?
 
I installed an AGM deep cycle (i'm told was designed for a wheelchair). I bought a $20 charger off Amazon (2A). Here is where my results get silly:

The factory battery that I removed absorbed very little energy when I charged it outside the car. It had sulfuric acid all over it so whatever that means, maybe the leaf had at one point tried to overcharge it.

The NEW battery runs well. Yet, when I run the new charger over night, the damned thing never stops charging. The AGM is only rated on the sticker for 35Ah. the formula in the charger's manual says even at very low state-of-charge, my battery should be full in 21 hours.

I have used this charger for two separate cars and their batteries while mounted in their cars and the charge eventually floats. So I know the charger functions.

There is something wrong with the leaf in that I can plug in the external charger overnight WITHOUT the ESVE attached and the device never reaches a float.

A question for LeftieBiker: When you engage your external tender, how long does it typically take to recover your weeks worth of drainage? Also, which type of 12v battery have you installed?
 
Neptuneninja0 said:
The factory battery that I removed absorbed very little energy when I charged it outside the car. It had sulfuric acid all over it so whatever that means, maybe the leaf had at one point tried to overcharge it.

The NEW battery runs well. Yet, when I run the new charger over night, the damned thing never stops charging. The AGM is only rated on the sticker for 35Ah. the formula in the charger's manual says even at very low state-of-charge, my battery should be full in 21 hours.

Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) batteries are sometimes not easy to diagnose without checking many things, but it is possible that your battery failed with one cell shorted out and/or went dry and became essentially "open" circuit - but will not charge in either condition.

If you have a DC voltmeter, you can check across the battery terminals under various conditions to determine if you actually have a problem with the new AGM battery. You can search this forum for very detailed information from others about how the 2013 model charges the battery. I believe that the Leaf's charging profile is a little better for AGMs than FLAs and is likely to be OK if you use your external charger anytime you do not drive for several days or even weeks. The only "worry" that I have about using AGMs, is that the Leaf's charge profile will go above 14 volts for relatively short periods of time. I know that "small" AGMs have very cheap venting systems and will dry out if charged above 14 -14.5 volts for any length of time. Get a VOM and take some data and let us know.
 
I have 2013 SL 21,000 miles that received Telematics update last Decembet. The only 12 volt drain issue I have occurs when leaving the WiFi connected that I use with LeafSpy Pro. It can drain 12 v after 3 days.

If it drains overnight, other than bad battery, I would say a short somewhere in the accessories.
 
mjblazin said:
I have 2013 SL 21,000 miles that received Telematics update last Decembet. The only 12 volt drain issue I have occurs when leaving the WiFi connected that I use with LeafSpy Pro. It can drain 12 v after 3 days.

If it drains overnight, other than bad battery, I would say a short somewhere in the accessories.

The telematics unit drain is a known issue. Just be grateful that yours isn't one of the defective ones.
 
I have a 2013 SL and am having the dead 12 volt battery issue since the telematics upgrade. Does anyone know what fuse could be pulled to disable the telematics?
 
A question for LeftieBiker: When you engage your external tender, how long does it typically take to recover your weeks worth of drainage? Also, which type of 12v battery have you installed?

I plug in more often than once a week. It usually takes between 30 minutes and 3 hours. Sometimes as long as 5 or 6 hours.
 
Still have the problem. Dealer confirmed with Nissan that there is no fix. Nissan told dealer to turn off the Telematics Control Unit. Wasted $199!
"We'll get back to you" was the solution I was left with. I responded with "What about the $199 I paid"..."What do you want?"..."My car to work or my $199 back"..."Not going to happen". Nice!
 
Just replace the 12v battery with a name brand and be done with it. The OEM battery is underperforming and when the voltage gets to the point it needs to be charged up by the main pack, and the temperature is below a certain point, it can't put out enough power to throw the solenoid to charge itself. Install another decent name brand battery and this problem goes away.
 
VitaminJ said:
Just replace the 12v battery with a name brand and be done with it. The OEM battery is underperforming and when the voltage gets to the point it needs to be charged up by the main pack, and the temperature is below a certain point, it can't put out enough power to throw the solenoid to charge itself. Install another decent name brand battery and this problem goes away.

No, not this.
 
LeftieBiker said:
There is no permanent fix as of yet, just a bandaid: install a higher capacity AGM or deep cycle battery and charge it externally at least once a week.
No, not this. Definitely not this lol.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Given your situation, the best bandaid for you is a hardwired connection through the charge port compartment for a 2 amp or so battery maintainer. Just plug it in whenever you plug the car in to charge, and unplug it when you unplug the charging cable. That will also allow you to leave the car plugged in but not charging for as long as you like. It's what I use, except my Battery Tender JR is only 0.75 amp.

I've wondered if a trickle charger could be installed permanently, and wired to draw its supply power from the J1772 AC lines 1 & 2, whenever the car is charging from an EVSE. You'd need to fuse the charger leads where they connect to the AC lines 1&2; and you'd need a charger which accepts either 120 or 240v.

It's not something I'm going to do, but it seems like it could be done.
 
I have a 2A battery charger. I attach it while the car is charging. Damndest thing is, when the battery is out of the car, it will complete a charge in a few hours. When the battery is IN the car, the charger goes on forever. I wonder if the leaf is fooling the charger into thinking the battery reads lower than it actually is. I can't say i know much of DC battery physics, but I can say that some programmer booby-trapped my car.
 
The car is pulling enough power from the accessory battery to stop the voltage from reaching the preset maximum on the maintainer until several hours have passed.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Throwing in a new battery and waiting for the problem to "go away" is not good advice.
But I didn't wait for anything? I just solved the problem. Pulled the trigger on a decent battery and haven't look back since.
 
Same problem with a 2014S. Replaced my battery with a very good one about 3 months ago. Down at 4 V today after overnight charging of the car from 8 pm to 4 pm. (20 hours). Any updates? ODB has been in. I'll take it out.
 
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