superstructure
New member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
- Messages
- 1
My 2013 LEAF SL gave me the same error code when trying to start up this past Thursday evening. I had just driven a few miles to pick my kids up after school, but the car wouldn't fully start up (around 6pm). The brake pedal felt as though it had little to no resistance and the dash would come on, but display only "T/M system malfunction Visit dealer". I was not able to put the car into gear or neutral.
After calling my wife to come pick up my kids & I, I called the LEAF roadside assistance number (1-877-664-2738). I got a tow service back to the dealership scheduled through them at no charge (they had the car at the dealership by shortly after 8pm). The dealer was able to get the car working again the following afternoon by 2pm (along with rotating my tires, checking fluids, and replacing the cabin air filter). So it was about 21 hours between first seeing the code and having my working car back, and not at a penny's cost to me.
The dealer service representative stated that this was a "really rare" error and, yes, it typically revolves around the 12v system in the car. Apparently, the LEAF is very sensitive to not have a full 12v and when the battery gets low, the car startup "freaks out". The dealership replaced the 12v batter and performed a "hard reset" on the car's computer (my trip odometer & running efficiency were reset, but otherwise not significant difference to me).
I do wish Nissan could have some more information about diagnosing this information. For starters, I probably would have tried jumping the 12v rather than having the vehicle towed (winching a car stuck in park onto a flatbed puts a lot of unwanted stress on the vehicle, in my opinion). And it's certainly possible that the root cause of the low battery may not have been addressed, but so far I've not had any other issues with the vehicle.
After calling my wife to come pick up my kids & I, I called the LEAF roadside assistance number (1-877-664-2738). I got a tow service back to the dealership scheduled through them at no charge (they had the car at the dealership by shortly after 8pm). The dealer was able to get the car working again the following afternoon by 2pm (along with rotating my tires, checking fluids, and replacing the cabin air filter). So it was about 21 hours between first seeing the code and having my working car back, and not at a penny's cost to me.
The dealer service representative stated that this was a "really rare" error and, yes, it typically revolves around the 12v system in the car. Apparently, the LEAF is very sensitive to not have a full 12v and when the battery gets low, the car startup "freaks out". The dealership replaced the 12v batter and performed a "hard reset" on the car's computer (my trip odometer & running efficiency were reset, but otherwise not significant difference to me).
I do wish Nissan could have some more information about diagnosing this information. For starters, I probably would have tried jumping the 12v rather than having the vehicle towed (winching a car stuck in park onto a flatbed puts a lot of unwanted stress on the vehicle, in my opinion). And it's certainly possible that the root cause of the low battery may not have been addressed, but so far I've not had any other issues with the vehicle.