2016 Leaf Green Ignition Relay

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Aw man - feeling in the same position as you :(

I am 100% sure of having #1, #2 I'm not sure of - I don't have good enough hearing lol - #3 is happening for me - 62Ah battery draining in days.

I don't have parking at home, but I have a place I can work on the car - I'll need to jump it to get it there though haha. I'm very much scunnered with this too, I'm trying my best to avoid taking it to a Nissan garage, that wasn't a good experience lol.

With any luck I reckon I/we can come up with a solution - I'm going to replace the VCM next, assuming I can confirm if it needs re-programming or not. Based on the above comments about the charge port I wonder if it's something simple though (assuming the fuse works for me) - I'm tempted to remove the dash switch and take apart the charge port housing to see what I can get working. I do see that the IPDM and the VCM have _serveral_ fuses inside the cabin that are associated with them - I'm going to do a continuity test on the fuses in the cabin as well (did so on the IPDM pre-installation - will probably do the rest as well) - during the battery change I removed a pigtail I previously had installed for a GPS tracker - which just makes me wonder if that's relevant lol.

I'm also going to remove the TCU, just as a way of ruling things out, although I'm 99% sure the TCU isn't the issue here.
 
Did you check the charge port door --such as mentioned
https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=31869&start=30#p599898?

Maybe open the charrge door and see if it still cycles, and put a hand on the opener motor to feel if it is vibrating due to current in the windings--that could be a 7A draw momentarily,

Check that the opener switch is not being held partially engaged or some other malfunction.

Is the main ON/OFF Power Button becoming lit/energized/cycling, by itself when the car is OFF?
 
Yes, I did check the charge port door. All seems to be working fine.

Also, the ignition button light works as normal. Only lit when I open the car, not all the time.

My suspicion, based upon not much, is the VCM being faulty in some manner. I have not gotten around to finding where this is and having a probe about.

I shall get a video this evening of the ignition relay buzzing, which sounds horrific by the way, and post it here.

Thanks again to everyone helping out.
 
Do you have a way to check if there are any DTCs being thrown or stored in one of the modules?
 
Yes, I have an OBDII and LeafSpyPro so will capture that as well.

This was taken several weeks ago, so is pretty outdated and most are likely related to the 12V battery having died, so may not be much help:

ACtC-3fxfmW-VrvsIDMUjK3pPgPgcz7diabGlVTrtkNGwFKJ_RNyUzEgPlmeA48L03aMY5CVg6lqrjIWQNGMiS7-AR7r-J1P1WCYWtORIbCfBWvSB-5Y1TB3YLO8njnHHoJ1fQnWysNwqswptwjhrBTCTMqJAg=w444-h937-no


nlspace said:
Do you have a way to check if there are any DTCs being thrown or stored in one of the modules?
 
I have the clicking (I've not checked if it's the exact same problem via removal of F3 yet though) and I have no codes, anytime my 12v dies, I charge up, clear codes till they are sorted and then I still have the relay clicking
 
The interesting thing about the suggestion of the BCM is that after fully clearing the most recent 12v failure and then during a later drive I got `U1000 0008 BCM CAN Comm Circuit` which is the 'lost communication' code - I'm starting to think this is maybe more important that I thought (I cleared it and then never saw it again)
 
Yeah, got it jumped and up on a charger the now....


...continuity checked the fuses in the cabin, all have a beep

Unfortunately/fortunately removing F3 doesn't do anything for me, my likely next call will be removing the glove and seeing what I can see BCM/Moisture issues :(

I'll bow out of this thread, 'pologies for hijacking and best of luck :)
 
No need to leave, this is a wide enough issue that needs all the help available--hopefully if any person can solve this nuisance it will help others. Greengiant won't mind some help if it gets his car working too.

Any DTC can be the cause to prevent operation or charging--it just takes one to spoil the fun. But a weak 12V auxiliary can cause a mess of DTCs, as seen in Greens picture up above.
 
GreenaGiant said:
... Pulling one of the yellow fuses (see earlier post) stops the relay clicking within the ipdm, but I have stopped bothering with this now, I am defeated. ...

How about wiring a dash switch that de-energizes that relay's coil? Not perfect, but a small inconvenience if it solves the other problems. Call it a "kill switch" for a total win. :cool:

iya5dVw.jpg
 
Heh - I'm not leaving, just won't murky the waters as much seeing as my issue _is_ different, as the fuse pull doesn't stop the noise for me I'm inclined to think it's the wet BCM - I also noticed some condensation on the wee triangle window (just forward of that door - IDK what the name for it is) but no-where else - makes me assume that there's something there. I left the car plugged in and climate turned way up - gonna chuck some dehumidifier pads in and run the climate continuously - I _think_ the clicking started for me when the car was sitting on a driveway (pointing nose down a hill) during a heavy snow storm (I think we got about 8-12") so the weight of the snow + glass shrinking from the cold etc makes me think it allowed water to seep in past the windshield - this is a situation that has happened to others over on the speakev forum (I'll post a link later, one driver had a badly installed windsheild etc). Thinking about it last night I'm fairly sure I saw condensation around my vin number a couple of weeks back - I think I dismissed it at the time as 'havent driven recently'.

I've grabbed an OVMS for monitoring the 12v - long term feels like a good solution (having went from 5 days a week driving for 2 hours to 100% WFH).

I've also ordered a (I hope) compatible BCM, didn't manage to drop my Glove last night - short on time (plus rain and light lol) but went ahead and ordered a cheap one in the hopes it'll be the right gen and also be able to be swapped without re-pairing by Nissan.

The more reading I do the more confidence I'm building in the likelyhood of it being water ingress, I'm hoping the dry-out I'm trying atm will solve it - GreenaGiant - have you checked your drainholes around your windsheild and your strut tops? (supposed to be a likely candidate) or checked for corrosion around the BCM? A reminder to disconnect the 12v and let it sit for 10 minutes before removing the BCM

Hopefully I'll be pulling my BCM tonight to have a look at it
 
Are you leaving the laefspy dongle plugged in all the time? I don't know if that could drain the aux.

Gorgo posted in the canbuss thread
We've just tested that polling the CAN bus while the car is off, it actually discharges the 12V battery.
 
Ran the remote climate for most of today, went back to the car (plugged in the whole time) and the windows were all steamed up, dropped a few dehumidifier bags (the microwavable ones) in, going back tomorrow to drop the glovebox and hopefully finally get eyes on the BCM itself (that wee 1/4 window above the BCM was fogged up the worst tbf)

Edit while I remember - I did test if the sound was still there, it is, actually appears to be much more aggressive (but that would make sense as battery is currently fully charged) - might take old IPDM up to swap out once it's fixed, might've over stressed the relays
 
Indeed it appears that you have a moisture issue and that could definitely cause electrical problems. I would get a big fan or carpet blower to push air thru the car with the doors open to get that dried up. The modules can be opened and dried out on the bench as a first measure and definitely inspect for damage.

This is the sort of issue that is not covered by the FSM or DTCs, can be intermittent in nature, and is the most difficult to troubleshoot and repair. Good luck and hope you get to the bottom of this soon.
 
Yeah, I had the glovebox off and had a feel around, also dug around under the driver's side, nothing obvious but some corrosion on the silvery metal brackets all over the place so think I'm tending toward it just being condensation

I do wonder if it's actually vape - I frequently vape in the car, including when sitting on a rapid charger (Scotland is relatively cold so I frequently end up cleaning the windows, that water/oil whatever it is must be everywhere else as well)

Probably would've been fine if I hadn't stopped driving for months haha
 
I've got a replacement BCM arrived now (for the life of me couldn't get the old one out today lol) - although if I'm honest 90+% of the surface corrosion I found is on the other side of the cabin (following paragraph expands on interesting thought here) I did get several modules out and a good feel of the insulation and bodywork underneath - nothing is currently wet afaict. Keeping the dehumidifier bags in there ATM - went a big drive today with the windows down to help.

I also had a thought, I tried to get Nissan to install auto folding wing mirrors (they couldn't figure out how to get the kit to work on the newer version of the old leaf) - non zero chance that they didn't put the vapour barrier back? That would be the driver's side (where the corrosion is)

GreenaGiant - we have slightly different presentations but I imagine we might have similar issues, check your drain holes (in the trim peice at the bottom.of the window), strut tops, drain holes on both sides, vapour barrier etc - another though is if your windows seem to steam oddly or similar thoughts to that

Another interesting thing is that I realised I have very slight mold in my back seats ( next to the inside door handles) along with all my window seals have gone green too - it's like nothing is getting a chance to dry out (lack of use tbf)

Edit to add: if it is my vapour barrier, I'll be complaining significantly - the failure to install the kit 2 years ago ended up in a (useless tbf) complaint as well
 
Fantastic (for me) news...I've fixed my clicking, I swapped out the BCM which left the car dead (not recognizing keys) - so a BCM swap is out of the question - but taking the BCM apart and cleaning the contacts with some wire wool seems to give it good connection again - I'd give that a go GreenaGiant - I had some corrosion on the contacts, i also found a small amount of liquid on the outer case of the BCM

PS: An easy way to get the BCM off is to use a big screwdriver to push it off the clips
 
Great news, thank you! How do I get at the BCM? It's it behind the glove box (so needs the glove box removing?) I've not dismantled stuff that far before so going at it a bit blind. Once I've found it I can do the cleaning and everything ok, competent at that bit at least!

I'm guessing I should dig through the manuals to get the info?
 
First up - open all your doors, boot and bonnet and then remove the -ve post of the aux battery (I didn't remove the MSD, but can if you want)

Secondly, remove the trim piece under/behind the glove box (not bolts or clips, just give it a yank) drop the glovebox (empty it, it requires a shoogle), 4 screws at the top, 4 at the bottom - it then requires a decent shoogle (pulling downward/to the rear of the vehicle), disconnect the wiring for the glovebox curtousy light and airbag keyswitch. Fire the glovebox out of the way (I used the back seat extensively haha)

Third, locate the BCM, it's slightly closer to the floor than the fuse panel and 3-6 inches forward. It has 4 plugs (2 white, 2 black) coming off of it and all plugs face in toward the center console (see ref below).

Once located, I used a _big_ flathead to pry (including some light hammering) the entire module off of the metal brackets and then remove the wiring once it is loose, there are 2 types of connectors, each with 1 white and 1 black - I found the sideclip ones almost impossible, but got decent at it with some small jeweler screwdrivers as podgers.

Dont buy a new one, they need coded to the car for sure (or more accurately I think it's to the key)


--- --- --- --- --- ---

Apologies if some of the above is like sucking eggs - leaving it here for posterity too.

BCM reference: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2015-NISSAN-LEAF-BODY-CONTROL-MODULE-BCM-284B13NM1C-284B13NM1C/184126516664 (without the yellow)
 
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