12 Volt Battery Warning light not "warning"

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Stumpeter

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2021
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Location
Melbourne, Australia
This topic has been covered before no doubt but I cant find it! Sorry! 2013 Leaf 20,000 kms.. Occasional problem with start-up, long story short, needed a new 12volt battery. (SUPRISE!) My question is why didn't the dasboard display show the red "Battery" icon,? It's there, as it blinks with all the other lights when powering up. There must be a chip in the electronics monitoring the 12volt? Seems like a simple thing, is it common? I'm guessing "yes" as a common theme here is "check the 12 volt battery "! Thanks. ;) Cheers.
 
I suspect that warning light only pertains to the DC/DC converter not charging the 12V while the car is on.
Given the importance of a healthy 12V battery to the proper operation of the car, it would be a good decision, imho, for Nissan to implement a 12V health-check that could inform the driver of problems or developing weakness in the 12V battery itself. As things stand, an onwer should regularly check the 12V health with a load tester, or an electronic battery-health checker, either of which are readily available and easy to use. Simple voltage measurements are not aways revealing. ICE vehice owners don't have to do this check, as they have an effective load-test built into the car itself -- the starter motor. And that test is invoked every time their vehicle is started.
 
You're right Nubo, my voltage read on the old battery was about 12.5 Volts yet a load test revealed only half capacity. My start up problems were only occasional but when I tried to charge it after removal my smart charger rejected it as dead. Interesting that this is probably the third battery in my Leaf, whereas I've gotten over 10 years out of my ICE V8 battery (only occasional use) :?:
 
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