Car fully charged but won't start

Hi can anyone help me out? I have a 2015 leaf that's never had any problems before. This is the first time its been very cold since I've had it.

I drove it fine yesterday, got home and plugged it in. It started charging no problem. Just now, I went out to start it and it turned out while plugged in, as in the radio, Ac and other electrical things come on. However. When I unplugged it, it still only turned on the electrical things.. the green car in the dash board will not show up. It won't turn on so I can drive it. I tried plugging it in again to see if it would charge again but it's already fully charged so that didn't do anything.

I'm not sure what to do. It's been about 12-20 degrees Fahrenheit for a few days and when it's been in my driveway, it's been plugged in the whole time. The control panel shows that the battery is heated to within the range where driving is fine.

Thoughts???

Just now, I went out to start it and it turned out while plugged in, as in the radio, Ac and other electrical things come on. However. When I unplugged it, it still only turned on the electrical things.. the green car in the dash board will not show up. It won't turn on so I can drive it. I tried plugging it in again to see if it would charge again but it's already fully charged so that didn't do anything.

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So you're saying hat all the secondary systems come on, but the car won't go into Ready Mode? Given the circumstances (left plugged in but not charging in cold weather) I'd normally suggest it was the 12 volt accessory battery, but if all the accessories work, it is probably something else. Try pressing more firmly than usual on the brake pedal, in case the switch attached to that is not working properly.

Brake switch might be a problem. Ensure that brake lights are on before pushing start button.

If it doesn't work disconnect negative terminal on 12V battery for few minutes.

12v accessories will usually work even if 12v battery voltage is low. Try checking the 12v battery with a voltmeter, and if possible, hook it up to a 12v charger to top it up.

Your charge port has a switch that senses the position of the J1772 latch, (if I remember correctly). It might be frozen stuck in a "I am still plugged in" state. When the car thinks it is plugged in, it will not go to ready to drive. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to warm up any frozen snow and ice accumulation.

I am having the same issue. I don't believe it is related to charging, or temperature, since the issue began last week around 30+ degrees when it has been much colder here over the past month. Here was a related thread, it seems to be describing the same issue I'm having,

http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=23115

My situation: car was not plugged in, just in a parking lot while I was at lunch. Press the lock button on the drivers door, get in, sit down, press brake pedal, press start button, car goes into "Accessory Mode" but won't go into "Ready Mode" (green car for driving). Turned it off again, tried the normal starting procedure again; press brake pedal, press start button, goes into Accessory Mode.

I tried maybe a dozen times, pressing the brake pedal very firmly (all the way do the bottom), but that didn't seem to have any impact. Eventually, it did just start up as normal, with no indication of what was previously wrong, or why it worked this time. I think I noticed the blue light around the dashboard (and all dash lights) flash off/on before it was in Ready Mode.

I was able to start the car again that night, the next morning, leaving work (after being plugged in to the ChargePoint CT4020 at my office), but then the problem cam back again on the second evening after I got done with a meeting. I came back ~2 hours later, it started up just fine. Drove home, turned it off, went inside and realized I should take to the dealer for service, back outside, and it started up just fine again. So having intermittent non-starting is a significant concern, especially since there were no dashboard indicators or warning messages of any kind.

It's at the dealer now, I'm hoping they can diagnose and fix whatever is wrong.

Thanks,

Eric
Omaha, NE
2015 Leaf SV
14,300 miles (as of 2017-01-23)

Update on my instance of this issue:

MrErlo said:

I tried maybe a dozen times, pressing the brake pedal very firmly (all the way do the bottom), but that didn't seem to have any impact. Eventually, it did just start up as normal, with no indication of what was previously wrong, or why it worked this time. I think I noticed the blue light around the dashboard (and all dash lights) flash off/on before it was in Ready Mode.

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Got a call back from Woodhouse Nissan, "could not duplicate problem" upon many attempts. They found some fault codes for the accessory battery, so they did a warranty replacement on that for me. They didn't have any specific update about the battery, I'll ask for a report when I get there tonight to pick it up. I certainly hope that fixes the issue, because a vehicle that won't start and has no indication of the problem... that's unacceptable as a form of daily transportation.

It likely was the accessory battery. Don't leave the car plugged in and not charging for more than a few hours. If you have to do that, you need to have a 12 volt battery maintainer connected.

LeftieBiker said:

It likely was the accessory battery. Don't leave the car plugged in and not charging for more than a few hours. If you have to do that, you need to have a 12 volt battery maintainer connected.

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So... leaving the charger plugged in can damage the accessory battery? Is that discussed in another thread somewhere here?

Also, if you've got a link for an appropriate battery maintainer, that would be appreciated.

MrErlo said:

LeftieBiker said:

It likely was the accessory battery. Don't leave the car plugged in and not charging for more than a few hours. If you have to do that, you need to have a 12 volt battery maintainer connected.

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So... leaving the charger plugged in can damage the accessory battery? Is that discussed in another thread somewhere here?

Also, if you've got a link for an appropriate battery maintainer, that would be appreciated.

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Oh, it's been discussed endlessly! The car regularly verifies that the connection is still active, doesn't charge the 12 volt battery while doing so, and the battery dies after anywhere between one and five days. I use a Battery Tender JR, but the output is only 0.75A, which is fine for maintaining but very slow for charging a low battery. I've also used a 2 amp Diehard maintainer (it died after a year) and others recommend both the larger Battery Tender and various desulphating maintainers. I'll add a link after I post this.

Some more reading on the subject. Enjoy!

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4819

Nonsense.

Quick update:

My car is starting/running fine. However, I'm now getting the "Low Outside Temperature" warning each time I start. It's been ~20*F, but I wasn't getting the warning before I took it to the dealer. They didn't tell me what codes they cleared for the battery, so I can't tell if this is related or not. Just that it's a change in behavior before/after I had an issue.

MrErlo said:

Quick update:

My car is starting/running fine. However, I'm now getting the "Low Outside Temperature" warning each time I start. It's been ~20*F, but I wasn't getting the warning before I took it to the dealer. They didn't tell me what codes they cleared for the battery, so I can't tell if this is related or not. Just that it's a change in behavior before/after I had an issue.

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If they replaced the battery, most likely the settings you had (e.g., disabling the low outside temp warning) were set back to factory defaults (temp warning enabled).

Same car Nissan Leaf 2015 - Exact same problem. Problem started about 6 months ago. Intermittent / sporadic starting problem -without any certain rhythm or pattern. Progressively more often. Just wont start. Had the Accessory battery checked. It was at 70% topped the fluid to right levels. No improvement. Battery seems ok. Usually will start again after a break trying. Very annoying and not good when in a hurry.

myWALLe said:

Same car Nissan Leaf 2015 - Exact same problem. Problem started about 6 months ago. Intermittent / sporadic starting problem -without any certain rhythm or pattern. Progressively more often. Just wont start. Had the Accessory battery checked. It was at 70% topped the fluid to right levels. No improvement. Battery seems ok. Usually will start again after a break trying. Very annoying and not good when in a hurry.

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A weak 12V supply can cause these symptoms. Was the 12V battery load tested? A simple voltage check can be misleading. If it passes a load check then make sure the 12V terminals are clean and tight; also check to make sure the point where the negative (ground) cable attaches to the vehicle has the mating surfaces clean and tight.

I just had a "no start" condition with my 2019 without warning (over 39 k miles and 27 months of use). It was at about 50% SOC when I parked at a construction site this morning. It sat most of the day (opening/closing the doors once in a while to get tools). The dash lit up and I think the radio was playing, but there was an ominous message about EV system failure and unable to drive (I did not take a photo or write down the exact message). I turned the car off and back on with no change and then measured the battery--was at about 6.3 volts. I attempted to jump-start it from another vehicle and it would still not go into READY mode with 13.6 volts at the LEAF battery terminals. LEAF Spy saved me from calling a tow truck--I found a whole page of ominous-sounding error codes and stepped through the process of clearing as many as possible without disconnecting the battery. I eventually got enough of them cleared to allow the LEAF to go into READY mode and the OEM battery seemed to take a charge. I drove to my garage and then turned the car off and on numerous times to see if I could get the battery voltage to drop excessively. I even turned the fog lights on for a while without the car in READY mode and the battery seemed to support the load OK. Based upon my experience with short life of OEM 12V batteries in my climate, I chose to replace the questionable battery with a new Yellow-Top Optima deep cycle AGM battery (Group Size 51R) because I don't want to risk being stranded.

@GerryAZ: sorry, but that giant block of text makes my eyes water. Readability is important, if you want to engage others to read your content.

I did slog through it though, and I also once created a low 12V battery problem, after having the radio on for too long with the LEAF in accessory mode.

No idea how low the voltage got as I was at a campground and had no tools with me, but it was low enough that the dash wouldn't light up properly and I got the dreaded "I KEY system fault"...

Fortunately, a jump start was enough to get it going again.

I replaced the battery in my 2017 S this summer also. It was 100% fine and then just wouldn't start at all after sitting in the garage for a few days. I was surprised how quickly the 12V battery went from 'no problem' to 'no start'. While the car was in the garage someone went inside during a game of hide-n-seek but I don't remember any lights being on or doors ajar, etc.

In my case, since the car was in the garage I put the battery on a charger but while that made the car 'start' it wouldn't get into D and only allowed shifting to N. That makes me think the battery was weak for quite a while before it finally went kaput. A new battery (Optima yellow top 35) fixed the problem.

That makes me think the battery was weak for quite a while before it finally went kaput.

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Yes, indeed. So little power is required to start a Leaf, compared to that needed to crank a starting motor for an ICE, that a battery can get very decrepit and still start the car - until it suddenly can't anymore.

LeftieBiker said:

That makes me think the battery was weak for quite a while before it finally went kaput.

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Yes, indeed. So little power is required to start a Leaf, compared to that needed to crank a starting motor for an ICE, that a battery can get very decrepit and still start the car - until it suddenly can't anymore.

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I should probably put together a simple video to show how much power it takes to start a Leaf, been meaning to do that, but I wasn't sure if someone hasn't already posted up something about measuring real-time power needed to turn it on already on here?